95. Dakar, Senegal

95.

Dakar, Senegal, Africa:

From the air, Dakar appears to be a small seaside green spot at the edge of a vast tan desert.

On the ground the town is quaint and pleasant.

Since Kim and I are guests of a transferring airline, we are taken to a first-class hotel. I have an entire small cottage all to myself, with hot shower, free meals and a handy swimming pool.

We both need visas to enter Liberia so we share a taxi to the Liberian embassy in the center of town

Most of the people on the sidewalks of Dakar are slim, tall and black. The men wear short-sleeved suits or long robes and almost all wear a small, brimless cap. The women wear sari-like wraparounds and headscarves of matching material. The graceful movement when these people walk is very dignified and beautiful to me.

Kim and I must wait a couple of hours at the Liberian Embassy for the Ambassador who arrives merry and tipsy and dressed in a magnificent gold lame suit. He charges us $15 cash each for a visa which is the most I have paid for the passport stamp in any of the countries I have “probed” so far.

We return to the hotel, then explore the beach nearby. The sea is pink with tiny jellyfish and there are lots of seashells scattered around.

We check out the hotel casino in the evening but since this is off-season for tourists, nothing is happening there.

Most of the people I have spoken to speak either French or English. I remember a little of my high school French so communication is no problem.

I am very favorably impressed by Dakar, my very first African city.

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