Dakar and the end of the Senegal adventure

I already had a small impression of Dakar before going to Casamance. Nevertheless, I thought I needed to see more, since I’ve just had seen some dusty roads. We arrived at the port and decided to go to the Gorée. It was a beautiful island very close to Dakar, that where slaves were concentrated and commercialized some centuries before. So it was full of old buildings and history.

 They also had a lot of beautiful handicrafts. It was interesting to be on this island, and learn about the slavery situation back then. Sometimes is hard to believe that that was true, men being killed for wanting freedom, separated families, young children put away from their mothers.  In one of the houses, they still have the cells where the slaves were kept while waiting for the next boat to come. There is a door, called the “door of no return”, since after crossing that door, the slaves got into the boats and they would never returned home.

After the island we went back to Dakar, to the most western point of Africa.  It is striking that this part of the continent is owed by a fancy hotel. We sneaked in and took some pictures before they kicked us out. Then we went for lunch at the seashore before going back to the seminar.  Dakar is a big city, with a lot of cars and thereby, a lot of traffic jams. People drive in a very stressed manner and is interesting that you can even see small cars pulled by donkeys going on the way.  

Senegal is a nice country. I wasn’t that much in the city, so I can’t say if I like it. But, regarding the countryside, it was beautiful, I loved it. People is warm, the landscapes are beautiful. So, I take a great impression from my first visit to Africa.

When I was younger, I thought that I will go to an African country and save the world. Now that I’m going back home, I realize that this time I got much more than what I gave.  We built a solar PV system that provides electricity to an educational building and we hope to increase the impact of the association with this.  Nevertheless, the life experience and what I learned was amazing.

At the beginning it sounds difficult to live without electricity, mobile phone or internet, but when you doing it, help me to realize that all this things are not really a need.  Of course, if you have to run a business and study this are useful resources, but sometimes they prevent us to enjoy other things that can be more valuable, like watching the stars and having a nice conversation with friends while having dinner.  I realized that it was a long time since I didn’t pay attention to the sky and the stars, and I have forgotten how amazing and entertaining it can be.  When I got to the ferry, I also realized I hadn’t had a mirror for some time, and before I was used to see myself in a mirror every day. Sometimes we worry about so many things that can be meaningless, these people can have less than us, but they are way friendlier and seem happier, always smiling.

I was impressed of the religious tolerance that exists in Casamance, even most of the population is Muslim, Christians and Muslims realize together different activities, for example the dance festival. There is also a lot of trust between them; it was striking to see free goats everywhere and I was always wondering how they know of whom are the goats. 

I also learn to not prejudge people. When I got to Senegal it was shocking that all the stores and all the people stop working at noon and continue after 4 pm.  After some time, I realize that it is impossible to work at that time, because of the heat.  I wanted to take naps and stay in the shadow during those hours. Besides, at the beginning I didn’t like all my teammates, but after some days I realize that they are very nice guys, committed to the work and we develop a very nice friendship. Time went so fast, and I have the impression that our impact was not too big. Nevertheless, I know that at this time I came to observe and learn how they live and what they do. For a next time, I hope I can use all the knowledge I’ve gain to help these people or other people somewhere else.

The Senegal Adventure. Cap Skirring

  On Sunday afternoon, after finishing connecting all the panels properly, we took a Taxi to Cap Skirring.  They say is one of the most beautiful touristic attractions of Casamance. We arrived almost at 4 and try to find accommodation.  We realized that the “city center” was quite small and there were just a few bars and restaurants. So, the only options were the so-called camp –sites: small huts inside a wall and one or a few rooms inside each hut.  We ask for prices in some of these camps and we found many new friends on the way. All of them greet you nicely and tried to offer one of their services, like restaurants or fishing tours. At the end, we decided to stay at The Paradise, which was a perfect name for the place.  

     It was a beautiful white-sand beach with a lot of palm trees; something totally different from what we had seen before.  From the restaurant of the camp-site we had a nice view to the horizon. We were very hungry and ordered something for lunch. After living two weeks in Senegal, this was the first time we ate at a local restaurant and we had a lot to learn about it. We already knew that Senegalese time is always late, but we didn’t know that it was even worse for food. We waited almost one and a half hour to get our food.  At Brin we used to eat all together from the same plate, each of us had a spoon and grab the food from a big plate at the center of the table. I thought it was to avoid washing the dishes, but apparently this is the way Senegalese people eats, since we saw a lot of people eating like this at the restaurant. 

