After taking a couple days of break at Andrea's beautiful apartment in Madrid and reconnecting with the non Camino world, Angelina fly back to Brazil, and I, after spending a night sleeping on the airport floor because of an early flight, flew to Dakar, Senegal, West Africa.
Ever since my dad started telling me stories of his wild adventures on the land of Africa back when I was a kid, I have always been intrigued, and magnetically attracted by this land and it's many cultures.
I suppose I wanted to keep this enormous chunk of discovery for a later time. Why? I don't know. The point is that thanks to Angelina and thanks to spending perhaps about to much time at once in Asia, I decided to change my plans and give it a go now that I have some free time and before moving to Brazil. Especially since logistically speaking, it was a simple thing to do. From Asia to Europe, from Europe to Africa, from Africa to America.
Senegal being the destination of the cheapest flights I could find from Spain, I thus decided to start with Senegal. And plus, Astou from AU lives in Dakar, so I would be a perfect way to catch up with my good old friend whom I hadn't seen in ages.
So voila, today is June 20th, it is now 10:05am, I just finished having a little breakfast in Astou's dinning room, and have now been in Dakar for 4 days.
My dad was first in Africa when he did his very first painting exhibition in Dakar, back in the early 1950's. So though through his stories I would picture a specific Senegal and Africa, after traveling through some of Asia, I knew that I should moderate my expectations and not base the on his stories. Africa would most certainly have changed A LOT since the 50's. But I should not compare anything and just take things as they come.
When I was still in Madrid hanging out with Andrea, I spent the last day stressing out quite a bit as Astou had told me at the last minute that I needed a visa to enter Senegal, and when I checked out the internet it said indeed that I needed one, but informed that I had so set up an appointment with the consulate and wait for a few days. Ha! You can only imagine the situation I was in since I was supposed to fly out the next morning.
I finally found a site that suggested to just make the payment on line first, get the receipt of payment and use that to get the visa once in Dakar. Sounded risky, but the airline, very clueless about the situation finally confirmed me that they would let me check I and board the plane without a visa, I felt much better.
Astou later in the day confirmed that anyway she would send someone at the airport to help me out with the paperwork. Hmmm...her father being one of the most respected army general of the country, I decided to trust the winds and no longer worry about it.
So after sleeping a night on the floor of the T2 terminal of Madrid airport, I finally boarded the plane, and later on, shortly before noon, landed in Dakar. Finally I was to touch the land of what I call the black Africa. Not the Arabic north Africa nor the super developed and partially white South Africa.
I barely stepped out of the plane when I was met by a man who simply took my passport and immigration form and asked me to follow him. The whole thing took less than half an hour. I was out soon after passport and 3 months visa in hand. Merci Astou! :-)
When I saw Astou again, it was as if we had last see each other a week before. She hasn't changed at all. Living in Washington DC really created some magically strong ties with friends, and seeing those friends is always, no matter where in the world and when, such a treat and a nostalgic way to remember our days of pseudo innocence and absence of real responsibilities. Hmmm...perhaps I still don't have any real responsibility other than my own skin. Hehe! But that's already quote a lot. Lol
Spending my first couple of weeks with Astou, her family and friends is allowing me to make a very smooth transition between Asia, Spain, and Africa. Since I landed in Dakar, I have been feeling so incredibly tired and lazy. I think it is perhaps because so much has happened so fast since I left Turkey. The Camino was in a way a rollercoaster of activities, emotions and encounters. And well, I also have to readjust to not being traveling with Angelina, which is, I think, the toughest for me now.
Oh well...let's see how it all goes.
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