I went on a bike tour - a last minute kind of choice. You could not even imagine what it is to ride on roads here. On the highway, we ride at a normal speed. We are bathed often by black clouds of diesel smoke, or by blown onto the highway and then onto us. I cannot remember when my skin and clothes have been so black!When on the town roads, my guide rides on the left, the right, in the middle, on the sides of the sandy potholed streets. Often we are facing oncoming buses, cars small and larges trucks, horse or donkey pulled carts, other motorcycles. A quick turn and we miss each other with often 6 inches of space between my foot and the vehicles on either side of me. More dust and diesel smoke. Pedestrians crossing without warning. An amazing cacophony of sounds. Vibrant colors work everywhere and the pervasive red brown sand dust. Cars black and worn with age, others new.
Mame Fatou joked when I got back after the two day trip, that i had now become black sister.
Breakdown
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| Two hours waiting with young roadside mechanics as my driver goes to find a bike mechanic. None of them speak French. We laugh and smile and I try to decode with my scanty knowledge of Wolof. |
Mbour
Impromptu Family Visit
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| The only one of the group who can speak French. She is our translator for the three hours my guides deposes me in their guest room. We laugh and smile, ask each other questions, and sometimes glance at Wolof or French soaps on the TV mounted on the wall close to the ceiling. |
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| I insist on lunch and my guide finds me an omelette in the market and then goes to eat his preferred food: a rice dish. |
Toubab Djello
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| Mimosa Hotel: lovely surroundings, room and building; only basic services and food though in this low season. |
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| This town, a place many Europeans winter in or retire . |
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| Morning fish catch on the beach. |
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