Touring the Sahel. FT duo visits Chad, Mauritania, Senegal and Niger
Mar 16, 2015, 12:16 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Touring the Sahel. FT duo visits Chad, Mauritania, Senegal and Niger
Last year I booked a TK business class award using USAir miles just before the cutoff date of TK leaving Dividend Miles program. I had to book quickly so didn't do much other than pick two countries I hadn't yet visited, Niger and Chad. At the time, there were nonstop flights between N'Djamena and Niamey on Royal Air Maroc and ASKY. A few months later I noticed that route had been canceled on both airlines, leaving the only options to connect via Lome or a long detour via Casablanca. Looking at airfares, it wasn't that much more expensive to fly from Chad to Mauritania, then return from Dakar to Niamey than just a straight N'Djamena to Niamey flight.
DanielW also expressed an interest in joining me on my itinerary. It seems we have quite a support group going now for intrepid Flyertalkers. I traveled with ironmanjt last year through central Africa. DanielW and I ended up booking NDJ-CMN-NKC on Royal Air Maroc, with a 12-hr layover in Casablanca. The plan was to fly into Nouakchott, then go overland to Senegal via Saint-Louis before flying to Niamey on a Senegal Airlines DKR-BKO-OUA-NIM.
Visas were the next issue as all four new countries required visas. Mauritania offers visa on arrival at Nouakchott airport, but the status of VOA for US passports was in flux (looks like no longer possible for US citizens as of latest Timatic) so I planned to use my UK passport. That meant I would also need to get the Senegal visa on my UK passport. And most likely the Niger visa as well. I sent off my UK passport to DC for my Niger visa ($100) in January and received the passport back just a few days later. The Chad visa I applied in mid-February ($150) on my US passport, and it was also issued same-day. Senegal has an online e-visa approval system, 52.50 EUR. They send you an email that you then take to an embassy, border or airport to get the actual biometric visa.
A few days before our trip departed, I checked the online schedule for the Senegal Airlines flight and no longer saw it in the reservation systems or on their website. They have been having financial difficulties and apparently have canceled many flights. Called Expedia to cancel/refund my itinerary and they said my flight was still showing confirmed.... they tried calling Senegal Airlines to no avail. That left plan B. There was a Air Burkina flight DKR-OUA-NIM, requiring an overnight in Ouagadougou. Hopefully we could get a transit visa on arrival, or not even require one at all (ironmanjt managed to blag his way out of one). Then checking that schedule a few hours later showed they canceled those flights as well. Which left us with plan C, flying on Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca again and arriving into Niamey at 2:45AM, ugh.
Flights:
DanielW also expressed an interest in joining me on my itinerary. It seems we have quite a support group going now for intrepid Flyertalkers. I traveled with ironmanjt last year through central Africa. DanielW and I ended up booking NDJ-CMN-NKC on Royal Air Maroc, with a 12-hr layover in Casablanca. The plan was to fly into Nouakchott, then go overland to Senegal via Saint-Louis before flying to Niamey on a Senegal Airlines DKR-BKO-OUA-NIM.
Visas were the next issue as all four new countries required visas. Mauritania offers visa on arrival at Nouakchott airport, but the status of VOA for US passports was in flux (looks like no longer possible for US citizens as of latest Timatic) so I planned to use my UK passport. That meant I would also need to get the Senegal visa on my UK passport. And most likely the Niger visa as well. I sent off my UK passport to DC for my Niger visa ($100) in January and received the passport back just a few days later. The Chad visa I applied in mid-February ($150) on my US passport, and it was also issued same-day. Senegal has an online e-visa approval system, 52.50 EUR. They send you an email that you then take to an embassy, border or airport to get the actual biometric visa.
A few days before our trip departed, I checked the online schedule for the Senegal Airlines flight and no longer saw it in the reservation systems or on their website. They have been having financial difficulties and apparently have canceled many flights. Called Expedia to cancel/refund my itinerary and they said my flight was still showing confirmed.... they tried calling Senegal Airlines to no avail. That left plan B. There was a Air Burkina flight DKR-OUA-NIM, requiring an overnight in Ouagadougou. Hopefully we could get a transit visa on arrival, or not even require one at all (ironmanjt managed to blag his way out of one). Then checking that schedule a few hours later showed they canceled those flights as well. Which left us with plan C, flying on Royal Air Maroc via Casablanca again and arriving into Niamey at 2:45AM, ugh.
