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Catch up on Part 1 here
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Our third day in Dakar would be our last before moving on to our second destination in Senegal, Ngor Island. As a group, we had made the decision to set out early in the morning to visit the Renaissance Monument without the worry of crowds and excessive heat.
Despite the fact we had been heavily active on the trip so far, I was beginning to feel antsy for some familiar movement. I wore my running clothes while the rest of the group got dressed in social media best 😛.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only crazy person ready for a staircase workout. However, I was the only woman crazy enough for a staircase workout. As time wore on, more men came out for the morning burn, but my friends and I felt comfortable doing our own thing, and did not have to worry about unwanted attention or comments, thankfully.
The Renaissance Monument was designed by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects, a North Korean construction company (‼). The monument is a relatively recent institution, and was officially dedicated April 4th, 2010, Senegal’s National Day and the 50th anniversary of independence from France.
You can probably guess, but it is the tallest statue in Africa.
As it started to get brighter (and warmer), we made another stop at a well-known Dakar landmark, the Mosque of the Divinity. I recognized it from the promo pic United Airlines used for its Senegal route (RIP).
While we didn’t go inside, I had a feeling it probably wouldn’t match up to what we saw the day before…
We made it back to the hotel for one more breakfast, and to officially check out. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t too sure about our next stop of the day…at first I thought we would be bouncing around markets, but I didn’t think we would be changing up our transportation for that.
This was an example of a “Car Rapide”, a brightly-painted yellow and blue minibus used for public transit in Dakar. The vehicles are adorned with religious slogans, vibrant artwork, and protective hand-painted eyes—and for a hot minute, it was just the four of us in one bus. But within minutes, we were rolling up a hill, picking up more and more people every couple feet!
I suppose it was a form of entertainment, and I learned soon after the bus completed its route that yes, it was indeed for our tourist entertainment. What made it even sillier was the group photo we took at the end of the ride, which the driver of the car rapide (??) invited himself into, along with our guide and a random local who told my friend to “make him famous!”
Soon after, we found our “actual” driver and got back in our black van to head to the destination I thought was going to be our first stop since checking out of BOMA—Marché Soumbédioune.
The sun was finally starting to get to me, and so while some of my friends shopped, I did my best to keep cool in pockets of shade as I found them. My souvenirs have always been photos, and more recently scrapbooking, so shopping at markets is more of an “observational” activity for me 😉.
Things took an interesting turn when we came across a shop owned by a young woman. I didn’t notice anything peculiar at first, but before we knew it, our group—including Jeremies—was somehow invited to sit inside while the shopkeeper cut up fresh papaya. We noticed that the young woman seemed to admire Jeremies, and of course, we took it to the next level and teased him about it.
In fact, we became more attuned to how the women we came across on our trip seemed to be charmed by our guide, for whatever reason 😅. It was all in good fun, though.
After snacking through the papaya and taking a breather from the sun, our group got back into the van to find a suitable restaurant for lunch. We ended up at a restaurant called Jungle, which offered cozy seating, but there was nothing on the menu (of substance) for a vegetarian diner. Jeremies was in shock, but I was the one in shock after learning about his thought process for selecting this place: jungle = green = vegetables = vegetarian.
At least we had our reliable option of Indian cuisine—Shaluc was not too far from the disappointment that was the Jungle. In fact, Senegal had made me grateful for the Indian diaspora—always coming to the rescue of vegetarians globally.
After this meal, which ended up becoming an early dinner, we checked into our next accommodation on Ngor Island, Ngor Madrague.
Compared to BOMA, these accommodations were on the simplistic side. But at least we were only here for one night, during which we learned we had made it onto “mosque TikTok” to our humorous delight.
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The next morning, I didn’t wake up early to run or frolic on the beach like my friends did (got to get those pics for the ‘gram!), but we did eventually meet up for a sub-par breakfast and were rudely accompanied by flies. No pics of that obviously.
The main objective of the day was to explore Lake Retba, or the “pink lake”. However, the images available online are photoshopped beyond belief. The lake was more of a brown hue in-person, but it was still a unique sight to see.
