Day 195
Eventually we reach the Senegal border. As on the way in, the Mauritanians make everyone wait around for ages for no particular reason. On the Senegal side it’s much more efficient. It’s now 5PM and about 25 km to Saint Louis, but with no other options we decide to press on and arrive in the city shortly after dark. It’s a complete contrast to Mauritania, everyone is out doing things, there’s music playing, people running and cycling. Leo has a couch surfing arrangement, I find a hotel.
Day 197
Saint Louis – Lampoule sur Mer
Leo is staying in Saint Louis to get his bike fixed, then he’s going to Dakar. I’ll be skipping Dakar and heading southwards, so having rested enough we say our goodbyes and I head off in the morning.
This is lovely cycling, the road is rolling through countryside of grassland and trees. The tarmac is good, there’s hardly any traffic, just goats, camels and cows. My intended destination is Mékhé which is 135 km from Saint Louis, but I’ve taken the more coastal route and although it looks similar on the map when I reach 90 km there’s still another 60 to go. It’s fairly early but I’m not in any hurry to do another 150 km day so I turn towards the sea and stop at Lampoule.
Day 198
Lampoule – Thiès
The hotel is out along the beach and was quite a trek to get to yesterday, so I get a lift in a 4WD back to the village to save pushing through the sand. From there the day is in three parts. First a lovely ride through various villages and glorious countryside with only a few others on the road, mostly in pony carts. Then there’s a long section where the road is being replaced and I either ride on the newly laid gravel or the sandy road that acts as a diversion. Finally, from Tivaouane to Thièl it’s a busy road, but nothing moves fast. The lorries, very heavily laden, have to slow to a crawl for the road humps, and there are many even on the trunk road. I catch the same ones up many times.
The trees are larger, there is a little less sand, but it’s very hot from midday onwards. It was cool out by the sea but inland it’s a bit warmer. I stop at Thièl and plan my next move. Right is to Dakar, although iconic I don’t think I’ll go there. Even Leo will stash his bike outside the city and go in by bus. Left is a busy main road to Fatick and also advised against on account of the number of lorries. Straight on will be slower but I’m in no hurry.
Day 199
From Thiès I cycle down to Mbour, then along the coast road to Joal Fadiout. It’s fairly pleasant but not more than that. I arrive early afternoon giving me the time to visit Fadiout village, which is a series of man-made islands built out of shells, started as a dump of cockle shells in the 8th century and eventually forming land big enough to build houses on. The bricks for the houses are also made out of shells.
Day 200
I skip breakfast, just a quick coffee, in order to cycle to Jiffer in time to catch the pirogue (boat) to Niodior. However, when I get there they won’t take the bike as it’s too busy today, so I take a private boat instead and could have come later. The idea is that I can stay overnight and get a connecting pirogue to either Toubacouba or Sokone which I’ve been told leave on alternate days.
It turns out that there’s no longer a service to Sokone, and the Toubacouba boat is only on Thursday and Sunday. There’s no way I want to spend three nights here, it’s a tiny village surrounded on all sides by mangroves and with several stagnant strips of water through the middle. It’s basically malaria Russian roulette. Also everything shuts down before noon. With the help of a Spanish-speaking local (my French is not up to it) I arrange a private boat for Toubacouba.
Day 201
I’m up at 6:30 to get to the harbour as instructed and push my bike through the deep sand to the other side of the village in the dark. When I get there no-one knows anything about my boat. After a while the man from the gîte appears to tell me I’m actually supposed to be at a little pier near to where I came from, and I heave my bike back through the sand.
The trip is about four hours through mangroves and the delta. At Toubacouba I’m around 25 km from the border with The Gambia, which I’d like to try crossing as early as possible, so no cycling today.
