Trip to Popenguine

February 21, 2008

I decided to go to Popenguine for a day to get a break from Dakar and see the lovely coast south of Dakar that everyone says is beautiful. Since my friends were all busy, I set forth on the journey alone. Not a big deal, the village I was going to is closer than Kaolack, and I'm quite comfortable in moving about this country now. I took a sept-place to the nearest city on the main highway, and then waited a half hour to get in the back of a pick-up truck that took me the rest of the way to the village. While waiting, I made friends with the people who worked at the boutique on the corner as well as the women selling vegetables and nuts. They were quite nice, and were surprised to see a toubab waiting around for transportation, since most people who come by there have their own cars or are part of a tour group.

I arrived in Popenguine and made my way to a restaurant for lunch. I ordered chicken yassa, which was the special for the day and also a very common Senegalese dish, but was served the strangest version of the dish I've ever had. It was good, and it had chicken and onions, but it definitely wasn't chicken yassa. I heard some guys my age speaking English at a nearby table and went over to say hi to them. Turns out I had found the majority of peace corps volunteers currently stationed in Mali. They had gone to Dakar for a softball tournament for the weekend, and were on their way back to Mali. There were at least thirty kids all staying in three houses down at the beach. They invited me to come join them and said they were throwing a party on the beach later, but I didn't end up going. I wanted the day to relax, read a book, and enjoy some quiet time. I decided that being around Peace Corps volunteers who were so ecstatic to see the ocean, be away from their villages, and have access to alcohol was probably not the best way to spend my day.

I wandered further down the road to the campement where I wanted to stay that I had found in my guidebook. I arrived at the campement to find out that it was booked for the night. As were all the other places around. A girl took me under her wing and walked around with me to help me find a place to stay. We ended up finding a guy on the beach who has two houses that he rents. So I ended up haggling hard with him over the price, and finally renting one of the houses for the night. It was simple enough, but it was cozy.

I went back down to spend a bit more time on the beach before heading to a restaurant for dinner. I had one of the best meals I've had since arriving in Senegal. I was pleasantly surprised. After dinner, I asked some people who had been speaking English at the table next to me what time it was. They answered, but were so shocked to find an English-speaker that they invited me to their table. One woman was a development worker in Dakar, and the other two were friends who had come to visit her. They were Canadian. We spent about an hour talking before they decided it was time for them to go to bed. I soon after made my way back to the house and fell asleep.

This morning I woke up and went immediately to the beach. I laid out there reading a book and working on my amazing tan. I had been reading for about a half hour when I looked up to see a full-size pig making its way along the beach. Now that's not something you see everyday. And the beach was quite clean, for Senegalese standards, so it's not like there was trash around for the pig to eat. But it didn't seem to mind as it continued its morning walk. A little while later the Canadians from the night before walked over to say hello, they had just been walking in the national park which was a stones throw away from where I was laying. There was a stray dog who had been following them, and when they left the stray dog stayed by me. He was joined by another dog friend and they curled up on the sand within a few feet of my blanket. One tried to come up and make friends with me (I remind you that these dogs are flea-ridden and not clean). I yelled at it and tried to get it to go away, but it was persistent. A man walking by me on the beach told me to hit the dog so that it would leave. I'm incapable of hitting a dog, so instead I took my sandal off and pushed the dog away with it, and that worked just as well.

When I thought I had got too much sun, I made my way to a little restaurant on the beach to have a Fanta and continue reading. When I went in to pay my bill, I met four nice Frenchmen (friendly, grandpa-type men) who were sitting at the bar and ordering lunch. Their wives were sitting outside. The men talked to me for a little while, and one of them with Irish ancestors talked about how we had a common bound. They were absolutely floored when I told them I was American. They complimented me on my French, which made my day.

On my way out of town, I stopped by a restaurant to get lunch. The restaurant I walked into wasn't open yet, but instead the workers were sitting down to eat together. In true Senegalese style, they invited me to join them for lunch, so I did. It was fish yassa and was very good. I made it about 20 feet from where I would wait for a car to take me to the main highway, when a man who was eating lunch invited me to eat with him. I told him I had already eaten, and he took offense. He offered me to drink, and although I should've accepted something, I declined cause I wanted to go find a car and make my way back. He took offense again. And he told me that if I waited for him to finish his meal, he would help me find a car. So I sat there and talked to him for some time. The talking was mostly him lamenting that he had only just met me and I was leaving, but that it was life, and god-willing I would return. A few minutes later he finished his meal, and when we walked around the corner, a car arrived. Perfect timing.