Saturday, July 23, 2005
Sedhiou, Casamance, Senegal
We have not covered a shockingly large amount of ground. Our departure was delayed by an attempt to persuade the ambassador of Guineau Bissau to issue us passports from his country
While Sean and I were originally eager to leave the Senegambia region in which we have lived for a number of years, the beauty and approachability of southern Senegal caused a change of plans. There was no evidence of instability anywhere along our indirect route through the region, the police and military were friendly and hands off while the people, especially of Sedhiou, were hospitable, affable and fair at all of the moments when we were accustomed to being most on guard. I like being disarmed. Most people do. So we stayed for a while and developed an understanding of Senegal's national program to fight AIDS, which is impressively organized (see the article "Concerning AIDS in Senegal").
In blunt contrast to Gambia, the infrastructure of Senegal has proven dependable. We spent a couple of hours driving on busted dirt roads for the very acceptable reason that new roads were actively under construction a few meters to the left or right. Whether or not, on balance, the self-contained and relaxed, low-crime villages along the way will benefit from being put within arm's reach of the rest of us, I am not really sure. The time warp effect of traveling around a developing country can easily result in reactionary thinking.
Also, for some reason it hasn't rained on us yet, which is good because we can't figure out how to work the tarp on the roof rack. When we open the hood of our car (as we did several times to reconnect the battery wires) I am filled with terror by the massive complexity of the thing. We are trying to feed it wonderful fluids as regularly as possible; but I know it will turn on us and perhaps prove stronger.
We have not covered a shockingly large amount of ground. Our departure was delayed by an attempt to persuade the ambassador of Guineau Bissau to issue us passports from his country
—something we did on the advice of confidential sources who usually merit trust. Success would have saved us thousands of dollars on VISA costs, since Africans do not pay for VISAS in Africa. The ambassador proved to be quite friendly and scrupulously professional. We learned that you can only get a country's passport if you are from that country. We had to learn that because we are venal and dense.While Sean and I were originally eager to leave the Senegambia region in which we have lived for a number of years, the beauty and approachability of southern Senegal caused a change of plans. There was no evidence of instability anywhere along our indirect route through the region, the police and military were friendly and hands off while the people, especially of Sedhiou, were hospitable, affable and fair at all of the moments when we were accustomed to being most on guard. I like being disarmed. Most people do. So we stayed for a while and developed an understanding of Senegal's national program to fight AIDS, which is impressively organized (see the article "Concerning AIDS in Senegal").
In blunt contrast to Gambia, the infrastructure of Senegal has proven dependable. We spent a couple of hours driving on busted dirt roads for the very acceptable reason that new roads were actively under construction a few meters to the left or right. Whether or not, on balance, the self-contained and relaxed, low-crime villages along the way will benefit from being put within arm's reach of the rest of us, I am not really sure. The time warp effect of traveling around a developing country can easily result in reactionary thinking.
Also, for some reason it hasn't rained on us yet, which is good because we can't figure out how to work the tarp on the roof rack. When we open the hood of our car (as we did several times to reconnect the battery wires) I am filled with terror by the massive complexity of the thing. We are trying to feed it wonderful fluids as regularly as possible; but I know it will turn on us and perhaps prove stronger.
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