So - we dropped Jo at the hospital in Dakar. The town was having a bit of excitment as we drove through. We were heading into the centre of town and suddenly we heard fire crackers and saw people running in the other direction. I turned to look out the window and all the cars ahead of us were fighting to turn around. Suddenly we realized they weren't fire crackers - it was gun shots! So the leader came on over the intercom (which is really only used in emergencies) and told us to "Get Down"!! So we all dove to the floor of the truck and cuddled in together while our driver navigated to turn the truck around. Ha - what a bit of excitment. Almost as exciting as the riots in London. We found out later that apparently the Mayor of Dakar got tired of people throwing rocks at him - so he got a gun and opened fire on a crowd and killed someone!! So the people were even more upset and rioting and the riot police were there throwing tear gas (sadly I couldn't get out to get a picture with on of these riot police!)
So that was our adventure in Dakar. Otherwise we dropped Jo at what was apparently a super nice hospital and they were gonna take care of her for the afternoon then get her a taxi to the airport for her flight home. Then we had to fight through massive traffic to get back out of Dakar. We had a long day in the truck yesterday. We didn't stop until probably around 8pm and we had left at 8am!!
So we arrived to park for the night after dark. We basically just pulled off on the side of the highway. So we weren't allowed to use the truck lights because we didn't want people to see us. And we hadn't stopped for food shopping (it was my cook group turn) so we had a fast dinner of penne with pesto and butter beans. Luckily I wasn't hungry since at our stop to fill up on petrol there was a nice little shop and I bought a ton of cheese and crackers so I was stuffed from eating those all day (which luckily that meant I didn't have to eat the lunch on the truck in the hospital parking lot which ended up as tuna and mayo with ketchup in it because that's apparently how Judith makes it at home (which then caused a big fight because the bossy girls had to yell at her to make sure she really felt bad about doing it "wrong" and blah blah blah - we all get along so well sitting on the truck together all day).
So I had the tent to myself last night. Its kinda nice...all the tents were really close together though so I heard lots of snoring and stuff and then being so closed to the highway - big trucks went by all night. It wasn't the peaceful camping experience on normally expects out in the bush...but we left at 7am this morning eating boiled eggs on the truck because we didn't want the locals to come talk to us (we are still super scared of the locals...its a bit strange!)
I think we have a long drive to the border today and we hope to cross into Mali this afternoon. Our tour leader seems to really be trying to do a better job. After being super nice to Jo - she actually tried to sound excited during our briefing last night. She told us that when we crossed into Mali the adventure would begin (hmm...I had hoped it would begin at the start of my 9 week trip not in the last 3 weeks...) And that Mali is the beginning of how everyone envisions Africa and villages and stuff. So maybe things will get better - if she's happier her followers will be happier and then they'll bitch and boss people around less and then we can all be happier...maybe its our New Years resolution - to get along and have fun. Ohh!!! We were allowed to have 2 eggs this morning - well, I don't know if we were allowed but there were enough for everyone that wanted 2 to have 2 and the tour leader hadn't explicitly told us we couldn't! Things are definitely looking up!
So that was our adventure in Dakar. Otherwise we dropped Jo at what was apparently a super nice hospital and they were gonna take care of her for the afternoon then get her a taxi to the airport for her flight home. Then we had to fight through massive traffic to get back out of Dakar. We had a long day in the truck yesterday. We didn't stop until probably around 8pm and we had left at 8am!!
So we arrived to park for the night after dark. We basically just pulled off on the side of the highway. So we weren't allowed to use the truck lights because we didn't want people to see us. And we hadn't stopped for food shopping (it was my cook group turn) so we had a fast dinner of penne with pesto and butter beans. Luckily I wasn't hungry since at our stop to fill up on petrol there was a nice little shop and I bought a ton of cheese and crackers so I was stuffed from eating those all day (which luckily that meant I didn't have to eat the lunch on the truck in the hospital parking lot which ended up as tuna and mayo with ketchup in it because that's apparently how Judith makes it at home (which then caused a big fight because the bossy girls had to yell at her to make sure she really felt bad about doing it "wrong" and blah blah blah - we all get along so well sitting on the truck together all day).
So I had the tent to myself last night. Its kinda nice...all the tents were really close together though so I heard lots of snoring and stuff and then being so closed to the highway - big trucks went by all night. It wasn't the peaceful camping experience on normally expects out in the bush...but we left at 7am this morning eating boiled eggs on the truck because we didn't want the locals to come talk to us (we are still super scared of the locals...its a bit strange!)
I think we have a long drive to the border today and we hope to cross into Mali this afternoon. Our tour leader seems to really be trying to do a better job. After being super nice to Jo - she actually tried to sound excited during our briefing last night. She told us that when we crossed into Mali the adventure would begin (hmm...I had hoped it would begin at the start of my 9 week trip not in the last 3 weeks...) And that Mali is the beginning of how everyone envisions Africa and villages and stuff. So maybe things will get better - if she's happier her followers will be happier and then they'll bitch and boss people around less and then we can all be happier...maybe its our New Years resolution - to get along and have fun. Ohh!!! We were allowed to have 2 eggs this morning - well, I don't know if we were allowed but there were enough for everyone that wanted 2 to have 2 and the tour leader hadn't explicitly told us we couldn't! Things are definitely looking up!
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