Planning my trip across country

To save money on our trip back east, we have decided that it is best that I travel with the girls by myself.  I have never done that but in the military,  I've had to do a lot of things that I've never done before, so nothing new here.

I actually think we will be just fine.  After traveling around Senegal in a car, driving on nice freeways with rest stops and fast food restaurants and nice hotels will be a breeze. 


I was listening to a internet radio program about vacationing with autistic kids and it made me realize that I have a lot of prep work to do in order to have a smooth drive.  Just thinking about all this stuff makes me even more inclined to do anything but prep for my drive and pack up all the excess stuff that we have accumulated over the last 10 months.

This would be our fifth or sixth trek across the country by car so my girls are almost pros at this.  Well, here's to hoping, anyway.

Some grassland in South Dakota taken on our last cross country trip.

 

A nature scavenger hunt

A pond at Kathryn Albertson Park

For family night, we decided to take advantage of the break in the rain and go to a park for a nature scavenger hunt.  There are a lot of Canadian geese around this time of year and we even saw some goslings.  One of the things on the list was goose poop, which was found right away by my youngest.  She was so excited about the poop, she continued to point it out for most of our walk around the park.  It is amazing what makes kids excited.

Trip to Senegal- Random notes- The animals

One of the many things that stood out to me about Senegal was the quantity of livestock just wondering around and not just out in the country but in the city of Dakar as well! The most prevalent of all these animals were the goats. Goats, it's said, eat anything and in Africa, it is probably lucky they do. Arnie says that they seem to be the wiser of all the animals that dwell by and, of course, traverse the road. If we are approaching a goat that looks like it is going to cross, he will often murmur under his breath, "Goat, don't do it!" and surprisingly, it doesn't!

Why did the goat cross the road?

Don't have a clue but they do it often.

It took me a while to distinguish the sheep from the goats. I know, sounds like a Biblical parable. Seriously, though, the sheep are not fluffy in this part of the world. I guess the people don't need the wool and neither do the sheep.

Self-herding sheep

Horses and donkeys are used a lot for transportation. The donkeys, however, are often to be found along the side of the road eating whatever and unfortunately, they are not as smart as the goats. We had to swerve to miss a donkey that decided that it was just going to stand part way into the street. Note to self: Never play chicken with a donkey. It's too stupid to move!

Just one of the many donkeys and carts that Senegal has to offer.This is how most locals get around

The cattle are not much smarter but at least after entering the roadways in front of on-coming traffic, they will start to run. The African cows reminded me, vaguely, of the Brahman bull we once sat on for a picture outside the Grand Canyon when I was 12yrs old.

A lone cow. They are usually seen in groups.

One of the rarer sights in Senegal was pigs. The few we saw were located near the couple of Christian settlements we had visited. My friends like the Erik Kaiser bakery near Arnie's apartment because they actually give you your choice of pork ham or beef ham (whatever that is!).

A rare sight in a predominately Islamic country.

Trip to Senegal- Day 12 "I give you good price!"

From almost the time I stepped off the plane in Dakar, I was bombarded by people trying to sell me things. I got really good at saying "no, thank you" and "I am not interested" in French. I have to admit that it was a kind of relief, when Arnie and I actually wanted to buy something, to actually give in to the constant barrage of requests to "Come look for just a minute," or "you see something you like, I give you good price!" Unfortunately, the relief lasts only a brief moment as now you are in a back and forth battle to get that "good price!"

For those that know me well, know that I don't like shopping even in a nice air conditioned mall where there is plenty of selection, you have brand names, the prices are known up front and sometimes there are even sales that last all day! Well, in Senegal, in Africa, aside from the ritzy malls the Toubabs shop at or the grocery store with really expensive prices, it is nothing like that. The markets are outdoors, with varied selection, mainly handcrafted items or items that they got from donation bags, and the price you get depends solely on your ability to haggle.