     After lunch we went for a walk in the beach. It was full with young people playing and dancing, there was even a wrestling competition. Something very bizarre for us was that there were many cows along the beach, resting. 

     We found a nice spot without cows and went for a swim; the waves and the water temperature were perfect and we stayed there until the sunset.  We decided to go down town for dinner, and on our way we realize we didn’t have any cash and in Senegal, I haven’t find a place where they take your credit or debit card.  So we got in the first restaurant we found and bargained until we got the price we wanted to be able to have dinner. I have heard that African people live just for the day, and we witnessed it.  At the moment we asked for the food, the woman went out to buy the potatoes and the vegetables to prepare our meal. So as usual, we waited more than one hour for the food. We ate and went back to the camp-site without any party or beers for the night. 

The next day we woke up very late, we had been very tired. We had lunch again in the camp-site, but this time we ordered the food one and a half hours before lunch time.  Then we went down town to look for some souvenirs and some traditional clothes. It took us like two hours to make the deal, but we found a good tailor and a good price. 

 We went back to the hotel and had asked one of the guys we met the day before to prepare dinner for us, so at night we went to a restaurant at the beach.  We ate literally under the stars, at the light of two candles and hearing some African music. Amazing night! It seemed like it was a paradise just for us. 

     We ate grilled fish with rice and then we got some beach chairs and stayed at the beach watching the stars for some time that felt like years.  The sky was clear and beautiful and the sound of the waves created the perfect scene. After a while we decided to go back home, not without taking our midnight bath.  The water was warm. Even though the waves were not that high, the loud sound they made and the darkness, made me feel scared after a while. It was frightening to be the only ones in that big sea. 

     Since we had enjoyed the dinner so much, we made a deal with the guy who prepared it (who I will name John because I don’t remember his name and I don’t want to remember) to have a tour the next day to visit some islands. As a typical Senegalese he arrived late to pick us up, they he took us to his pirogue and we started the trip. We had paid already half, since as is usual in Senegal, he needed some money to buy the fuel and other things for the trip, and on the first 20 minutes of the trip he asked for the rest of the money because he said he needed to buy more fuel. 

      The first island we visited was Tom Tom Telephonique.  They say it is special because of its drums that were used to communicate between the islands. As soon as we arrived, a group of kids approached us. It was wonderful! All of them coming to great us. It seemed like they were having a party on the middle of the island, since they had music and were all dancing together. But in fact, that is their everyday life.  Dancing. Senegalese people love to dance and it is incredible how even small children enjoy the music and can dance, is as they have rhythm in the blood. 

     As we walked along the island, more and more kids approached. All of them asking our names and where we were from, trying to grab our hands. We saw the famous drums that are not that interesting as they said. We visited the village; there were a lot of small huts and a small school of two rooms. Incredibly, most of the huts and the school had PV panels on top. That was very interesting for us, since it is related to our careers.  At the school we stayed some time talking with the boys and what they wanted to be when they grew up; most of them said they wanted to be football players and just one of them said he wanted to be the president of Senegal. They were very proud of the African football players and knew the name of all of them and what are they doing. It was fascinating to see what are the interests of the kids and what are they aiming from.

    At this island we learned more about the lifestyle of the people than about Tom Tom Telephonique. It was nice to see a little bit more detailed how people live and what they do.

     Then we went to the Crocodile Island, were they told us we could see crocodiles walking everywhere.  Again, it was an exaggeration.  We just saw three crocodiles and inside some walls. We were quite disappointed and we were waiting for the third island: the bird island. We got back into the pirogue and start our travel. When we were passing some mangles, John said: “This is the bird island; the problem is that since it is noon the birds are eating and that is why you can’t see them”.  At this moment we realized we have been tricked. We were waiting just for the last promise: a good meal and we clearly stated we didn’t want Tiebudien. Tiebudien is one of the typical foods of Casamance, it is rice with fried fish and vegetables, and it is very good, but we have been eaten that for the last two weeks, so we wanted something different. We had asked for some Mafe. Mafe is another typical food from Casamance that someone had recommended us and it is made with a peanut sauce, since it sounds like Mafer, we were very keen about trying it.   Saddly,  we had Tiebudien for lunch, again. We were very mad at the guy, but he didn’t care, he said that he had given a good price and it wasn’t his fault that the only thing available was it.  We learned that even Senegalese people have been very nice to us; one has to be always careful. 

