Senegal wk 1: Planes, Trains, Taxis, Ferries & Buses

Our small prop plane from Cape Verde landed with a bump and a skid on the tarmac at Blaise Diagne airport in Senegal, which was actually the 2nd eyebrow raise on that leg of the journey - the 1st being Gaz's seat only inches from the propeller and there was me recounting potential injuries 'Final Destination' style (oops). It took a fair while to get through customs, and they seemed to want to check our passports every 50m as we moved towards collecting our bags. Finally we were out and within a few moments we located our hotel driver Monsiour N'dour. He spoke little english so I rolled out my pigeon French to apologise for keeping him waiting (he looked so tired) and to make polite conversation as we transferred in his beat up taxi to the city. It was 11.15pm when we set off, so the world was dark, but the excitement at arriving somewhere new and unknown set in and we were all smiles despite the journey taking 1hr.

Once we arrived at Dakar, it was clear that the city is immense in size, and the suburbs sprawl for miles. As we hit the centre, the traffic congested and it was slow going, irritating Monsiour N'dour. I know they say that some cities never sleep, but this was ridiculous - it was nearly midnight and there were cars, motorbikes, and people everywhere. It was warm so the car windows were down and We could hear someone on a microphone talking to a huge crowd. We couldn't see who, but there were floodlights off to our left and several queues of people all dressed up in their finery that stretched for at least a mile. I initially thought it was a political rally, and then the driver explained that it was a Youssou N'dour concert and that's what was creating all the chaos. Now, other Millienium Xers like myself will remember Youssou N'dour from the awesome 80s classic "7 Seconds" with Neneh Cherry, but you can otherwise be forgiven for not knowing the name. Youssou N'dour is a legendary Senegalese singer songwriter and apparent activist, and he is MASSIVE here. Our driver wasn't impressed though. lol

We arrived at our hotel and were shown up a spiral staircase to our plain but clean and servicable room, where we relaxed and finally slept at about 2am. The hotel turned out to be an awesome choice. It is much more affordable than other places in the Plateau area of Dakar, and whilst it's worn and 'well-loved', it is well located, and clean. It also turned out to be a really friendly place with a great central courtyard surrounded by established trees and shrubs, creating a little oasis in the heart of the building open to the sky. Over the week we spent some lovely evenings playing cards, having a beer or eating a meal in that courtyard and it became a bit of a 'safe space' for me after time spent in the chaotic city.

Over the next few days we took time to explore the local area, walking the streets making our way to the Place De L'Independence with it's national fountain, and down to the Port of Dakar to arrange a ferry from Dakar to Ziguinchor in the southern Cassamance region (17 hr) for the end of the month. Once we started asking for help, arranging the tickets was actually pretty straight forward. We booked the last 2 berth cabin, so I hope the overnight journey will be straight forward and fairly comfortable. It was about £50 per person, but covers the length of the country, and allows us to get to Cassamance without having to go through The Gambia. Whilst we'd like to experience The Gambia, we realised that we may not have enough time to do it justice.

Reviews of the ferry vary - many report unsavoury conditions and that it's more suited to traders transporting large goods - who knows? We shall see.

We discovered the main Dakar railway station, a pleasant looking building with Art deco notes and seemingly surrounded by traffic jams?! Who knows why! Trains haven't really taken hold in Senegal. Whilst I understand that there was once a route to Saint-Louis in the far North and a track to the main Airport, these no longer exist. There is a line operating to the suburbs of Dakar and it reaches out a bit further to Thies, but it's mainly for commuters and seems to be well used. We won't however be making use of it because it simply doesn't reach where we want to go.

Every time you set foot outside of the hotel the thousands of Dakar taxis start beeping at you, wanting you to need a lift. And the craft sellers and hawkers regulalry approach and test the water to see if you're interested in buying oranges, or jewellery. a hat or even a fluffy pair of slippers. (That was the best one, when Gaz was encouraged to buy womens fluffy slippers and he used his auto response of "I've got some". I laughed out loud and so did the vendor. Brilliant.

In truth you do need to be careful with the taxis - there is no MOT or servicing requirement here, so getting in a cab can be like taking your life in your hands. Selecting a cab that looks and seems safe is important. Also, Cab drivers don't always know where they're going, so it's important to feel confident in directing them in french as most won't speak English. And of course you need to negotiate on price as they will instinctively over charge.

But Taxis are a much needed service in the city. At 83sqkm, the city and it's suburbs are vast and difficult to get around. The train is limited to one line and very few infrequent stations on the brief route, and whilst local buses do exist, there is no timetable and map of stops to consult. So apart from getting on your feet, taxis are your only means of getting around. But they are cheap and easy to flag down.

Week 1 was centred on Dakar, but we needed to prepare and plan how we were getting 260km+ up the coast to Saint-Louis for week 2. There are a few options, but the most comfortable of the cheap options is to take the intercity Dem Dikk bus for 5000 CFA (about £8). Unfortunately booking seats on the Dem Dikk buses is not easy online or in fact offline, so we asked the hotel reception to help. It turns out it's not straight forward for them either and after 30 minutes on the phone, they finally had some success and confirmed we had seats. We paid cash to reception and they arranged a transfer to the bus company! To catch the bus we have to get to the main bus station which is about 8km away. So another taxi it is! :-)