Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 83/96 - Dakar, Senegal - More Nature and a Baobab Bonanza
It is amazing to realize that we have less than two weeks left to go on this adventure. We have seen and done a lot, and we have many new things still to go, but we'll be home in 13 days. Wow.
Senegal is the last new country for us on this journey. It is our 105th country and even more interesting, the 100th country we have visited since retiring in January 2018. We've been busy. We still have several new ports, and one repeat, all in countries we have visited before.
We docked in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. We took an excursion to the Bandia Wildlife Reserve for a game drive through the reserve. It took about an hour to reach the reserve.
Dakar is a thoroughly modern city with a solid infrastructure. We saw very few motorcycles and scooters - a sign that the locals can afford cars. They also have regular trash pickup so the lack of trash all over the place was a huge difference from some of the other African countries.
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| Monument to the Soldier Frances and Senegales at Skirmisher Square |
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| The train station is in the background |
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| They have a new, modern electric train that whisks passengers to the outskirts of Dakar |
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| Memorial Statue to Captain Diagne Mbaye |
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| He died while saving victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda |
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| Dakar Arena - mainly a basketball venue with 15,000 seats |
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| A take on the flag in the center of a round-a-bout |
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| The entry to the airport is on the left and a lion statue is on the right |
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| Grand Mosque of Dakar - Senegal is around 90%-95% Muslim |
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| Outside of Dakar, things got a little rougher |
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| A cement factory |
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| The 50,000-seat Senegal Stadium, a football (soccer) venue |
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| Sunday must be laundry day as we saw laundry drying everywhere |
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| Museum of Black Civilisations |
After about an hour on the road, we arrived at Bandia Wildlife Reserve.
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| A lion reserve and rehab, Ranch De Bandia, was located across the street, behind these murals |
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| We were greeted by vervet monkies as soon as we arrived |
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| Baobab trees were all over the place - you couldn't look in any direction without seeing one |
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| These trees live for more than 1,000 years |
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| Long-tailed glossy starling |
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| I think it is a type of sparrow, or possibly a finch |
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| Giant tortoises |
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| Red acacia tree - the red isn't bark, it is a lichen that protects the bark |
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| More baobabs |
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| Abyssinian roller |
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| Possibly a brown snake eagle |
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| Impala |
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| Zebra |
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| Their stripes are unique, like a fingerprint |
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| Giraffes have unique spot patterns too |
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| The middle one is an albino zebra |
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| Male ostrich |
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| White rhino |
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| They are noticeably larger than the black rhinos we saw in Zimbabwe |
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| Their horns were removed so they don't hurt each other |
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| This is the female |
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| A family of warthogs was hanging out with the rhino |
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| Relaxing time |
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| Just by happenstance, I caught this Abyssinian roller in flight |
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| Another long-tailed glossy starling |
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| The male white rhino |
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| Weaver nests in a baobab tree |
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| African buffalo |
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| A cattle egret, eating bugs stirred up by the buffalo |
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| Oxpeckers, getting a ride |
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| One bizarre-looking tail |
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| This male had been in multiple fights based on all the scars |
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| Patas monkies |
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| Elands |
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| This female ostrich was right next to our truck |
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| The male was farther away |
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| More red acacias |
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| A red hornbill |
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| The Griots Tomb was a 1,000-year-old baobab where tribal elders got buried inside the tree |
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| The tomb, complete with a skull |
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| A lizard, checking out the tree |
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| The diameter of this tree was about 20 feet |
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| This was one massive tree |
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| We returned to our starting point and checked out the local crocodiles |
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| I just told a good joke - this was a laugh |
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| Several of them found it funny |
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| I play well to reptile audiences |
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| They were even chuckling in the cheap seats |
We made the hour-long drive back to the port.
We browsed the vendors who set up on the pier, vying for tourist dollars. Arlona did pick up a nice crocodile purse for a decent price.
As we started to sail away, kites (birds) were flying all around the ship.
As we sailed out, we passed this interesting ship.
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| It is a floating power station, producing 335MW of power using liquid natural gas - it supplies 20% of Senegal's power needs |
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| We sailed past Île de Gorée - a former slave trade clearinghouse |
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| A fortress on the island |
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| Slave trade buildings |
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| That door on the bottom was called the Door of No Return - slaves left through that door to board boats, never to return |
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| We were treated to our first decent sunset in quite a while |
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| The sky was very hazy - I'm guessing it was Saraha sand |
Since we ate a late lunch, we just ate snacks in the Observation Bar. We returned to our suite, ordered light snacks from room service, and called it dinner.
We went to the show tonight. New guest performers, Soulwaves, boarded today. They are a singing trio who focus on soul and Motown. It's funny because all the songs were recorded well before any of the three were born.
They were a high-energy act, playing music from Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, Tina Turner, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, and more. They were a fun act and the audience seemed to really enjoy the performance.
We will be at sea for the next two days as we sail to our next port, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. The seas have gotten rougher and the ship was moving as we headed to bed. We will get a nice rock to sleep tonight.
Fantastic photos!
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