Sand and fish

Much of Senegal is in the Sahel zone, a dry band spanning Africa, and it shows. Most village and town streets are just sand, like on a beach. Few trees, savannah shrubs, or just large expanses of sandy fields. To find color and life you need to see the coast.

Buildings are mostly cinderblocks, compacted earth, and corrugated metal sheets. I am in the Palmarin region, a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic and the Saloum river. Walked all the way to the southern tip and found a small and very poor, but also airy village named Djifer. The business here is fishing and drying fish. The stench at the southern harbor where the drying racks are is nauseating.

No western tourists seem to come here and the children were curious about that pale man in their village. Maybe 20 of them surrounded me and grabbed my hands. With permission and help from an older villager I bought them all candy. A riot!

Internet and electricity are getting increasingly spotty. Not sure if I will be able to post daily.