I'm really into heads right now

"I hope I'm an individual. I suppose an eccentric is a super individual." Margaret Rutherford

We were finally on the road again, heading to Dakar after car troubles! We arrived in the traffic ridden capital after a quiet drive on good Senegalese highways. We thought we would save some money by not taking the toll road to the center of the city. This, as it turned out, was a mistake.

Traffic ground to a halt. In an hour we had barely moved. We decided to cut through a large chunk of densely packed homes. We turned off the road, crossed the train tracks. I saw a man selling dried monkey heads and goat hooves. The roads narrowed, people stared, but they also smiled. The road we were following ended in a mass of construction, as did the next one, and the next. Our navigation, maps.me, worked amazingly well however, and eventually we found an on ramp to the toll road.

Roof sheep

Senegalese roof sheep on the toll road

There was hardly anyone on this massive six lane road. The tolls were very cheap, 1000-1400 CFA ($1-$3), but after having seen living conditions in a large piece of the city, I understood why nobody would take it, this was a great privilege. We raced downtown, our goal being Independence Square.

We had come to renew our Passavant, the document you get to allow your car into Senegal. At the border, if your car is less than 8 years old, or  you have a Carnet de Passage, you pay 5000CFA for a 72 hour passavant to get your car in. In reality, the Carnet is supposed to be in place of the passavant, but customs insisted we needed both. A car older than 8 years, without a carnet, pays $250 to be allowed in. You can renew the passavant for free, for 15 days, twice. If you have a carnet, you get a 6 month renewal. An odd, confusing system, which we slowly unraveled upon our arrival.

Lunch in the narrow restaurant while looking for the customs office

Downtown Dakar

The Grand Mosque in Dakar

We arrived at a customs office in Independence Square. We went upstairs, and joined a line. After 30 minutes, we were called into an office, only to be told we were in the wrong office. This downtown office was for car owners with ONLY a passavant. Those with a Carnet had to go to the port, pier #2. We walked to the pier and found the office building. The man working the front door had no idea what we wanted, but a helpful man inside pointed us to the second floor. We found a door down an empty hallway, and were ushered inside. Our passavant was stamped, then we were taken to two other rooms where it was stamped again. In the third room, our carnet was finally filled out for the first time! A nice man named George Jon, explained that our car could now stay for six months, but we could only stay for 3 months on our tourist entry stamp. He was also very happy about my name, Jonathan George, and gave me his business card.

We drove to a campsite in the Hans Marinas area of the city, on the coast. This was the yacht club of Dakar, and they let us set up our tents for $6 a day per car. Not a bad deal. There was a shower, toilets, and a restaurant with cheep beer. A good base while waiting on visas.

The Yacht Club of Dakar

In the morning, we taxied to the Ivory Coast embassy. We filled out the forms, provided yellow fever vaccination copies, pictures, and wrote a letter in French, explaining our trip. After an hour waiting, we were called up to meet the ambassador. A large man on a couch was sitting, looking at a framed map of Liberia. He was trying to see where we would cross into his country, as per our letter. He was very friendly and just wanted to hear about our trip. Soon he said he would give us the visa, and we should return at 2pm the following day. Great!

That evening we went to a bar. The building was shaped like a lion. We asked if we could go upstairs to see what was in the head and open mouth. A man in the attached hotel made a call and said, "He will see you, please go up.". We walked up the stairs, and saw many metal sculptures, bugs, helicopters, cows, and 7-8 heads of political leaders of Senegal. In the mouth of the lion was a lounge with a bar, and a well dressed man sitting in a chair. He greeted us and said, "I'm really into heads right now", explaining that he was an artist, as well as the designer, and owner, of the lion building. We talked about art, politics, and life for quite a while, then said our goodbyes and left.

The following day we picked up the Ivory Coast visa and tried to get the Sierra Leone visa as well, but the embassy had run out of visa stickers, so we returned to the campsite to relax.

Our last day in Dakar we took a ferry out to Gorree island, a former colonial trading post and shipping point for slaves to North and South America. The island was beautiful, with colorful, preserved buildings, but the tragic history was always on my mind. Climbing to an old fort on the hill, we found a huge old military anti-aircraft cannon, and a man who lived inside! We had lunch, then made our way back to the cars, leaving for the South, crossing through Gambia.

Goree Island

Goree Island

Goree Island

Fish for lunch on Goree Island