The water’s color is due to Dunaliella salina algae and the lake itself has a salinity level of 40%—we didn’t come prepared with swimsuits to test this with a “float” test, but I mean, look at all the foam on the shore too?!
The salt trade is alive and well, as we saw a number of salt deposits organized in hills along the shore. Some vendors even sell salt-based products right then and there for the eager tourist.
Our excursion at the lake was straightforward, where we went for a group boat ride and took in the views while making sure no one felt off-balance leading to an accidental fall in the water! After our boat ride, we quickly got back on the road to the dismay of the local vendors—in our defense, we had a long ride ahead to our next accommodation, Hôtel Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Saly.
BOMA still ranked at the top of my list, but checking into this resort felt like a major step up from our accommodations at Ngor Island. The resort was packed with white French tourists who could have easily been mistaken for White Lotus characters.
While the views were great and dinner offered many options thanks to it being a buffet, I learned that this accommodation would also be our accommodation for the last night of our trip. We would actually be driving back north to “spend Christmas in the desert”…
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Hard to believe I had been in Senegal for five days at this point, but the adventure continued! I woke up early enough to see the sun start to rise, and was able to fit in a short run along a paved path that cut through the beach.
Breakfast at the buffet was sub-par in regards to variety, but what called my attention was the Nutella container and the waffle guy—not the guy, but the fact that he was in charge of preparing fresh waffles for my breakfast amusement.
We were soon all packed up and back in the van—our next destination was three hours away according to Google which…wasn’t too far off actually! We were specifically staying at Hôtel OKAÏ in the Lompoul desert.
There were no surprises when it came to arriving at our destination. We were literally driving over sand for about 15 minutes before approaching the “parking lot” which again, was just sand. We had some assistance with our luggage, and were given the grand tour before getting our rooms assigned.
With it being so isolated in the desert, the resort was definitely a place meant for unwinding and detaching. The rooms were spacious and clean (they were like luxury glamping huts), although everywhere we walked was sand, except for the paved area by the pool and dining area.
Lunch of course was a humorous event. It took a lengthy discussion between Jeremies, the chef, and our waiter to clarify what a vegetarian meal to my liking consists of. I tried to communicate that I’d be satisfied with a plate of flavored steamed veggies (mixed in sauce already or on the side), but that I needed some type of bready carb as well. Outside of our Indian jaunts, this ended up being my go-to meal request throughout the trip, and sometimes to my delight I would get bread with my veggies while oftentimes not.
Nevertheless, the chefs always did their best, and the presentation of our lunch was impeccable.
After lunch, it was definitely time for a nap. We headed back to our rooms and I slept for a solid hour, which felt exactly right after the morning’s travel and the full desert heat.
Once we woke up, Aneesa and I decided to check out the pool. Unfortunately, it was still a little too cold for my liking, but I did what any good friend would do and take on the role of photographer.
There was not much to do after that and before dinner, even though the hotel offered a few desert activities, including motorbiking over sand dunes. Just wasn’t our style though.
At least we had a Christmas Eve dinner buffet to look forward to, but as expected, my options were still fairly limited—mostly vegetables, potatoes, and finally some bread—but there were also cakes for dessert, so I was able to indulge a little.
After dinner, most of our group was ready to call it a night. The desert temperature had dropped significantly, and with the wind picking up, it was not exactly comfortable to keep sitting outside.
The funny part is that we apparently slept through the main entertainment. Later that night, the staff gathered around a campfire with drums, music, and dancing. Some of the tourists even joined in and took turns dancing. Jeremies had recorded a video of it, and just like with our appearance on “mosque TikTok”, we could not contain ourselves at the sight of someone’s uncle really going all out with campfire dance moves.
The next morning marked the start of our next adventure. We had a long drive ahead of us back down toward the border of Senegal and The Gambia, where the next part of the trip would begin. If you are going to pay attention to any of these posts, I highly recommend this next one, and I highly do not recommend a trip to The Gambia anytime soon.
Are you a “picky” eater when it comes to traveling?