A night under the stars

Every morning on my way into work along the Corniche de Ouest I can see the Isles de la Madeleines, lying just a couple of kilometres off the coast. The islands are completely uninhabited and have been designated a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Despite seeing them every day, I’d never had the chance to visit until last weekend when Sacha, the ever resourceful ‘el president’ of the Dakar Swiss Circle, organised a trip, including bbq and, for those that wanted, the chance to camp out on the Island overnight. About 20 of us met at the departure point near Fann, very close to the apartment I was living in when I first arrived in Dakar.

While waiting we witnessed the local police/military arresting a local ‘fisherman’ suspected of fishing using dynamite – the guy was not very keen to be taken in, and put up a bit of a fight – which was more than a bit stupid as he was heavily outnumbered – and the police were all armed, one holding a pistol ready cocked. All a bit scary – no idea what happened to the guy, but I don’t think it will have been very pleasant.

After this interlude we took a pirogue across to the island – it was a beautiful, hot sunny day, and luckily the sea was very calm (can apparently be quite an ‘exciting’ trip if the sea is a bit choppy). On arrival and after unloading all our gear on to the beach it was time for a swim and snorkel. We were in a little cove on the far side of the island – the water was crystal clear with lots of colourful fish, beautiful, but certainly a lot cooler than it had been for the Goree swim only 2 weeks before.

Then it was time to prapre the bbq and to explore the island – the views of Dakar from here are spectacular.

Another quick swim and before we knew it was 5 o’clock and then time for the ‘day-trippers’ to take the pirogue back to Dakar (see pic).

This left just 5 of us ‘overnighters’. Sacha had a tent and various other luxuries to make his stay as comfortable as possible – I, on the other hand had just a sheet and blanket to sleep out on what is also known as Ile Serpents (Snake Island). I have no idea if there are snakes there – I certainly never saw any, but who knows? We chatted and played cards (I can now play Yass?) until it was time to turn in. I’d hoped we’d get a really nice night sky – nearly new moon, and no lights (Dakar not visible from this side of the island), but unfortunately the sky was a bit hazy, so only the brighter stars were visible, but still it was a lovely night. Next morning – breakfast of banana flambé (interesting) and then the pirogue for the trip back to Dakar. A really nice evening - we’re already planning to do the whole thing again, perhaps in February.

... and Orchestra Baobab

The Baobab tree is one of the of iconic symbols of Senegal, and the image of the countryside dotted with these interesting looking, not to say grotesque, trees will be one of the enduring memories of my time here. But I will also remember Orchestra Baobab who played a stunning set on Saturday night at the Institute Francais, as part of the Jazz a Dakar concert series. Orchestra Baobab were at the very forefront of the music scene in Dakar in the 1980’s, only to become somewhat overshadowed with the emergence of the new stars like Baba Maal and Youssou n’Dour. However in recent years they’ve staged something of a comeback and although now all ‘getting on a bit’ (who am I to talk?), they’re touring and making albums again.
When we arrived at the Institute the place was already buzzing in anticipation. Luckily some friends had saved us some seats, so we took our places near the front of the amphitheatre and a few minutes later the band wandered on and just started to play – a sublime mixture of African and Cuban rhythms that soon had everyone on their feet. What a way to spend a lovely balmy African night, they played for 2 hours and I would have gladly stayed for another 2 hours. But all good things must come to an end – and as we wandered back out into the busy Dakar streets to get a taxi back home I could still hear the music running through my head – a great night, a great band!

Jazz a Dakar

The institute francais is running a series of concerts under the banner 'Jazz a Dakar', and have managed to attract some big names, inlcuding, last night, Baaba Maal. I only found out about the concert a couple of days ago, but this wasn't something I was going to miss. Along with Youssou n'Dour, Baaba Maal is probably the Senegalese musician most well known outside Senegal and I've long enjoyed his music. There were 3 acts, a Sengalese singer Shula Ndiaye, a band called Moh de Diof and then Baaba Maal himself. All were excellent, although for me Baaba Maal stole the show with a fantastic performance. The people I went with had mostly not heard of Baaba Maal, but everyone enjoyed the show (altough some preferred Shula Ndiaye to Baaba Maal), and are now keen to go to some more of the 'Jazz a Dakar' concerts - next week its Orchestra Baobab!
Anyway for those of you who dont know too much about Baaba Maal, here's a quick video from the show last night

Dakar - Goree Race Day!

Lying just 5km off the coast of Dakar, Ile Goree is clearly visible from the city and every year there is a swimming race, starting from a Dakar beach and ending at the port in Goree. Along with a group of friends I've been in training for the last few weeks and on Sunday the day of the big race arrived.


Unfortunately for a couple of days before the race I’d had an upset stomach and was wondering whether I’d be able to do the swim, but come Sunday morning I decided I was well enough to give it a go. So first it was off to Sacha’s house (he’s the one on the right, with the beard) where the whole team had a hearty breakfast to help give us much needed energy.

Then to Monaco beach, near Dakar port, for the start of the race. The beach was crowded with swimmers, supporters and local dignitaries. After registering and much waiting around it was finally time for the off. The plan was for some of us to try and swim together, but there was such a large crowd of swimmers that we pretty quickly found ourselves separated and so it was just a matter of each of us going for it and heading for Goree. Pretty soon the crowd thinned out as the swimmers spread out across the sea and then it was a matter of just trying to keep swimming in a straight line, which is more difficult than it sounds when you’ve got your head down and no reference points, so I had to stop every now and then to make sure I was still heading in the right direction. As time went on the island, which started off in the hazy distance (you can see the isalnd behind us in the picture above) started to come into sharper relief and I realised I wasn’t too far from the finish – so time to put on a final spurt. The end of the race is on the beach by the harbour, and as we came into harbour you could hear the cries of supporters on the harbour side urging us on, and finally there it was, the finishing line. Crossing the line I was handed a tag giving my position in the race (181st, out of around 450 swimmers), and I checked my time, 1hr 50mins – I had thought it would take over 2 hours, so very pleased.


The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the remaining swimmers coming in and then waiting for the medal ceremony. One of our team, Ramona, was the fastest female, so she was presented with an impressive trophy – see pic.

Then back to Dakar by ferry, and Sacha’s apartment to pick up our belongings – and to scoff whatever was left in his fridge (sorry Sacha), and then home. A truly memorable day.