Made it Dakar - Oct 15, 2009
Well, you know how air flights are almost always late. Well, that could be because you want to arrive on time or early. I wanted to arrive in Dakar late, so it would be closer to daylight. What happened ....... we took off from Atlanta exactly on time, had a 100-mile an hour tailwind
all the way across the Atlantic, and arrived over an hour early. At 4:15 a.m. ....
(This is French keyboard; with the A and W and M in the wrong place, plus the skip space key sticks. Bear with me!)
The Dakar airport is a dump- exactly like Hollywood would portrait it, but they would not really do it justice.
It turns out I have as many good friends here (or more) than I had in India. I selected one friend, or rather he was just the slickest of my friends, and he sat with me in the restaurant/cafe until 7:30. A taxi to town cost about $15.00 , and the bus cost 50 cents. Aziz, my new friend and I took the bus. About 35 minutes to city central. Well -- 1 hour and 15 minutes later -and about a thousand passengers later, we got to downtown.
I got the least expensive room I could find - about $30.00 - Hotel Providence - no AC, no hot water - but that is really not important now - here. Actually - compared to my $5 and 6 dollar rooms in India - this place is -UGLY!
I plan to leave in the morning. Aziz said he would reserve me a seat on an AC bus to Mali, and then he will come to my hotel at 4 in the morning. We will get a taxi to the place near the stadium, and I will buy my ticket, get in my reserved seat, and head for Mali.
After he left me so I could get some rest- in my fine hotel, I realized- he may be taking me out to rob me in the morning. So I went out and talked with two travel agencies, and neither knew anything about a bus toMali. One agent said she spoke English, I asked her about bus to MALI? She said, 'yes', then wrote out the prices for me, one way and round trip. It was over $800.00.
I don't think she speaks the English too good! That is airline prices, but she kept a nice smile.
So I took a taxi to the BUS "station" .... if you have never been to one of these places in the 3rd world, you are really missing a site! They are unbelievably confusing, and crazy, but they work. I found the buses that go to the frontier - MALI - and they are classic African buses-old- funky - hot - and very interesting.So back in center of town, I had decided I would not go with Aziz in morning, because there is NO BUS to Mali, much less to Bamakoko, Mali!
Then I saw a tourist office, and it was open, and a policeman, who I think was visiting his girlfriend , spoke English. GLORY! Anyhow - they both knew of a bus to MALI! AND THEIR DESCRIPTION WAS THE SAME AS MY GOOD FRIEND Aziz.
So, now with greater confidence, I will enjoy what I can of this actual dismal city, and make plans to meet Aziz at 4:00 in the morning, but still praying that it is not a planned robbery!
So with this sticky French keyboard - I sign off from pure exhaustion.
all the way across the Atlantic, and arrived over an hour early. At 4:15 a.m. ....
(This is French keyboard; with the A and W and M in the wrong place, plus the skip space key sticks. Bear with me!)
The Dakar airport is a dump- exactly like Hollywood would portrait it, but they would not really do it justice.
It turns out I have as many good friends here (or more) than I had in India. I selected one friend, or rather he was just the slickest of my friends, and he sat with me in the restaurant/cafe until 7:30. A taxi to town cost about $15.00 , and the bus cost 50 cents. Aziz, my new friend and I took the bus. About 35 minutes to city central. Well -- 1 hour and 15 minutes later -and about a thousand passengers later, we got to downtown.
I got the least expensive room I could find - about $30.00 - Hotel Providence - no AC, no hot water - but that is really not important now - here. Actually - compared to my $5 and 6 dollar rooms in India - this place is -UGLY!
I plan to leave in the morning. Aziz said he would reserve me a seat on an AC bus to Mali, and then he will come to my hotel at 4 in the morning. We will get a taxi to the place near the stadium, and I will buy my ticket, get in my reserved seat, and head for Mali.
After he left me so I could get some rest- in my fine hotel, I realized- he may be taking me out to rob me in the morning. So I went out and talked with two travel agencies, and neither knew anything about a bus toMali. One agent said she spoke English, I asked her about bus to MALI? She said, 'yes', then wrote out the prices for me, one way and round trip. It was over $800.00.
I don't think she speaks the English too good! That is airline prices, but she kept a nice smile.
So I took a taxi to the BUS "station" .... if you have never been to one of these places in the 3rd world, you are really missing a site! They are unbelievably confusing, and crazy, but they work. I found the buses that go to the frontier - MALI - and they are classic African buses-old- funky - hot - and very interesting.So back in center of town, I had decided I would not go with Aziz in morning, because there is NO BUS to Mali, much less to Bamakoko, Mali!
Then I saw a tourist office, and it was open, and a policeman, who I think was visiting his girlfriend , spoke English. GLORY! Anyhow - they both knew of a bus to MALI! AND THEIR DESCRIPTION WAS THE SAME AS MY GOOD FRIEND Aziz.
So, now with greater confidence, I will enjoy what I can of this actual dismal city, and make plans to meet Aziz at 4:00 in the morning, but still praying that it is not a planned robbery!
So with this sticky French keyboard - I sign off from pure exhaustion.
posted by Johnny at
5:54 AM
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