Good Day – October 15th
I did forget to mention that when the car was parked at Rosso during the process of trying to enter Senegal, one person, without asking, washed the whole car. He didn’t say how much it was going to be or anything like that. On our way out, he came over and kindly expressed that he would like some money for it, which we really appreciated. It left us with a good impression — $2 took care of it, and he was very happy with that. We hadn’t yet exchanged money for local use since we had just paid quite a bit to get into the country. So, on we went.
Exploring St. Louis
Now that we were already in St. Louis, we decided to spend the morning exploring the next island over, which was connected by a bridge. We drove along the whole island, only to discover that the northern part actually belonged to Mauritania. We decided not to go through the gate since it would have been complicated to get back in — not worth the hassle. It was a lively part of town, full of people and business, but not really the kind of place to take a lot of photos since we wanted to respect people’s privacy.
Finding Hotel La Porta
At some point, we needed to locate Hotel La Porta, where we found a few currency exchange spots. We exchanged money at a rate of 650 CFA per euro and 550 CFA per dollar. I’m trying to exchange more dollars than euros since it looks like the dollar keeps losing value over time. It was a pleasant area to walk around in, with the occasional person approaching to sell something or share a few words in Dutch — often someone who had lived in Belgium or Holland before. People here are warm and friendly, and it was a fun experience overall.
Enjoying Local Life
We were happy to find that alcohol is more readily available here. The local beers are Flag and Gazelle — both good, though not quite like the dark beers I usually prefer. Breakfast at our guesthouse came with a bit of cultural immersion: two people had an animated, loud conversation in Wolof, the local language of Senegal. French is the official language, but Wolof is what you hear most often. The next morning, before leaving, I kindly mentioned that maybe it wasn’t ideal to have such loud conversations while guests were having breakfast — just one of those funny travel moments.
Relaxing on the Rooftop
We enjoyed another day of good food, cool spots to escape the heat, and relaxing moments on our rooftop terrace, where we also had breakfast. Later, I tried to have a video conference with Fashion Island, but it didn’t go as planned. I accidentally zoomed in on my phone and couldn’t undo it — something I’d never encountered before. It was 1:00 a.m., and instead of sleeping, I was fumbling with my phone, trying to fix it. Not my best use of time!
Reflections on the Day
That’s just how life goes when you’re traveling through Africa — full of little surprises, good humor, and the occasional tech mishap. It’s been another enjoyable day here in Senegal. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!
