March Just Got Cashed

“March is cashed”. The famous phrase that encapsulated my month before it even started. After being in Touba my travels had only just begun. It all officially started March 12th at 3am. It officially ended April 6th at 5:30pm. Just like with my three weeks with Katie, there is no way I can write down all of my experiences in one blog. However, here are some of the highlights:

TRIP TO NIKOLO KOBA REGION: NATIONAL PARK, KEDOUGOU. March 12-16th.
- -18 hour bus-ride with 18 other American girls from campus to the south eastern corner of Senegal
- One night in the Wildlife Reserve
- 2 Safaris: 1 water, 1 land…consisting of warthogs, 3 species of antelope, crocodiles, hippos, lots of birds, monkeys, and unfortunately NO lions this time
- Two nights on the border with Guinea Conakry
- An icy swim in a watering hole fueled by a huge waterfall nestled in the mountains
- A hike up a mountain to visit the Bassari people, an ethnic group barely touched by modernization (think National Geographic).
- Second visit to Touba mosque, this time during the day to take pictures.

FUTA REGION: LE VILLAGE DE HORÉ FONDÉ. March 17-22nd.
- 8 hour wait for a bus in 43ºC heat
- One night in Richard Toll (because where we were going was so far away, no one else was going there until the next afternoon)
- Stayed with my friend, Demba, and his younger brother at his grandmother’s house
- Practiced my Pulaar skills (g’ma only speaks Pul, and most of the village is from the Pulaar ethnic group). “Aheeli Jamm. Mbata?”
- Met the Chief/King of the village
- Ate 4-5 different Senegalese specialities/plates per meal
- Milked a cow!!!!!!(My dream, finally realized!)
- Drank the milk still warm from the cow. Mmm, whole and creamy.

DAKAR. March 22-27th.
*Stayed a night with Demba’s nuclear family in Pikine, an outer quartier/suburb of Dakar. This is the ghetto of Dakar. They may have better access to running water, but when was the last time you lived in a 4 room apartment with 10 members of your family (5 boys, 1 girl, 1 cousin with 2 kids, and 2 parents)? Also only Pulaar with the women, the men thankfully spoke French and Wolof. Easter spent with this Muslim family. They made me the traditional dish that the Christians all make for Easter, ngalax.

MALI: BAMAKO, MOPTI, BANDIAGARA, DOGON COUNTRY, DJENNÉ. March 27-April 6th.
- 10 total vehicle breakdowns of varying degrees of gravity
- 52 hour sept-place/mini-car/bus voyage from Dakar, Sénégal to Bamako, Mali
- 2 nights spent in abandoned buses
- 1 night spent on a concrete slab at the police station (yes, it was voluntary)
- Got the royal treatment in Bamako at my oldest host sister, Poupy’s pimped out house (her husband works for the IMF).
- Got a manicure and pedicure Malian style for 25¢
- Spent a Bamako afternoon drinking tea, getting a Bambara language lesson, and eating a Malian specialty (like lax only less sweet and with a millet base)
- Best April Fools Day joke played on us; instead of ending up in Djenné as planned, we wake up on the bus at 1am to find ourselves in Mopti, 90km further north.
- 18 km hike through the cliffs of the southern end of Dogon Country (an ancient ethnic group living IN the cliffs)
- 1 night under the stars on a campement roof…romantic until we survived the Harmattan wind sandstorm
- A taste of Crème du Dogon, aka LA FORCE, aka Crazy Cream!
- A taste of millet beer, shared with the old men of Djiguibombo, a Dogon village
- Full body massage from a traditional medicine man
- Saw the largest mud mosque in the world
- Visited one of the oldest towns in Western Africa
- Met a super awesome French Canadian traveler on the last leg of his 3 month trek around Western Africa. He has me pretty much convinced I’m moving to Montreal.
- Met Nordine. Half Hollandaise, half Spaniard-try to understand that mix/accent. Never heard such stories.

*Made it back safe and sound. Alxamdoulilahi. Started my second semester classes, so far so good. Now just trying to recuperate and make my body happy with me again. Looking forward to being home and staying on campus.

Thanks. Merci. Jerrejef. Adjarama. Gana. Initié.