We arrived at Lake Rose which was indeed pink! The lake has a very high percentage of dissolved salt and minerals which make it look bright pink during the dry season but as we arrived at the end of the rainy season it wasn’t as bright as the postcards on sale. We tried the first campsite we came across but found out that the Amsterdam to Dakar rally were arriving that night. We decided that we’d had enough of not getting a lot of sleep when they’re about so we moved on to a tiny campsite and stayed in the car park. The owner said that the water was too salty to drink and that he didn’t have any electricity for us – we’d been monitoring the leisure batteries and were worried that they weren’t holding their charge so wanted to put them on charge overnight to see what was happening.
We walked along the lake that night and were swamped by children all giving us their address so we could send them postcards from the UK. We had a hard time making them understand that we didn’t have an address!! One lady tailed us for ages and we eventually traded some soap, perfume and pens for a bracelet, necklace and small bag of salt and then she gave us some pictures made out of coloured sand on the back of which she wrote her address so we could send her a postcard!
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Salt collection at Lake Rose is the biggest industry - with tourism in second place, especially now that the Paris Dakar has ended - this is where the finishing line used to be.Click on either picture to enlarge |
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The next morning we drove south towards the Senegal delta where we wanted to spend a few days. On the road Oz was pulled over by a portly policeman who asked for our papers. Finding them in order he asked for a ‘gift’, to which we said we didn’t have anything to give. He tried asking Oz for a minute or so and then marched round the lorry to me, opened the door, thrust his hand in my face and said, “Give me some money”! I asked him what the money was for and he said, “For me!” With his hand still outstretched he kept asking for money over and over. I kept asking him why and in the end he gave up and told us to go.... hardly a subtle approach to corrupt policing!
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On the way to the delta we stopped at Forest Reserve de Bandia (14,33.40N: 17,01.11W). This reserve contains a collection of West African animals as well as some from East Africa such as the white rhino, giraffe and ostrich. We had a brilliant lunch at the restaurant by a crocodile pool and then hired a guide. I drove, the guide guided and Oz stood on the seat with most of him sticking out of the gun turret and took photos! It was great fun! |
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We spent a horrible time driving round the town of Sally trying to find somewhere to camp for the night and ended up parked outside an auberge where we spent a very hot night in one of the rooms... a disappointing end to a lovely day.
The following morning we drove to Toubakouta stopping for lunch at Kaolack – Oz, rather unwisely and against my advice, ate the salad which he regretted for the next few days as he had a bad stomach. Toubakouta is on the Senegal delta and we drove into town and asked if there was anywhere to camp. One guy jumped onto the lorry and directed us to Toubakouta Campment (13,47.23N: 16,28.46W) which we liked so much we ended up staying for 3 nights.
We hired a pirogue for an evening delta cruise. It was lovely to watch the birds flying back to roost for the night and watch the sun setting into the mangrove. Every morning we were entertained by the local army camp guys marching around the village singing as they marched – very tuneful and not at all like army songs.
The morning we chose to drive into The Gambia we were approached by a couple of Belgiums who had been staying at the campment. They told us that they had met an English couple the evening before and were wondering if we were driving to the border as the English needed a lift. Turns out that the English couple had crossed into Senegal the day before but had been pickpocketed, they were looking for a lift back to Banjul where they could cash their travellers cheques. We gave Maisy a lift and the Belgiums took Luke in their car. We dropped them about a kilometre from the border so they could cross on their own and arranged to collect them a kilometre the other side to give them a lift to the city.
The border was the easiest yet for us. We weren’t asked for any gifts or charged any extras for stamps etc... all the guards were polite and courteous with the customs man even removing his shoes before entering the lorry... we changed some CFA into Gambian Dalasi at the correct rate and bought some extremely yummy peanuts from a small girl.... hmmm... not the Africa we’d come to expect!
