Day 103 – April 17th – Dakar, Senegal
View of Dakar from the Ship
Yesterday was one of the highlights of the entire World Cruise. Interacting with local Gambian residents was at real joy and we enjoyed our time with Bina and learning more about how the average Gambian lives.
Today we visited the city of Dakar in the country Senegal. This port turned out to be the worst one of the cruise.
The ship was inport from 8 AM until 5:30 PM. The ship was cleared quickly after arrival as there weren’t any immigration procedures. Since we didn’t have a tour planned, we left the ship around noon looking to catch the shuttle bus to Independence Square about 10 minutes away.
Close up of port gate
View of port gate from ship
Shuttlebus to Independence Square
The shuttlebus was a Hertz airport rental car shuttle that was apparently pressed into double duty as the shuttlebus. When we arrived, the bus was getting ready to close its doors. We managed to get on board and claimed the last few seats. This was one of those buses were seats fold down into the aisle so there is no aisle once all the seats are filled.
Traffic was fairly heavy as we moved from the port to Independence Square. As we got closer to our destination, our bus stopped to wait for the previous shuttle to leave the parking space. A vendor carrying a large tray of water bottles on his head started banging on the windows trying to get our attention so he could make a sale. The windows on the bus didn’t open so even if we wanted to buy anything, which we didn’t, it would have been impossible. After about a minute the bus started to move and the frustrated street vendor cursed at the passengers on the bus. Welcome to Dakar.
Our shuttle stopped about halfway down one side of Independence Square. I didn’t recognize it at first since it was brown dirt space without a tree in sight. I expected the main square in the Capital City to be a little bit green, and a little bit inviting, but it was neither.
Independence Square – not a warm welcome
As we left the bus we were swarmed by locals offering tours, products, everything and anything and they were quite persistent. We managed to break away and ended up talking to one man about 20 feet from the bus who forced a locally made keychain into our hands. We asked him how much it was and he refused any money saying it was a gift. We carry key chains from Imperial beach that we give out to people along the way as small tokens of appreciation. We offered one of our key chains in exchange and he refused acting almost indignant. Then his story changed from not wanting money to now demanding money. He then tried to force a necklace that probably would’ve cost around $20 or so into Judy’s hands but by now we were totally turned off and refused. We gave him back his original key chain and walked briskly away and he did not pursue us any further. A few other vendors would approach us trying to sell items and we persistently refused. After 30 or 40 yards they finally would give up. It was not very enjoyable because every person we saw up ahead had the potential to be a person who might hassle us although most of them left us alone.
Finally we were in the center of Independence Square, next to a non-functioning fountain, and had a chance to review our map. We had originally intended to explore in a direction away from the ship but changed our minds and decided to walk about the 1 mile back to the ship.
As we walked down one of the main streets, people left us alone as most were going on about their business to and from their own jobs, shopping or whatever. We had a sense of unease though as we felt that at any moment we might be accosted by some street vendor but everyone left us alone.
Casino Grocery Store
About two blocks from Independence Square we came across a grocery store called the Casino, which is a French based company. We decided to go inside and see what was for sale. At the entrance, we were ‘wanded’ by security. The store was what you would expect in any modern grocery store. All the typical items were for sale and the place was clean and well organized. They readily accepted dollars and euros, but we chose to use our credit card to make our small purchase.
Central Market
I noticed that there was a market a couple blocks further down the street towards the ship and that would be our next destination. As we walked down an alley approaching the main entrance there were a series of stalls selling a variety of souvenirs. A small wooden carving caught Judy’s eye and we proceeded to start price negotiations. The vendors didn’t really have a good concept of negotiations because the price would start at say $20 we would offer five dollars then they would counter with an offer of $25. Then after I looked puzzled they would reduce the price to a random number say $14 and then when I offered our price he would go back to say $20. It was quite odd and we finally agreed at $10 which was probably still more than we could have paid but I was growing weary of trying to negotiate in such a random fashion. The men were quite friendly though and we posed for a picture and chatted for a bit before moving on into the market itself.
Friendly shopkeepers
Central Market
The market featured stalls of produce and fish as well as souvenirs. We spent maybe 10 minutes walking through before we exited on the opposite side.
One interesting note was that along the way we didn’t spot any other tourists from the ship or from anywhere else for that matter. After the market it was about three more blocks before we got to the main Boulevard de la Liberation where the gate to the port was located. There was nothing that looked interesting along the way and we walked fairly briskly for the last quarter mile until we crossed the street and found the entrance to the port. They checked our cruise card, not requiring a picture ID, and we were inside the gated area which is still about a quarter-mile from the ship.
We stopped by the vendors that were allowed inside who were selling a variety of souvenirs that were laid out on the ground. Nothing caught our eye so we headed back onto the ship.
Vendors near the ship
Back on the Ship
During dinner we learned from our friends Rick and Margaret, that they had a completely different experience in town. They were on a shuttle bus about an hour earlier that us, and were equally accosted by many locals. Totally by chance, they met a person who acted as their guide for the remainder of the day and did a wonderful job. This guide took them on a walking tour through the back factories where all the various trinkets were produced as well as some of the higher-end art shops that they were interested in with no upfront money expected but Rick did provide a tip at the end.
We also learned that shuttle buses later in the day were being rocked by rowdy locals and passengers felt their personal safety was threatened. Consequently, the later shuttle buses didn’t drop anybody off at Independence Square and simply drove around for about a half an hour before heading back to the ship.
For future travelers I would suggest trying to arrange a local guide service in advance and avoid taking the shuttle bus.
As I mentioned earlier posts the ship had run out of melons due to a missed shipment in Cape Town. Well today the melons arrived and as we were returning to the ship we watch them load them aboard. We learned later that these melons were flown in from Holland and not purchased locally as is true in most cases. The requirement for quality and food traceability is such that the ship rarely buys local produce and in most cases everything is flown in to meet the ship at various ports.
Loading fresh fruit
Even though we left port at 5:30 PM there was no live entertainment in the Queens Lounge this evening. A movie called the Legend of 1900 was featured which was about a boy who lived a life at sea and grew up to be a great jazz pianist. We took a pass on seeing the movie but we understand it is quite good.
Tomorrow is a sea day before we arrive at Cape Verde for final port before we returned to the United. States.