    When we came back to Cap Skirring we went to pick up our typical clothes. I have asked for a dressed, when I saw it I was impressed of how beautiful it was. After a little of disappointment and a lot of good impressions, we left Cap Skirring and went back to Bignona.

Senegal adventure. Second week

     This week we worked  a lot. The Monday seemed eternal. We had a lot to do and a lot of pressure to finish. At the middle of the day a huge snake (huge for me, but like 50 cm long) appeared just in the middle if the field while we were working. We freaked out and the masons doing the pilars rapidly came to try to kill it throwing rocks at it. Finally, one of the masons hit it with a stick and killed it. Apparently it wasn't dangerous, but it scared us.

     I went to mass in the afternoon. I remember I got mad with my mom because she wanted to hear the mass in Notre Dame de Paris even if it was in French; but after that I understood that even if there are somethings I don't understand, the ritual is the same so the language doesn't matter. At the end if the day I wanted to go to Bignona, back to the seminar since there was going to be a mass for my grandfather in the morning. It took us a long to get there since we did many stops. We first stopped at a nice hotel and drink something at the shore of the river, watching how piroles (small wooden motor boats) come and go. Then we went to the hospital of Zinguachor,  I don't know why. They told us about the poor conditions of the hospital buy we couldn't get in.  There was just one nurse for 300 patients and the families of the sick people should cook and feed them because they didn't have this service. After three hours we reached Bignona.

     The next day we went to mass, it was the last mass of the school year for the primary school kids so all of them were there. It was a very nice experience and very comfortable to hear happy songs as if heaven was welcoming my grandfather. After the mass we drove back to Brin.

     The week went by fast. We had a lot of new problems and solutions for the system. First of all, the pillars were not at the position the required them, so the structure holding the panels didn't fit. Nevertheless, we locate the panels for a while at the floor and started charging the batteries. On Wednesday afternoon we already had electricity for the building, which we of course celebrated with some Gazelles. It was an amazing feeling of success even the work hadn't been finished. That night we made a fire to cook the dinner, as usual, and for the first time I went to the store by myself and ask for some tomato sauce in French. It was impressive to get into the small store and realize that there was no light and when I asked for the sauce, the guy just turned on a small flash light and looked for it. This reminded me when I was young and there were a lot of blackouts at my grandparents place in the Guatemalan countryside.

On Thursday we went to a crocodile farm, they had crocodiles of all ages and a lot of fruits and nice flowers. It was a nice visit. 

That night, when we were going to sleep I found a huge spider in the wall of my room.  It freaked all of us out, since we had never seen a spider that big. William killed it with a piece of wood, but even after that  I was so scared that was thinking to even sleep outside in the garden and not in my room. 

Even we had already connected the panels and were having electricity, they were not fixed on the pillars yet, since the pillars weren't finished and we had the problem of the distance between them.  We had asked for a certain distance between the panels and we just assumed that the masons were going to build them with the required specifications.  But, we assumed wrong and then we had a huge problem since the structure didn't fit on the pillars. After a lot of different ideas and some tries, we decided to rebuild the structure to make it fit on the pillars.  Then a smith came to make the angles to support the structure on the pillars. On Saturday afternoon, the masons, the smith and us work as hard and fast as we could and by the end of the day the panels were on top and fixed on the pillars. The next morning we just finished some connections and the system was almost finished so we decided to take some vacations. 

Senegal adventure. Day 9. The dolphins show.

We decided to go to another island near the sea, so a lot of different fish could be found there. We started our trip around 10 am. A small motor boat came to pick us up. After 15 min or so of traveling we started seeing dolphins jumping our from the water. The driver turned off the motor so the dolphins came closer. We saw like 4 of them very close to the shore of the island. It is an amazing experience to see wild dolphins so close. I have seen them in shows in aquariums, and once in the sea, but never that close.

After some time we reached the island and we realized why the dolphins were so close to the shore. The island was full of fishermen that cleaned the fish, threw their insides to the sea and put them to dry. So it was easy food for the dolphins. When we arrived at the island we had to show our passports as usual. I still don't understand why Senegal has all these military checkpoints. Then we started walking in the seashore. A horrible smell from the dead fish was all over and a lot of fish residues were being carried by the waves. We saw many different kinds of sea animals. After walking some time, we reached a very nice and isolated beach and spent some time there.

When going back we saw again more dolphins; and now closer. One of them started to swim just besides our boat and another swam below it, from one side to.the other. We were so impressed that we didn't have time to get our cameras.

