Phaeton Rising
January 28, 2009
When a whole trimester of The Crucible got too much even for me to bear, I suggested to my friend that we go on an outing to the Iles de la Madeleine. These little islands are within full view of downtown Dakar and the lighthouse at Mamelles; they are a mere 20 minutes away by pirogue. After a labyrinthine walk to procure a ticket (down several winding staircases next to the extremely unattractive amusement park called Magicland), we came upon several men dressed in army fatigues who were drinking tea and playing checkers. They looked almost taken aback to see us, but were good about getting us tickets and into a pirogue with our guide, nicknamed Doudou (yes, unfortunately it is pronounced just the way you suspect it is, but as many Muslim names happen to end in
‘-dou,’ from Mohamodou to Amadou, it cannot be helped).
Thirty Years World Heritage: Goree Island, 1978-2008
November 27, 2008
Goree Island exploded in a three day celebration, and I caught the tail end of it. I left early on a Sunday morning, in time to take the 10 am ferry, and stood patiently on a looong line surrounded by a bunch of people unwilling to queue up properly. (Ferry tickets, by the way, are 1500 CFA for residents and 2500 for visitors, who are also expected to pay a tax upon arrival which I have learned to avoid by moving quickly and decisively in another direction).
After you get the ticket you are still not home clear, because you must go through a manned turnstile and may once again have to show proof of residency – it would be far too easy to ask any local to buy your ticket for you, so the guards pay close attention. Once you are seated on the boat, you are a captive audience for all the musical instrument vendors and boutique owners (who all greet one another by name, the island is small and they are regulars on the ferry), who will smile brightly, offer you a seat, ask you all sorts of questions about your visit so far (remember just how easy it is to pick out the tourists here!) and then begin their relentless patter: “Please come and visit my boutique, pour le plaisir des yeux – just for the pleasure of looking.” This is insidious, because if you do stop by just to look, as they have suggested, they will make you feel so guilty that you will invariably end up buying something you did not want or need all the same – this has happened to me on more than one occasion.
