Like a beaconing
lighthouse such the white man is a radiating symbol for cash in West Africa!
But not in a nasty or sinister way (its far safer here than in Europe) but the
daily game of people directly or indirectly trying to wrangle money out of you becomes
an interesting sport.
However,
dig your way past the people coming to the roadside demanding money or possessions,
the coincidental passers by offering help but with a whole cobweb of schemes to
help themselves, the absence of any fixed/ published prices for anything and
the countless bars filled with hookers, and you will find a people very relaxed,
gentle, warm and with a special charm and style.
And who can
criticise such actions in a world where only the lucky few have any sort of
regular decent income – the rest left to manage and get-by, somehow, someway.
In the countryside it seems simpler to survive off the land (allotted to you by
the chief). In the cities and bigger towns one has to be more inventive. People
rely on strength of family and community which are very real with many families live
together in compounds. The critical monthly expense seems to be the 50kg bag of
rice for around 25 euros. Then after that onions, fish, meat, vegies, other
fruits, torch batteries etc. with no
sign of demand decreasing with kids everywhere. Its hard to confirm what the average Joe Bloggs get paid here but seems to
be somewhere between 50 and 100 euros a month.
Lots of
notices of aid programs along the roadside and its seems plausible that the NGO’s have effected
peoples mentality ‘westerners are vending machines - stick your hand out quickly
rather than trying to help yourself’.
Ok, enough
shit talk from me. Summary of trip since
last blog (yes its been a while, I’ve been lazy)
- Small unspoilt villages among the dunes in Southern Mauritania oozing with authentic community spirit
- Crazy border crossing into Senegal at Rosso … hard to know where the border was and who to believe
- Accidently cycling through Student Protest that was blocking the road (take better notice of cars parked funnily in future!). Suddenly being surrounded by a mob with rocks and having bike pulled from me!
- Few days in old colonial town of Saint Louis with frantic fishing industry and reunion with freely available ALCOHOL – YES!
- Getting hit by truck on road to Dakar … body and bike survived … bags and laptop got busted … a small price to pay.
- Few days in Dakar over Xmas … big spread out city … lots of scammers … very good social scene … Senegalese big into their music especially reggae
- New Year at Saly, beach resort south of Dakar … really nice
- A night in village compound on way to Gambia
- 3 days in Serrekunda, Gambia … best place so far … English instead of French … cheaper than Senegal … less hasslers … good party scene … military rule makes it a very organised ordered place … they have a cleaning day once a month where the whole country shuts and police prevent car travel.
- A night in very remote village on way back to Senegal
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