My first taste of this happened while I was with Arnie. We went to the Carmel Market. I had seen these cute little wooden hippos back in Sali but the overpriced shop outside the hotel wanted $60 US Dollars for one little hippo! Arnie knew he could get a better deal at this market and he did. He got four little ones for $20 total! I thought that was pretty good. Arnie said that he could've gotten them cheaper. It is all about what you are willing to pay and what they are willing to sell them for. Pretty simple concept, hard application.

Arnie's boss's wife, Veronique, is really good at this, though, and she took me and a couple other gals out shopping my last day in Senegal. Besides being fluent in French, she has a killer instinct and knows exactly how to get a great deal. I admired her technique which basically consisted of asking how much something was and upon hearing their offer would "tsk" and turn around and walk almost completely away before the seller, frantically, calls her back with a better price. If this still doesn't impress her, she will again just "tsk" and continue to walk away. Amazing.

Me, well, not so hot. I was lucky when purchasing the three bags, the little purple basket and the big pink basket. Veronique was there with me to run interference. The rest of my purchases were made in a series of major trials and errors.

While my friends were occupied haggling for a painting a couple stalls down, I was being badgered by a very over zealous, fast talking man who sold wood figurines. At first I wasn't very interested in anything because I loved my little hippos and didn't care for any more little wooden things. The guy kept lowering his prices however until I thought, heck, why not. Well, I'll tell you! I told him I wanted the cat for the last price he said and thought maybe he would be satisfied and let me go. Well, I got the cat for $4, the price I asked for but as I waited for them to get me a bag, he went for a two-fer deal. By this time, I was tired and didn't do the math. I ended up buying a little kneeling lady for another $6. I think the guy knew that he had suckered me because he added this little puny elephant as a gift...yeah, yeah, whatever.

I think this was the signal all of the rest of the vendors in the vicinity were looking for, (the signal that, yep, we've got a stupid one!), because I was swept away from that stall to the neighboring one by another guy claiming he was the first one's brother....yeah right. He began yabbering at me something about getting two for 1000CFA (about $2) and something about being broke and giving me a good deal. By this time, I had had enough of little wooden crap and wanted out! My friends obliged and came to my rescue!

Problem was I hadn't learned my lesson. Not by a long shot. In the last row of stalls, a wood statue of a horse caught my eye and round 2 of Scam the Toubab began. First off, I actually wanted the horse (problem number 1) and second, as I was not anxious to be detained as long as the first time, I tried to negotiate quickly (problem number 2). I tried to negotiate like Arnie had taught me by starting lower that the other guy's initial offer but I didn't take the time to do the math and before I knew it, we had settled on a price of $40 USD and I was receiving another little elephant for being such a good sport. Yes, thanks, thanks a lot. I feel so much better now.

The bottom line ,though, is that I am happy with my treasures and for the priceless schooling in the art of negotiation that I received, I got a "good price."

All my African treasuresFour hippos, a horse, a cat, and one of the lucky elephants

Trip To Senegal- Day 10 St. Louis

We left Lompoul the next morning, not requiring a guide to return to the village as all of the paths would take us back. We did end up paying a little more than we would have like for putting the air back in our tires but with that done, we turned our sights to the coastal island of St. Louis.

St. Louis lies between the mainland of Senegal and a narrow peninsula that connects to the country of Mauritania just north of the fishing village of N'gar. The bridge to St. Louis is being refurbished and by this, I mean, the old bridge is being torn down and sent to France as scrap and a new bridge is being built right next to where the old one was. The original bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same guy that design the Eiffel Tower (hence the name).

The bridge to St. Louis, designed by Gustav Eiffel The Sindone Hotel is a quaint hotel near the south end of the the island. Arnie had stayed there once before and knew that they had bed nets. I knew I was going to like the place already.

We decided to have lunch at the hotel's restaurant since we couldn't check in right away. We chose to sit outside near the water. Except for the occasional fly to shew away, it was a wonderful place to eat. The food at the restaurant was delicious! I had the t-bone steak with french fries and a salad. It was brought to me, not on a plate, but on a cutting board! At dinner, I had the chicken dish (the only chicken dish on the menu). The chicken was in a coconut-ginger sauce! Amazing!

