When I arrived in Dakar at 5am, it was still dark and we descended directly onto the tarmac and taken to the terminal on a short shuttle ride. I was given no directions but followed my fellow passengers example and filled out a form and showed my passport to the guard and that was all it took to enter the very run down airport terminal. I felt very relieved to see the guy in the red vest with my name on a sign waiting to help me just like Arnie had said he would be. He got my bag and escorted me to the van past all the vendors outside pressing against the crowd despite the early hour.
Driving in Africa is insane. The drivers here are like New York cab drivers with no law to keep them in line and add thousands of pedestrians that just walk in traffic or hop in front of it at random and your odd horse and buggy here and there! I am so grateful I don't have to drive while I'm here and I'm grateful that Arnie isn't a newbie at it either or I'd be a nervous wreck.
Driving in Africa is insane. The drivers here are like New York cab drivers with no law to keep them in line and add thousands of pedestrians that just walk in traffic or hop in front of it at random and your odd horse and buggy here and there! I am so grateful I don't have to drive while I'm here and I'm grateful that Arnie isn't a newbie at it either or I'd be a nervous wreck.
Arnie expertly driving me around
Arnie took me sight seeing most of the day. I went to a couple of supermarkets and a really nice mall that were in stark contrast to the thousands of roadside stands and street vendors selling anything from fruit swarming with flies to furniture made from cow's horns. Dakar is surrounded by a beautiful blue ocean that Arnie has rarely been in because of what flows in it from the city.
The mosque Arnie calls the AT&T tower
Most of Africa is Muslim so the landscape is dotted with mosques of all sizes and sounds of "Call to Prayer" can be heard 4-5 times a day from the loud speakers of these mosques. Senegal, however, is moderate Islamic state and so the people are not as extreme in their the standards of dress and conduct as a lot Muslims. The women don't veil their faces and can wear pants. You don't have to immediately stop working to pray but pray as soon as possible. Etc, etc.
Another mosque and the view of the city 
You see baobab trees everywhere. The legends have it that a displeased god plucked a tree and put in back in the ground upside down, hence the straggly appearance.
There are wonderful statues and art. The African Renaissance monument stands taller than the Statue of Liberty was commissioned by the current president, President Wade.
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