Bassari Country

Hello everyone!

I just got back late last night from the trip we took with our program and the programs from University of Wisconsin and Hamlin. We left at 3 in the morning last Sunday for the 12 hour drive to Tambacounda. Because Senegalese people can't count (using your finger to point and count people is actually a taboo here, because it apparently brings bad luck) the 13 of us (there were originally going to be 14) left in 12 person bus, with one seat being taken up by a water cooler. That made for a fun ride. But we made it there at last. The next morning we drove for another couple of hours until we got to our next hotel that is in a national park. We went on a safari through the park when we got there, and saw lots and lots of monkeys, wart hogs, birds, gazelles, antelopes, some other weird deer things, and a leopard (though it was in a big cage because its mother was killed by hunters when it was a baby). Later in the day we went on a boat ride on the river, and that is when it got really exciting because there were HIPPOS! That was probably my favorite part, though there were also some crocodiles in the river as well. And of course more monkeys. The monkeys would run all over the hotel. At night we followed our guide from the morning into the woods to try to find the hippos at their feeding grounds, but they never came. He said he would come get us when they did, because every night he would sit out and wait for them because they were his favorite animal. So at one o clock we trekked back out because he said he had seen them but they still weren't there, though we heard them in the distance.

The next morning we got up bright and early again and after a couple more hours of driving, arrived in Kedougu, which is a town close to the border of Guinea. We left again right away to make it to this water fall in time. It was a 2-3 drive there but it was definitely worth it. We hiked to the water fall (the hiking was really exciting too, because this is the only part of Senegal with mountains, and the path there was also very green, which was a very nice change) and it was amazing. It was the most beautiful waterfall I'd ever seen. I believe it was 100 meters tall, and it had a pool at the bottom that we all went swimming in.

The next day, after some more hours in the bus, we went to a Bassari festival that we had been invited to. It was really amazing. They were celebrating the election of someone from the area to office, so there were all these tribes that came dressed up in different traditional outfits and did different dances. Sometimes they would pull us in and make us dance with them. We were really luckly to get a chance to see it.

The bus ride home took all day, but we made a stop in Touba, the holy city of the Mourides, a sect of Islam in Senegal to see the mosque, which is the biggest on in West Africa. It was really amazing. It was ginormous and covered in marble, and probably the only building in Senegal that gets any construction done in a reasonable amount of time.

But classes are starting Monday, inchallah, so that should be a change of pace. Hopefully they will go well, and someone will give us a course schedule before then.

I miss you all! Enjoy all of your warm showers for me!
Love,
Christiana

Back from our journeys...

Hello again everyone!

It's been a long time since the last time I've had a chance to write, so there is a lot to catch up on. I had malaria for a few days so I didn't really make it to the computer lab, but luckily I got it diagnosed and started taking the medicine which worked wonders! Laura and I just got back from two weeks of traveling, and we are about to take off again since the start of classes got pushed back. We traveled along the Petite Cote. We stayed in a couple towns along there that were pretty touristy but had some nice beaches. We met up with some people from the Baobab Center where we studied in Dakar at one of the stops, and went back with them to Dakar for the weekend, but before that we stopped at a place called AcroBaobab, where they had a ropes course and zip-lining between some huge baobab trees, which was amazing.

After leaving Dakar again we went farther South into the Sine Saloum Delta, where we met up with two Danish boys, which I was excited about, since it gave me a chance to practice trying to understand the language. We went on a pirogue trip through the mangroves with them and a French couple, which was really cool. In the next place we stayed though we got to kayak through the mangroves, which was even better. When the tied went out and they were pretty much all dry we also had a walking tour through them. We saw some monkeys in the Baobab trees there too, and Laura saw a mongoose. Overall it was a really good trip, though the ride back took a whole day and was not too pleasant.

We should be striking out again soon though, probably to Southeast Senegal, which is supposedly the coolest part of the country, and a bit of the Gambia. I miss you all and hope you are doing well!

Love,
Christiana