The view from the hotel's restaurant of the Eiffel bridge

After lunch and checking in, we headed over to the African equivalent of a tourist center and paid for a guide that took us on a carriage ride around the island and over the bridge to the fishing village as well. I was very grateful that Arnie got a guide that spoke English this time. It was so great to be able to understand more than a few words per sentence and to ask my own questions and not just sit there nodding and smiling like a fool and laughing a fraction of a second after Arnie did at whatever joke was said.

A view across the canal of one of St. Louis's many mosques

Our guide was from the fishing village, which was a short bridge ride toward the ocean from the island of St. Louis. I was amazed at the difference of atmosphere between the two places. St. Louis is a very peaceful, place with old colonial buildings in various stages of refurbishing. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic, cars or otherwise to deal with and I noticed that there seemed to be less street vendors begging for stuff. There were many shops and restaurants and there were even places where you could look in and see clothes or furniture being made.

Our horse and driver

The fishing village was a mess. With approximately 30,000 people within a 1-2km sq area, it was swarming with people so dense it was hard for the carriage to make forward progress at times. Our guide said that the number of people is only a guess because it is forbidden in their culture to count people. The fishermen have up to two or more wives and the wife with the most children gets the inheritance so there are children everywhere in this village. According to our guide, the fishermen are relatively wealthy but they don't spend their wealth to improve the infrastructure of their homes, making them more sanitary or comfortable. They buy modern technology like flat screen tvs for each of their wives and cell phones and designer clothes for their children. They still cook on the streets on charcoal fires and defecate in the ocean and rivers. Some things are just incomprehensible.

The many of pirogues of the Fishing Village

just a short bridge away from St. Louis on the ocean side.

The smoke rising from the village as the women smoke the day's catch of sardines

Trip to Senegal- Day 9 Lompoul

Our next adventure took us to the sand dunes of Lompoul. There we were treated like sheiks, living in elaborate tents, eating in open air pavilions, and even having a camel ride.

To get there was an adventure as well. Once reaching the village of Lompoul, we had to contact the Lodge, where we staying, and request a guide to get us to the site. We were told to wait in a certain location in the town and while there were completely mobbed by little children climbing all over the car and trying the door handles. I was glad the doors were locked. After about five intense minutes, our guide arrived and we headed on our way down sandy paths that would fork again and again, making me very glad indeed that we held out for our guide.

Arnie really enjoys driving the 4x4 Land Cruiser and it definitely performed well in the bumpy, sandy paths to the Lompoul Lodge. The only glitch came when we were just in sight of the white tents at the top of the hill and the sand got quite a bit deeper. I was worried that we were going to have to leave the vehicle there and walk the rest of the way, when the guide jumped out and started to deflate the tires! Not knowing anything about off-roading, I looked at Arnie with concern and asked him if he was concerned at all that this man is taking the air out of our tires? Arnie then explained to me that it would make the tires more like a camel's hoof rather than a horse's hoof. Since I still looked confused, he continued to explain that a camel's hoof is wider and spreads more evenly on the sand rather than a horse's compact hoof which would just go right through. With that, the light bulb finally went on in my head. I also realized that by this guy doing this, he was also guaranteeing someone in the village our business in order to fill our tires back up again. Gotta love Africa.

I'm standing in front of our tent

Our sink and mirror in our bathroom located right outside our tent.

A working toilet (no seat) and a working shower (only cold water). The bucket is only for show. There is a pipe that brings water right to the shower head.

Inside our tent. There are four twin size beds. The meal tents

After checking out the place, we took a break in the dining pavilion. The owner of the Lodge gave us complimentary drinks, something I've never had, jus de Baobab. Yep, that's right Baobab juice. I think it is the juice from the pod off the baobab tree but either way it is a milky white substance that reminded me, at least in color and texture, to coconut milk. Not in taste, however. It wasn't too bad and I finished my glass but I just couldn't get over the idea that I was drinking a tree and I kept feeling like I was drinking bark.

