Peacock in the neighborhood

I'm amazed at all the animals (and now birds) that just seem to roam around this city.  Several of us were walking though our neighborhood the other night after work headed to the local grocery story when we happened upon this peacock just roaming around.

I'm not sure why these things surprise me anymore.  Seeing this peacock certainly seems much more normal than what we experienced last night in our taxi coming home...2 large, long horn steers (I'm not lying..I couldn't make this up!) were roaming though traffic and nearly side swiped our taxi with their huge horns as they decided to charge across the street.  It was getting dark so I didn't have my camera out to get the picture.  But I have my 2 teammates as witnesses!  This place is crazy!  More and more I'm beginning to chalk things up to the local expression "Welcome to Africa!". 

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Village shops around Dakar

During my time here in Dakar, there have been a number of times when we've passed by roadside stands selling whatever fruits and vegetable are in season.  Right now, it seems that watermelons, limes and what look like grapefruit are everywhere and of course bananas.  Peanuts are being roasted in shallow pans with sand while the women constantly stir the nuts the over small grills.

But when we passed these little roadside stands, it brought a whole new meaning to going to the Butcher shop for a fresh cut of meat.  Remember, the average temperature is around 88-90 degrees right now.  Burgers anyone?

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Monday, October 28th - Precious Water

Back in September when we were preparing for this CSC trip, we had been notified of a malfunction in the water pumping/pipeline equipment supplying Dakar with water...and the city was without any water supply for 3 weeks...that's 3 weeks in 90+ degree heat.  The water was restored just 2 days prior to our arrival, thank heavens!  In fact, when we arrived to our hotel, the swimming pool was totally empty because all of the water had been used for the hotel guests.  Well, today we were notified by the US Embassy that Dakar will again face a water shortage starting tonight at midnight and lasting into the weekend.  The Senegalaise des Eaux (SDE - the water utility) will be making permanent repairs to the temporary fix of a few weeks ago.  The shortage is predicted to last three to five days.  So, I've filled my laundry bucket and trash can with water to flush the toilet and purchased several 5 Liter jugs of drinking water and plenty of baby wipes!  I'm pretty sure I won't get to take a shower over the next few days, so don't expect any head shot pictures!!   I'll keep you posted!

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Sunday, October 27th - Lake Retba or Lac Rose (Pink Lake)

This place is such a cool natural phenomenon!  The lake is named for its pink waters (no joke!), caused by an algae (Dunaliella salina algae to be specific) in the water that produce a red pigment that uses sunlight to create more energy which turns the waters pink.  (I Googled this to make sure I understood it!) 

The color is particularly visible during the dry season, which they're just beginning here in Senegal.  The heavy rains during their rainy season has raised the water level of the lake, so the pink isn't quite as visible right now, but there is no denying the high salt content of the water which, like the Dead Sea, allows people to float easily.  The lake also has a small salt collecting industry...and LOTS of local artists selling their wood carvings and beaded jewelry in small shacks lining the shore.  The water level was still so high that there were large sand bags sitting in the shallow water acting as a pathway so that all the shacks could be reached by the visitors.  I had a blast bartering with the shop keepers for good prices on all my treasures.  I improved the economy of the Pink Lake area and put a nice dent in my Christmas shopping!!

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Saturday, October 26th - Saly (Resort)

 Now I understand why some people say they come to Senegal for vacation!  On Saturday, we spent the day in Saly (also called Sali or Saly Portudal) which is a lovely seaside resort area on the Petite Côte of Senegal, south of Dakar. It's the top tourist destination in all of West Africa....and there are good reasons why!  Once you get inside the walls of one of the resorts, it's a little piece of heaven, just like you'd find at any lovely sea side resort in the US, Mexico or Europe.  It was just beautiful and so peaceful!!  A real switch from all the noise and chaos in Dakar.

That's Nalini Munuru (left, from India) and I (right) lounging on the beach!  It was so beautiful and peaceful on the sandy beach that we stayed outside all day.  But the resort had a lovely spa area as well...quite posh!

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Thursday, October 24th - Most Hilarious Yet

I've seen some pretty strange and comical sights while here in Dakar, but this one just made me burst out laughing.  We (my team of Sandra, Susanne and I) were in our taxi yesterday afternoon on the way to meet some wonderful folks at USAID.  I looked over and this is what I saw.  Need I say more?  A man and his sheep!

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Wednesday, October 23 - Roadside Security

It's mind boggling to think that I've been in Dakar 2 weeks already.  I'm noticing that I'm far more comfortable with all my surroundings by now and things aren't quite as shocking as they were the first few days I was here.  I've gotten used to the sights and smells that I found so very shocking the first couple of days here.  In retrospect, I was no doubt in sensory overload!! 

Now, I can observe other happenings in the city.  As an example, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week there has been a meeting here in Dakar of the West Africa Monetary Union where all of the presidents of the West Africa nations are gathered.  All along our normal route to work, every few hundred yards there were armed guards lining the streets.  In fact, there seem to be armed guards everywhere in this city right now.  Every so often flat bed trucks roll by filled with miliary guys sitting in the back in the open air.  We've been given strict instructions not to take pictures of government buildings or any kind of government personnel.  So, I won't be taking any pictures, but you can envision uniformed police and miliary with large weapons (machine guns maybe?...I'm not good at recognizing one gun from the next) strapped across their bodies.  Quite a site!

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