Dakar Transportation

Lac Rose is a good distance from the port, at least an hour and a half, so it was nice to have transportation to and from in a luxury bus with air conditioning, even if it did not provide adventure. Along the way I made another Brasilian friend, Thereza.

A highlight was seeing this camel on the beach. Camels are the traditional way to get around in the Sahara. Of course we did not stop and take rides or even see the camel up close. There were too many of us for one poor camel, so there was no money to be made by stopping.

Not the most comfortable ride sitting on planks in the back of a truck, but this is how we circumnavigated the pink lake. There were a couple of jolts that caused screems and intimate encounters when someone would land in your lap.

I was on a tri continent cruise. A cruise is like a sampler, you will touch many ports, but the time spent in each is very limited. It is a good way to sample destinations so that you can plan a better trip, or avoid a destination if you don't like it. It is easy because you don't have to find places to sleep or eat, and there are plenty of distractions on board.

Dakar's Railway Station is a nice colonial style building, worth a quick visit if you take the Goree island ferry (it's just in front of the harbour). There is nothing really impressive insie though. There are few trains leaving from here, most of them to the border with Mali. Once a week there is the famous Dakar-Bamako train, that takes more than 3 days and leaves whichever day it arrives. So no booking in advance, just go in the morning, ask the Boss (you will find him at the bar) and see if the train may leave that day...

After Dakar my next destination was Bamako, in Mali. Going there by bus is long and hard, including a change of buses in the border. Train is even harder, just once a week and takes 3 days. So I decided to take a plane. I reserved it in advance with Ethiopian Airlines, which make Dakar-Addis, stopping in Bamako. Ethiopian is one of the best african airlines. The round trip was about 300 euros.

It is really hard to go into Dakar. There’s just one road to come in and go out Dakar and is being repaired. And there are a lot of people walking, looking or selling things. Prepare yourself to spend a few hours if you try to travel in the morning or in the late afternoon.

The airport was chaotic, both on arrival and departure. If you are going to work, get your host to meet you or arrive in daylight. The heat and noise can be quite intimidating, especially if French is your third language!
I negotiated with a taxi driver, and then another person jumped in the back seat and announced he was my bodyguard. Of course he wanted some money when we arrived. We went through areas of the city with no lights, except for lamps and people cooking on stoves in the street. It was quite scary for a first experience, but I asrrived safely at my hotel in little time.