Good Day – October 17, 2025
Well, it happens to be my 72nd birthday. It’s a pretty good spot to celebrate anything as far as I can tell. So we’re going to just take it easy — not necessarily go anyplace other than just having some dinner tonight in town and calling it good.
Remembering Another Birthday
I do recall another birthday, but on the other side of Africa — that was on Kilimanjaro, which I happened to climb two times. And just in case you would like to know for when you’re going to go climb it, you don’t need special equipment for Kilimanjaro. It’s a walk-up. What you do need is time — you need a lot of time. Five days is a good amount to do it: three and a half days up and one and a half days down, especially to acclimatize.
They do charge substantial fees for it these days, but you then have the mandatory guides. They also carry your luggage. So all the way around, it’s a good thing.
Exploring M’Bour
Now here in M’Bour (or however you pronounce that), it’s a busy place when it comes to traffic. Towards the evening, we had arranged for some laundry to be done for the next day and then ended up going to town. The off-roads — the roads other than the main ones — are basically bumpy sand and rocks. Just be cautious because otherwise you could do some damage. But it all fits in with everything else.
In the meantime, you need to avoid the donkeys, horses, goats, and anything else that comes your way — and sometimes that can be people!
Dinner and the Milkshake Mix-Up
We found a good place to have a bite. The milkshake part didn’t shake out as intended. We wanted two milkshakes — one chocolate and one vanilla-coconut. My French didn’t make that work, though. We ended up with one milkshake that had both flavors mixed together! So, still a bit of work to do on my French. Of course, we ordered another one, and that solved the problem.
Life in Town
So many fun things in the meantime as well. Garbage is a big issue in many parts of Africa, but at least here in M’Bour they do have garbage trucks, and people make an effort to get things cleaned up. It’s really nice to see that kind of care for the environment and the community.
A Birthday Well Spent
This was an absolutely nice birthday place, and I’d sign up for something like that anytime. Thanks for coming along — see you tomorrow.
