Radisson Blu Hotel Dakar

After a semi-rocky day at sea the day after leaving Casablanca, the water has really calmed since southern Morocco. It is absolutely amazing to say the least and each day gets warmer and warmer. I do not get seasick until I start reading when it is rocky so this calm sea weather has been a-mazing! Yesterday, we docked in Dakar, Senegal for the day to fully refuel and it was bliss. The weather became perfect and I literally spent the entire day on the deck. And yes, I did skip one ...

... This is rather unusual for me because usually I am sleeping right up till time for global studies. On many occasions my room steward, Jess, has come in to clean the room and just finds me sleeping. My roommate Rachel has 8am classes so I am always the last one out. Today though, Rachel decided to sleep in and I got up. When I left the room our room steward Jess was outside in the hall and when he saw me he was like "It's a ...

... pour la traversée atlantique car c'est le point le plus proche de l'Amérique et à l'époque des pirogues à voile ça faisait chier quelques lieues de plus. La visite à la Maison des Esclaves c'était très émouvante, j'ai souvent ressenti les yeux humides et des frissons à parcourir le couloir du « voyage sans retour », comme si d'un coup j'avais voyagé dans le temps et je le parcourait dans le corps d'un parmi les milliers des malheureux qui avaient étaient ...

... mement parce que j'était touché par son histoire et finalement parce que je croyait vraiment ne pas en avoir besoin. Serait-il vraiment le cas ? Duas horas e meia depois de iniciar a marcha, a destilar de calor e a sentir o meu corpo ser dominado por uma languidez tal que so pensava em deitar-me no asfalto para barrar a passagem ao proximo veiculo ou adormecer ali mesmo, decido aproximar-me de uma bomba de gasolina completamente deserta, parecia ...

... as i get to learn how to juggle!!! i am actually getting somewhere which I am pretty proud of infact. Get to watch the kids do shows next week which I cant wait for! Spent the weekend of the 6th at the petite cote which was gorgeous. So nice just to get out of dakar for a bit and relax ont he beach. Had crepes for breakfast which was a complete luxury. The hostel where we stayed had such a family feel to it they charged us about 10 pounds for the whole weekend ...

... animals and they needed to be taught like that sometimes i was like errr... On Thursday I turned up at schoool and was the only teacher there... Turns out the other teachers were on strike... so I got to go home early and went for a lush mexican dinner in a proper posh restaurant with Naomi. Friday was strike time aswell so I had a day off which I spent playing with Binet's god daughter who is the cutest little girl ever. She is so ...

... 500 dernier prix, mon ami, il y a des autres taxis qui vont le faire". With the hangdog expression of one of the numerous tethered goats loitering at street corners waiting for the chop, he grunts, languidly flicks his wrist to indicate that i should get in the back, and revs the engine .... which seems to be mis-firing and pinking and stalling all at the same time. I wrestle open the door just managing not to pull it off its rotten hinges, and allow myself to sink into ...

... really, as it is TOTALLY obscured by shanty and a crowded overflow of stalls and street traders PACKED around it v tightly .... and if you raise your eyes to look at the architecture it is likely to be at the expense of your wallet or watch or possibly even the shirt off your back ! You just KNOW as you are walking in their that it is a bit of a Fagan's den .... nonetheless, wonderful sight of cloth stalls next to a pile ...

No, I haven't taken to writing way-off-off-off-Broadway plays. I'd only end up blogging them for release to the public. No, sometimes when it's fourth and ten and you've got linebackers rushing the punt, you just gotta' grab the ball and do an end run. So I reverted to plan B. You've got to have a plan B. This is an axiom of free-style travel, especially if you're going to a region for the first time, especially if the travel ...

... fit into that generalisation...?).  What was immediately apparent from crossing the river was that we were in a completely new country. We had left the desert behind and the scenery was decidedly green...or verdent, as Mr R likes to say.  An amazing transition that happened within a matter of 5kms.  The people are also different - Mauritania has a substantial Arab population - Senegal really is 'black-Africa'.  After some tiring haggling (mainly by our ...