1.4.13

Senegal (7) - Sine-Saloum

This is a last report from my trip to Senegal. (Then, there is time to come back to what this blog really should be about: Paris.)

We took the road south-east from Joal (previous post) to the Saloum and the Sine Rivers delta, known as Sine-Saloum. Road is not quite the right expression; there are tracks going in all directions and you need a local driver to find your way.


Suddenly there is a little village…


… and we also passed by the biggest, sacred, baobab tree to be found in West Africa, maybe some 850 years old and with circumference of 32 m (more than hundred feet). It was supposed to be inhabited by the spirits of the dead. Through a hole you can get inside. 


So, the driver found the way to Ndangane where pirogues were waiting for a tour of the delta. Again, birds, birds… and another sacred baobab. The mangrove was covered by shells, oysters… Some foreign sailing boats had managed to find their way into the delta.






On the island Mar Lodj there are a few small simple hotels and restaurants. After a walk over some sand dunes, a little peaceful little village offers a church, on the central place three intermingling trees - representing the three present religions, Christianity, Islam and Animism – and an open air local little “palace of justice”.



After this and almost three weeks, time to take the road back to Dakar and a flight home. I really hope to be back to Senegal one day for what you can see and discover, but especially for the friendly, smiling, people - maybe especially the kids!  


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Todos sus articulos sobre este pais africano son hermosos y conmovedores.
Mil gracias!
Maria

Anonymous said...

Do you think the seeds from that majestic baobab are the ones that flew to Le Petit Prince's planet and started to grow all over the place?
They certainly gave him a hard time!
Love your blog.
Maria

Studio at the Farm said...

The children are definitely beautiful - always smiling, and so handsome. And I love the look of the baobab tree! :)

Alain said...

Pour illustrer ton article, je propose un baobab Oulipien :

Il y a Othon avec son bâton. Il y a Otto avec son bateau.

Ah quel chaos dans le cabas.

Ces barriques sont théoriques

Vas-donc, bâtard du tarot !

Starman said...

The problem with kids is they eventually become adults!

Virginia said...

Peter,
I hope you get back to Senegal because I think it touched your heart. I wish I could visit there as well. There are other parts of Africa that my church supports that I have wanted to try and join. I've loved your images. Thank you for sharing.
V

Thérèse said...

Quel tour glorieux et une bien belle photo finale qui est un bel exemple de ce que nous pouvons distribuer gratuitement.

claude said...

Encore un beau et intéressant reportage, Peter.
La baobab est très impressionnant et les deux petites fille de la dernière photo sont très mignonnes.

Cergie said...

Magnifiques les baobabs, ils méritent bien leur statut d'abres à palabres :

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbre_%C3%A0_palabres

Il y en avait à Kourou le long d'une route côtière mais beaucoup moins impressionnants. Tu sais que le Petit Prince les craignait beaucoup...

Quant à ceux avec des contreforts, ce sont peut-être des fromagers ou kapokiers

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiba_pentandra

Faune, flore et population ! Quel beau voyage ce fut !

martinealison said...

C'est avec un grand plaisir que je fais cette petite marche arrière ! J'avais manqué cette publication.
La dernière escale avant le retour.
Comme vous le dites si bien, les sourires des enfants sont des atouts précieux qui nous font aimer davantage ce pays.
Merci pour ce très joli reportage et ces merveilleuses étapes.
Gros bisous

Cezar and Léia said...

There's something really special about the last picture with the children! Their smile is so rich in contrast with their modest living conditions!
God bless you!
Cezar