We went back to Caraban and went fishing. I'd never fished with a nice fishing stick before. I always though it was boring and I was right. We spent two hours under the sun, burning ourselves, without fishing anything. None of us could catch something, just some branches.

We went back to the hotel, frustrated, hungry and worried; since we had tell the chef that we would eat what we fish and in this case we had nothing. But as if they knew that we weren't going to catch a thing, they had everything prepares for dinner.

Senegal adventure. Day 6.

At three am the storm started again. It was refreshing. For.the first time in some days I slept like a baby, without waking up every hour because it is so warm. I slept so well that finally I woke up almost at 9. We went to buy bread for breakfast, which was surprisingly cheap. We bought 2 baguettes for less than a euro. Coming back we found to buys that told is that the match was set for the afternoon. Apparently, Claudio had asked someone to arrange a football match. So it was set.

We ate breakfast and started working. Some masons came to build the pillars in which we will place the panels. it was interesting that they use seashells, instead of rocks to make concrete. We worked slowly, we were tired and the sun was too strong. We ate all together in big plates, each with our own spoon. And as usual, mangos for dessert! =)

In the afternoon, William and me went to Zinguachor to the hardware store to buy the things we were missing. It was interesting to see that they even sell pots and coolers there. The other three went for the football match.

When we came back, we tried to plug the batteries to cook dinner, but something went wrong and we had some sparks and flames. Nothing serious; nevertheless we had to find out what was the problem. Most of us were tired and just wanted to have dinner and William wanted to fix it as soon as possible. This brought a small discussion in the group. Even though, when you work with friends is so easy to overcome small differences and these teammates of mine are so easy going that everything was ok in a few moments. We went to cook dinner where the nuns live. I cooked the most awful pasta of my life, but we Foivos said: it was just because I didn't have the means. After dinner we went for some gazelles. We didn't find gazelles, nor Flags. So we tried now 33 exp. We stay there talking about life and then a little of nonsense things.

While going back we enjoyed the stars and they saw some shooting stars. I didn't see any. Nevertheless, I made a wish.

Senegal Adventure. Day 4. The hard work is almost starting.

So we woke up early, as usual. We had breakfast and then rest a little, since we had to find a minivan to get all the equipment to the school.  At 11, we put all the equipment in the minivan and start the trip. We are staying in Bignona and the school is in Brin, like 40 km of distance. On the way we saw a lot of Mango sales. I don’t understand how all the people here sell mangos, if all of them sell mangos, who is going to buy them?

After less than an hour we arrived at Brin.  The school was nice, is a big building with a huge free area.  We started taking some measurements to see where to put the panels, and spent some time discussing where was the north, since none of the five Engineers thought about bringing a compass.

We went to the house of the nuns; they were going to cook for us the next days. We went into the town. Did some shopping and then come back to Bignona to work.  We did some shadow simulations and start planning the work for the next days.  

Senegal adventure. Day 5.

We woke up earlier than usual and we drove to Brin. This time the way seemed extra long. We will stay here the next three days.

The idea was to live without electricity and internet. But apparently we will still have all these "supplies". With all the technology now we have electricity in batteries and a portable internet USB stick. Why we don't dare to live three days without these "necessities"? For me it sounded like a terrific idea; be unplugged for some days and have at least a closer feeling of how these people live. I still don't understand in which moment these commodities turn into needs. Sometimes I think it will be great to spend some time in a remote place with access to any of these; maybe being disconnected from the outside world we can connect with ourselves. I want to enjoy more the nature, the people, the life, me. At the end at least we didn't use computers or internet. Just cellphones to play some music and flashlights.

So; we started building the system. We still don't know where to place the panels to have the right location and avoid shadows. We already plugged the batteries. While doing it I touches the positive and negative poles of the saw battery and a huge spark came out of it. It wasn't that bad, but I got q little scared. We also build the supports of the panels. I know my father would be proud of me, since I know how to use the tools. He always said knowing that would be useful sometime , but I never truly believed it.

We share lunch in huge plastic plates. As Alberto -one of the future priests- told me, Senegalese people eat rice in every meal. So again, we had rice for lunch.

We kept on working. But after lunch and with that temperature, it was almost impossible.

At the end of the day we decided to go for some gazelles. Nevertheless, in the bar next to our place there were no gazelles so we tried some flags. We came back and made a bonfire to cook some potatoes. We enjoyed a terrific dinner of potatoes and shrimps, while having Flags and watching a beautiful sky full of stars. I haven't seen such a nice sky in years.

Just when the lights of the city are off you can enjoy the lights of the sky.