A Blissful Day In Dakar

The conference had been well on its way for a few days now and the workloads I had received hadn't been too overwhelming. Nevertheless I was happy to hear that there would be a day of rest during which people could relax, ease their minds and think about all the information and new opportunities that arose during the conference. I think this kind of rest day should be implemented in all of these conferences/summits/symposiums, where sitting and listening will tire you out quicker than you might think. For this day we were presented with a number of options - we could choose from various activities such as going to the slave island or cleaning a beach or visiting a nearby ecovillage. I had my mind on other things and forgot to chose any of the given opportunities, leaving me with nothing to do during the morning on which most people left to do one of the activities. "Which trip are you planning on going to?" I hear Lydia say from behind as I lean on the gate of the hotel, watching the people huddle into different groups and get onto the buses. "None I think, I have to admit I just forgot about it. Anyway - I was planning on maybe going to the beach now." I reply and turn around to see her face which was framed by thick brown dreadlocks. "Really? I was wondering where it was. Maybe we could go there together? Oh and I think Lua, Nick and some others are going to go to another island which wasn't offered in the activities - I think we could go with them later." She replies, smiling and revealing her white teeth. "I went there yesterday with Troy, it's not all that far. And that island sounds like a good plan." I answer, happy to know that the day would turn out to become more lively than I had anticipated. We start walking through the sandy streets, crossing a little slum until we reach an asphalt road leading us to the colourful boats by the ocean. This was the most west point on the African continent, over the far far ocean I could imagine Latin America and Colombia - where I knew I would be travelling to in just over a months time. We wander the beach carefully, as not to step into any of the cut off fish heads which covered many parts of the yellow sand, until we reach a few street kids playing football. We join the game and have a marvellous time, though my body was still used to the cold Scottish climate. Thus I stop quite early, but as we stop playing so do the kids. Lydia had worked with street kids in the Congo and therefore had a great time talking to them, however my french knowledge is next to nothing so I just observe them enjoy the interchange. We head back to the hotel after two hours or so, I didn't want to miss the trip to that other island. The kids we played football with had such a great time with Lydia that they walked back with us. After nursing one of the children's wounds Lydia gets out some crayons and paper and starts drawing with them as we wait for the group to get ready for our trip.

Finally we had gotten everyone together and head to the place where a ferry would take us to the island. On the way Lua explains to me some of the interesting facts about the island: it was called Ile de Madeleines, but often also referred to as the 'ghost island'. It was uninhabited even though many had tried to live there, apparently a spirit had been destroying every house that had been built there over the centuries, ultimately failing all attempts to make it livable. Now it was mainly just a few tourist and a guide that wandered the island every now and then. And that is basically what we were going to do that day. We crossed the choppy sea to the island with a little motorboat and wandered the island with our guide. Though I must admit that we drove him mad as we just didn't do what he wanted and took longer than he anticipated in almost every place. We were busy climbing the majestic baobab trees that grew low, large and plentiful while the guide watched these 'crazy tourists' from a distance - only to shout out every five minutes that we should go on. We decide to have a longer break by a little beach which was covered in rusty metal bits. These had come from the big shipwreck which was lying only the short distance of 50m away from the island, Nick from the US and I decided to embark on a little adventure. He started by swimming out to the metal hull which had been covered in a thick crust of dangerously sharp barnacles. I follow shortly after and it was a risky climb over the rusty boat which had been tilted starkly by the forces of the sea. I get away with only a few little cuts, I could just hope that the tetanus injection I had received three years ago was still intact and working it's magic to prevent me from getting blood poisoning. Back on the shore we continue walking and reach the other side of the island - where we had started from and where the little boat was waiting to pick us up again. Again we felt the need to explore the island just a little longer and started climbing over some rocks which lay near the boat. Nick, Josi and I, being the youngest and I guess reasonably fit made the decision to go on climbing and crossed the slippery stones to see some of the amazing rock formations. It reminded me of the scene of a nature documentary as I saw the sea clash against the hexagon shaped rocks. A little further in the distance one could see the opening in between the rocks, like a gateway for the sea. The pure force of the ocean was so concentrated at that point, that the water shot up in high above the rocks once it had passed through the opening. After managing to turn my eyes from this spectacle I start heading back, however just in that moment an especially big wave hits the rocks in front of me and floods my legs. Just by climbing up higher onto the rocks I prevent myself from being pulled out into the open sea.

We arrive at the little dock a little later than expected, the sea had started getting more stormy as we returned and the little boat had some trouble cutting through the growing waves. This was one of many moments during my travels that I was happy to have bought a water proof camera. We climb out of the boat, a little shaken, and head to the nearby market to feast on some of the delicious sea foods that the fishermen had brought to the shore that day. A couple of hours later we get back to the hotel with full bellies and happy hearts.