Me drinking le jus de baobab

Once done with our drinks, our camels arrived from the village, just in time for a sunset ride around the dunes. This was my first time on a camel and Arnie's first time on a camel using a saddle. He had ridden a camel in Qatar during his deployment and he described a harrowing experience of just jumping on behind the hump and just hanging on. I was grateful for the saddles although they are not very comfortable and they actually put you further from the camel's back than a horse's saddle does. This is very disconcerting since a camel is already taller than a horse to begin with, you end up even higher off the ground. I never did get used to the lumbering gate of the camel and was continually trying to keep the front piece of the saddle that was between my legs from gouging painfully into them, all the while trying to take pictures of the scenery and Arnie. I was very grateful for a fast shutter speed and a camera strap. After a while, I just gave up trying to protect my legs and just resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be really sore for several days.

Our guide stopped several times and offered to take our picture. Although Arnie had his little point-and-shoot camera, the camel guy never went for his camera. I think he really liked my big fancy camera and would go at taking pictures of us with all the zeal of a Hollywood model photographer! Most of the pictures he took were not very good, sad to say, but he had a lot of fun taking them :) Thank goodness for digital cameras!!

Arnie and I up on camels about to head out on dunes of LompoulOur camel guide pulling my camel up a steep dune.

The one thing that I have to say about this adventure was that I have a new appreciation for bed nets!! Perhaps the mosquitos are just now coming back in season so the owners weren't aware or something. At any rate, our tent didn't have a bed net. We were putting bug spray on all night and had to sleep with the covers over our heads all night. It is no fun at all.

Aside from that however, I loved Lompoul. It was like living out of a Laurence of Arabia movie! It was absolutely fabulous!

Trip to Senegal- Day 6-8 Cooking advendures pt 2

With the mystery of the oven solved, I was sure that making cinnamon rolls was going to go a lot smoother than my dinner party had. Yep, wrong again.

This time the trouble came in the preparation stage. First of all, Arnie, being by himself means he doesn't own a whole lot of baking paraphernalia. Having made bread without a mixer before, I wasn't too daunted by this and I pressed forward.

I immediately came upon another inconvenience. Getting warm water. Usually I would get it from the tap. Here you can't do that and since Arnie doesn't have a microwave either, I ended up heating up filtered water on the stove. This, unfortunately, made it too hot and I had to temper it with room temp filtered water but I was still a little worried it was too hot. I was happy to see the yeast growing and was about to proceed with my next step when I realized that to get melted butter, I would have to melt that, also, on the stove.

As I am worrying about the heat killing my yeast, I then turn to my sugar and flour, which Arnie, in order to keep fresh here in the African heat and humidity, has kept in the freezer! So, I place my bets that the ingredients will balance themselves out and I make the dough and set it to rise.

By this time, Leone has come in to make her lunch and has taken interest in what I am doing. She asks me if I made the dough myself and what a cinnamon roll was. I showed her a picture and she was really excited to get the recipe.

It was really nice to have her in the kitchen with me. In fact she taught me better ways to use the stove and the oven. By her example, I learned that you didn't need to light the stove pilots at all but just take a match to the burner themselves when the knob is in the "Lite" position! This way, you are able to use the stove AND the oven at the same time!!! Also, she showed me how to light the oven pilot by opening the drawer under the oven instead of dismantling the oven!

I think she found me very entertaining to watch because it was as she was observing me that I realized that Arnie didn't have a rolling pin. At first I tried making due with a Nalgene water bottle while Arnie was scrambling in his storage for a better alternative. He ended up coming back with his baseball bat! It turned out to be a lot better than the bottle (after I had scrubbed it really well that is.)

With the rolls in the pans rising, I set about making the frosting. It was then that I realized that I had the challenge of making frosting with real butter completely by hand. Luckily, I had left the butter out so that it was room temperature or I'd be a lot worse off but it was still a difficult process. I ended up having to scrub my hands really well and just going in with both hands. This helped warm up the butter and combine it with the powdered sugar. As it was, I didn't end up putting all the allotted amount of sugar in before it became too difficult and I decided to just add the milk to make it spreadable.

So I am happy to say after all of the trouble I went through, the cinnamon rolls came out beautifully! Phew! I understand, now, why Arnie has been avoiding cooking!