Generally I am not a fan of writing
blogs that are long narratives detailing 'this is what I did this
day, then I went there the next day, then I ate that for dinner, blah
blah blah'. BUT I am going to give into my distaste and recount to you
all of the boring details of my time in Kedougou. Primarily because I
want to make you all jealous of all the cool things I get to do!!!
(Come and visit and we can do these things too!)
First off, Kedougou is the region to
the east of Tambacounda (where I am) and boarders Mali to the east
and Guinea to the south. From my site, it is 150 km along a decently
paved road to the city of Kedougou which feels more like a sprawled
village than a regional capital as there is little in terms of larger
structures and 'Western' style stores. But due to its reputation as
the prettiest region in Senegal, Kedougou has several very nice
hotels overlooking the Gambia river to accommodate the tourists who
frequent the city.
I realized that there is a major
geographical characteristic of Senegal that I have not yet addressed
on my blog. Senegal is flat. Like, there are no hills anywhere. When
I am biking and I can see the approaching road rise a few meters I
think, oh man, here comes a hill! My legs burn just thinking about biking the hills
of Berkeley right now.
Getting back to Kedougou- there are
mountains! Well, not really mountains, but there are hills and
greenery! Due to the lush, rippling landscape and the Gambia river
flowing through, Kedougou is stunning.
Aside from the beautiful scenery, I
enjoyed Kedougou because more people in this region speak Jaxanke
(unlike Tamba where very few people in the city respond to my Jaxanke
greetings). Because of the geographic location next to Mali and
Guinea, both of which are dominated by Manden languages, I was able
to use my Jaxanke. Resulting from the lack of acclivity, I had been unable to
learn the word for 'hill' until I arrived in Kedougou- 'banko
konoma'. A literal translation of this is 'pregnant land', which, if
you think about it, is quite logical although I dont know how many pregnant American women would appreciate being equated with mountains.
So now, my bragging will commence.
Myself, Anna (my site mate) and Alecia (a fellow Cal grad- we had
classes together but never knew each other), left the city of
Kedougou for a small village in the hills, 5km from Guinea. After dropping off our backpacks and ordering a chicken dinner that takes 5 hours to prepare as the chicken is SUPER fresh, we decided to brave the storm that was approaching and leave for a hike to the waterfall of Segu. While trekking through a valley the storm hit and became immediately drenched. The 10 minutes of down pour stopped suddenly and the clouds
parted in front of us, allowing for our soaked clothes to dry in
minutes.
The bush path that began this lovely
trek was well marked and easy to follow until it dead ended at a
creek.
From there, the 'trail' consisted of hopping over, in and
through the creek for over an hour which was an excellent test of my balance and tolerance of nasty slimy things being squished between my toes.
Just when we were thinking that maybe we followed the wrong creek and got lost, we reached the waterfall. We happily waded into the ice cold water and I of course could not give up the opportunity to climb up on a ledge by the fall. Dont worry mom! It was totally safe :)
The next day we woke up early and walked to a near by village, Dindenfello, and hike to the waterfall there. I had been informed that the waterfall of Dindenfello was much more magnificent and I must admit, it is.
The falls of Dindenfello rises over 150 meters into the sky and cascades down the rock wall into a refreshing pool of water that I could not give up the opportunity to swim in. When I thought it could not be any more beautiful, I realized that when standing to the left of the fall, one could see a rainbow that circled around and through the fall. The only thing that could have made it better was if I also found a pot of gold.As it is the start of the rainy season, the falls had a decent flow but I was informed that in a month time they become even more beautiful.
The remainder of my time in Kedougou was split up between visiting the sites of 3 fellow volunteers. I started in Chip's village, a short 8km bike ride out of Kedougou city where the infamous Senegalese hospitality was validated to me. We decided to stay an extra day because his family INSISTED on make me a special lunch with goat meat.
I was happy take the extra time not only because of the chance to eat meat, but because we got to take the trek to the river where women, young and old, go to wash things from clothing, to pots, to floor mats. Like the good Senegalese woman I am, I carried laundry on my head, which always gets the crowd giggling.
The cultural by the river is fascinating. This day was especially crowded due to the rain that was forecast for later on.
The shore is segregated via age group, the older the woman the better rock to stand by, which they then use as a washing board and whacking place for dirty clothing. My favorite part of the river is the fishing. Young girls tie fishing line with hooks to the end of sticks and wade into the river until they the water rises to their stomach. Pounded corn that is formed into a ball shape is used as fish bait, which works surprisingly well! Within a minute a small fish about the size of your palm is caught, smacked on the surface of the river to kill, and saved in a bowl to fry up for later. Boney and not too tastey but better than nothing!
After Chip's village, we biked the 20 km of hills to Chrissy's village where we were honored with 2 dinners. The next morning we biked to Saraya where our language seminar was held in the home of Annie and Patrick, the sweet married couple from our PC stage group. Six of us spent the next 3 days with a Jaxanke/Malinke language teacher, asking questions about phrases that I have heard for the past month but could never quite figure out.
After an action packed two weeks I was happy to return to Tamba to do a little 'interneting' until I depart for my village later today. I anxiously await some privacy and relaxation time that I get there, although I anticipate that I will try out my green thumb in the next few days and go to the peanut fields. I'll let you know how I do!
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