A few moments before leaving

I must include this picture because through the car window we see a window into the life of these little boys. The begging children are always about with round soft eyes and open fingers. Because we do not want money going to the local Imam, instead of money, Marilyn will often give the children fun animal shaped vitamins. This was met with mixed reactions.

There was much for us to see in Senegal, challenging conversations, eye-opening encounters, and the privilege of being readily welcomed into stranger's homes and lives.

Thank you to family and friends for following us on this journey across the ocean and thank you to family and friends who welcomed us across the ocean.

And may you have Joy in your Journey.

Last Day in Senegal

Darwin managed, even in a faraway land, to find a missionary buddy, Geoff, who was willing to ride 100 miles of Senegal beach and Dakar streets. He left happy and excited, and returned filthy and exhausted, but alive.


Marilyn and I had a different adventure. She took me to the shanty town (my first ever) to visit her little 'adopted nephew', Assan. Although I had seen pictures of such a place in the news and movies, it is different to walk into the such a place without confidence and leaving having learned a little bit about community -- and possibly gratitude.

The home was large enough to hold only a few items, and we sat on the largest, a bed, which I believe was made out of crates and covered with a blanket. (there was also room for a little tv...)

We shared the joy in the announcement that Assan is doing very well in his school work - eighth in the class. And I received the warm hospitality of their acceptance of me in their space.

Malika Monkey moments

We watched these fellows put the final touches on the drum we eventually purchased, then they enjoyed a little jam session - enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Darwin examines a teak fountain which he eventually purchases.



We enjoyed a short respite from the afternoon sun beside the pool and then visited Chaco - a real monkey.

Malika Monkeys

We are at the home base of the Malika Monkeys. http://www.malikamonkeys.com/ They are not actually monkeys, but they do have a monkey which likes to eat dried cranberries -- don't try to trick it by mixing them with raisins.

Darwin and I have spent the day here in the home of Herrema, a brethren missionary, who opens her home to street kids once a week - for a shower, food, games and Bible story. She also has young men and boys who daily come to her shop to learn trades with mechanics, wood working, drum making, tailoring and other high quality crafts....that will be us walking off the plane with our own handcrafted Jambe - and Darwin's new handcrafted fountain pen. The men call themselves the monkeys.

This is a restful oasis, a place Marilyn comes to relax when she is doing checking of translations with her assistant. We had a colorful, flavor filled meal served in a common bowl. We sat on the floor and shared the dish with our spoon. You can't really eat with people if you are made at them, it encourages conversation around the table (or floor).

Dakar tomorrow - errands, shopping and lunch for Marilyn and me. Crazy long motorbike rider for Acrabaobab Man - uh, Darwin.

Janet and the Camel

Watch Janet's first experience with a camel, it is delightful.

Views of the desert

The desert is a very peaceful, pleasant place in the evening and morning - it is even cool. But the days are hard and harsh. We developed a more acute understanding of the Old Testament stories of the Patriarchs, their travels, lives, camel smells and some of the imagery. It was powerful.

Our desert home away from home

We had a grand, faraway feel, vacation at the Camp du Lampoul. We were greeted by a truck in the little town and they drove us into the southern tip of the Sahara Desert. We were the only guests in a camp that could accommodate 40 people. We were treated well. We had a large tent made from hand woven material and furnished with hand made beds, a leather trunk and table. The tents were marked with oil lanterns which also guided us at night to the facilities...

Not to be neglected is Mbuy Turre, our camel guide. He is a 19 year old nomadic man - very competent and pleasant - who made initial overtures to marry Kristin. He saw a picture of her on my camera and offered to sell all of his cows and sheep as a dowry.....funny thing about that, is that he wouldn't have anything left. Darwin was interested, of course, in pursuing this, but I said that she was busy, and not available, thank you.


Marilyn brings color to the desert campsite - in her clothing and personality.

Camel Rides at Camp du Lampoul

Marilyn felt that we had not had enough adventure here in Senegal so she took us for an overnight camping adventure on the edge of the Sahara Desert. We arrived in our Mauritanian campsite, washed up (notice the outdoor calabash sink and mirror surrounded by a dried eucalyptus fence) and were invited for a camel ride.

