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The political situation in the Casamance region could be sometimes unstable.
In Goudomp the local people advised me not to go further, separatist where in fighting with the national army and police.
I returned to Velingara and crossed the border, into the Gambia. Leave a Comment
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 Morning pray in Dakar. by Wafro
So when you have to choose your hotel or sleeping facilities, beware where it's situated.
If it's located next to a mosque with a minaret, you'll definitely rise in time.
But when you don't mind, you should also bring a visit. Leave a Comment
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 huts at Camp de Lion by sachara
When our guide showed us the place, we were very surprised. It looked like the place was allready abandoned for a long time. The huts were ruined, one was even overgrown with a climbing-plant.
What happened ? The guide told us, that in september -two months before we came there in November 2004- the place was flooded by the Gambia river. The water destroyed everything.
I hope they will rebuild everything very soon. But be prepared, maybe you will not find what you expect and what you red in the travelguides. Anyhow you can put your own tent at this place, if you like, or you can move to the Hotel de Simenti at a distance less than 10 KM from the place. Leave a Comment
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 waiting for your turn by sachara
But be aware, you are not always able to make connection, because the facilities are not always reliable. First there can be no electricity or even worse .... the electricity will go down at the moment just before you want to send your e-mail. Sometimes the server is down for half a day or more.
In Tambacounda we were lucky the internetcafes were open and there was electricity, but we had to wait very long. Internet is very popular in Africa, so almost every boy or girl has a yahoo account. If there are not many computers available, the waiting time can be very long. And be prepared, often the internet can be very slow in this area. Many times I didn't succeed to open my mailbox. Leave a Comment
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 locusts in the air by sachara
The FAO warned that up to 50 percent of the cereal production might be lost after swarms of locusts devoured their way through the crops. Not only people in the area lost their food. Also the animals like camels, cows, sheep and goats were under threat.
When we visited the area in November most of the swarms had moved to the north into the Sahara desert, far away from the crop growing areas in southern Mauritania, northern Senegal and Mali. Till we reached the Senegalese-Malinese border we didn't see any locust in Senegal.
In Kidira, the Senegalese bordertown we saw the first swarms of locusts. From far they looked like reddish clouds high in the sky. I even didn't recognise them as locust swarms, somebody had to tell me. At short distance the locusts looked like flying shrimps. Leave a Comment
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 locusts at the roof of a bus by sachara
The locuts had a bright red-orange colour and their size was about 8 CM. The most locusts we saw were flying in the air, looking like shrimps with wings. Luckily they were high enough, so they didn't fly against our bodies.
Waiting for the borderposts in Kidira ( at the Senegalese side) and Diboli (at the Malinese side) there was a bus beside us. The roof of the bus was covered with locusts instead of the trees and plants around. We didn't know why. Anyway it gave us the chance to have our first close look at these giant insects. You can have also by enlarging the picture. Leave a Comment
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 by traveldave
The sand storms of the Sahel are due in part to overgrazing by goats and cattle. The animals eat most of the vegetation, which would normally anchor the soil. However, with almost no grass or other herbaceous plants, the harmattan which blows in from the Sahara Desert whips up huge clouds of dirt and sand. This overgrazing, coupled with sand storms, is causing the Sahara Desert to creep farther south every year.
When I was in northern Senegal, there was almost always a yellowish cast in the sky caused by dust in the atmosphere. The dust was so thick that it filtered sunlight to the extent that it was possible to look directly at the sun at sunrise and sunset, even through binoculars. Many of my other pictures in this Senegal page show the brownish or yellowish cast which reflects the dust in the air. Leave a Comment
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 by traveldave
The schistosomes grow and develop inside fresh-water snails. Once they reach maturity, they leave the snails and float in water where they can live up to 48 hours. If the schistosomes come into contact with human skin, they enter the body though the skin. They can also enter through the mouth when contaminated water is drunk. The worms must pass between snails and humans to complete their life cycles. Once inside the human body, the parasites lay thousands of eggs, which are generally deposited in the lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, and rarely the brain.
Symptoms of bilharzia include chills, fever, a persistent cough, and blood in the urine which is caused by damage to the kidneys. The disease also causes anemia and a decreased resistance to other diseases. The symptoms are caused by the body's reaction to the schistosomes, rather than by the worms themselves. At this time, there is no cure for bilharzia.
Anyone traveling in the tropics, especially Africa, should avoid swimming, washing, or wading in fresh water in order to avoid bilharzia. Leave a Comment
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 by traveldave
The Nile crocodile is the second-largest species of crocodile in the world, after the Australian salt water crocodile. They commonly grow up to 16 feet (five meters) in length, and larger specimens have been known to reach 20 feet (six meters). The crocodiles are bulky as well as long, and they commonly attain weights of 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms), and can even get up to 2,465 pounds (1,200 kilograms). Because of their large size, Nile crocodiles can kill animals as large as wildebeasts, zebras, and even humans.
When I went on a boat trip along a reed-lined channel in Djoudj National Park, my group saw a couple of large Nile crocodiles. They are attracted by the park's large pelican colony, where they capture young birds that fall into the water. The crocodile pictured here was estimated to be about nine feet (three meters) long. (By enlarging the picture, it is possible to see the tail of a young crocodile on the right. There was a total of ten little crocodiles that were around their protective mother). We saw another crocodile which was very large, and may have been about 16 feet (five meters) long. Unfortunately, it was mostly hidden within the weeds and I was not able to get a good picture of it. Leave a Comment
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Keep in mind that Senegal (african) way of life is not european or american way of life. Try to adapt yourself to their customs. I love the african proverb : we have the time, you have the watch.... It explains a lot of the difference between ours and their way of live and I'm convinced they are probably right..... Leave a Comment
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