Up the Baobab and Back

Janet leads the way up the last tree. Darwin follows.

Marilyn thinks twice about the challenge, but bravely follows -- with some friendly family 'encouragement' :) How high did she get anyway?




Post Baobab Adventure and an excellent lunch of steak and frites we left the beach after an attempted scam by a fictitious water man claiming that our water would be turned off and we needed to fill reserve pans for two days. Hey, since when do we get a warning that services will be disrupted? Does he have an ID? He's gone. We packed our truck, warned the neighbors and left. We may not be back to this beach, but Marilyn will.

Some Lagoon Pics

Meet our very pleasant water tour guide. He showed us hiding birds, interesting species, the Senegal President's 'beach house' and an oyster farm, but my favorite moments were when the birds took flight. Here are some Cormorants and Flamingos in flight.

We had a very satisfying bird viewing time while the youth appeared to have a nice time on the beach.

Acrabaobab

Wednesday morning we set out for the boabab forest for some high adventure activity at Acrabaobab Adventures (you can find them on line). It was a very good ropes course high in the baobob trees. We were the only patrons at the time so we enjoyed a cup of tea (very strong and minty) with our guide.




Marilyn and Darwin cruise between the trees 60 feet above the ground.

Marilyn claimed to be afraid of heights, but you wouldn't know...is that a scream of glee I hear? From high up on the platforms we could see farmers working the dry fields with their rakes and a shepherd boy with his sheep. They must have thought we were crazy.

For all of my yoga friends out there....the balance practice is paying off.

Afternoon Bird Lagoon - and two free lessons

Loading pictures very sluggish in this afternoon heat. So I will attempt at a later date. Our Senegalese honeymoon with electricity and the internet is over. Electricity just disappears for short or long periods of time at somebody's command. It went out last night while we were cooking so we ate by candle light and went to bed early. It was off all morning also. And the stove and bathroom door also broke this morning. It doesn't seem to flap Marilyn much -- just do what you need to do. Darwin had fun trying to fix some of these things without his usual tool kit. I even saw him using a hang crank drill. :)

Another fun principle we are experiencing is that nothing is ever free. We were searching for an internet connection several nights ago in hotel row. A very nice young man told us that he knew where we could get it for free. We should have known better at that point. But we were led on a long walk through dark streets to an outdoor 'fast food' restaurant. It turns out that we did need to make some purchase, so we bought a round of Fantas. That did not seem to be enough to please the proprietor so Darwin also ordered fries (with mayonnaise). Then we were unable to connect because the restaurant server was down. We eventually attained the login for a neighboring hotel - which was so weak, we could not sustain a conversation in gmail. Our 'informant-guide' had kindly waited to return us to our car, so we needed to tip him, then he insisted that we tip the fellow who connected us with him. That little episode did not break our budget, but that faulty internet connection was not free.

Darwin also encountered (or rather was encountered by) a shell hawker. When we were walking to the beach to get a boat for our bird viewing lagoon excursion. This fellow thrust shells into Darwin's hands as a gift.....then he wanted payment. The man would not take the shells back. D tried to give him 50 francs which was totally inadequate. This started some activity. We finally gave the fellow another 50 francs. Then it seemed that he was unhappy that we were not pleased with our free shells. So, he gave me another - free - shell.

We eventually boarded a small motor boat with a very friendly guide - he was the fellow who gave his name to Fred E. He drove us gently through the water and we crept up on Herons and Great White somethings, very large Pelicans, and spectacular Flamingos - which we also set to flight. It was so pleasant.

more wildlife interaction

We had an opportunity to get close to many of the animals. There did not seem to be many rules about getting out of the truck to get closer...We thought it was very funny that we were traveling in an open truck on a safari trak and the guide was talking on his cell phone..... Darwin thinks they have better cell reception here than we do in Michigan.

Note, too, the skulls in the base of the baobab tree. Evidently the Praise Singers used to be buried in these trees. You may translate that however you please...