Flights:
Code:
MAR06 IAH-PHL US First award MAR06 PHL-BOS US First award MAR06 BOS-IST TK Business award MAR07 IST-NDJ TK Business award MAR09 NDJ-CMN AT Economy MAR09 CMN-NKC AT Economy MAR14 DKR-CMN AT Economy MAR14 CMN-OUA AT Economy MAR14 OUA-NIM AT Economy MAR16 NIM-OUA TK Business award MAR17 OUA-IST TK Business award MAR17 IST-IAH TK Business award
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:19 pm
Mar 17, 2015, 3:17 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 6-7, 2015
Flight: Houston, TX (IAH) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL); USAirways First
Flight: Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Boston, MA (BOS); USAirways First
Flight: Boston, MA (BOS) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST); Turkish A340 Business
Flight: Istanbul, Turkey (IST) to N'Djamena, Chad (NDJ); Turkish 737 Business
Hotel: Novotel La Tchadienne; N'Djamena, Chad; $185/nt
The day of departure finally arrived and the flight drama continued. There was a huge winter storm that hit the east coast on Thursday and I was flying through both Philadelphia and Boston.. with tight connections in both cities. I left Austin about 7:45 AM for the 3-hr drive to Houston. On the way I got a text that my flight to Philadelphia was delayed 45 minutes.. on a 1-hr connection. Oops.
I'd also been concerned about my ticket anyway, the USAirways site couldn't look up my ticket either by PNR or e-ticket #. I'd called in a few times about it and they said everything was Ok but I was still concerned when I couldn't checkin online. Arriving at the checkin desk and they couldn't check me in either! Luckily though they sorted it out. I had arrived early enough to request standby for an earlier Philadelphia flight but with the weather chaos, all flights were going out full. I tried calling USAirways to see about getting on different flights, even trying for the nonstop IAH-IST flight but since their agreement had ended there wasn't anything they could do. Likewise with all other flights being full the options were narrowing, especially when I didn't make the standby flight. I even debated buying a one-way ticket IAH-IST for $1300. The agent said there were 6 others making the PHL-BOS connection so I hoped they would hold the plane in PHL.
I kept checking the flight status on my original flight and the arrival time kept improving, finally at 45 minutes decided to chance it and go with my original flights (no idea what would happen if I missed my flight though considering they couldn't change my TK flight as it was). DanielW had already arrived in Chad but wasn't able to contact him as his phone wasn't working.
The flight finally arrived and we took off nearly an hour late... my stress level through the roof at this point. The pilot announced we would have a flying time of 2h20, with a 200mph tailwind he said it is the fastest time he had clocked on that route! They served a quite impressive meal onboard, esp for a ERJ. I even paid for gogo service so I could obsessively keep an eye on the arrival time and gate status.
USAirways First IAH-PHL
We arrived in Philly at C18 and had to hoof it down to A18.. I set off running especially when I heard the final call announcement over the PA. Arrived at the gate all sweaty only to wait another 30 minutes while other passengers boarded. Stress level decreased slightly but still was worried about making the BOS connection, especially switching terminals from B to E.
Great view flying over Long Island and looking across to Manhattan. On arrival into Boston I think we circled to Maine before coming back in over the bay for arrival. Ran outside (freezing - only had a light jacket as Chad was 100+ degrees) and caught the parking bus #88 over to terminal E, arriving just after 10:00. There was no line at security and I made it to the TK gate with just minutes to spare before boarding! I may have missed visiting the lounge or getting a cheesesteak but I at least had made it to Boston and now could relax (First world problems, right?)
TK business class seats were cradle style, similar to AF business I had flown on recently. Decent-sized TV screen. The staff served pre-departure drinks, I had a delicious strawberry/raspberry concoction. My seatmate was a student at Boston U going home for spring break. The attendants gave out a Godiva chocolate after takeoff. I watched the movie 'The Drop' while the chefs served 'dinner by candlelight' with a flickering light in a small bag.
Turkish J BOS-IST
We arrived into Istanbul nearly an hour early and we were transferred to the terminal via bus, where there was a non-sterile transit. Grabbed a Starbucks before heading to the TK Lounge for a few hours. The lounge was nearly empty when I arrived but started filling up an hour or so later. The N'Djamena flight boarded via bus. The bus wasn't full and indeed the flight was quite empty for the ~6 hr flight to Chad. Business class had only 5/16 and the seats were 7' apart so it felt like I nearly had the plane to myself. There were a few military/mercenary looking guys on the flight. We had a crazy flight route to avoid Libyan airspace, we flew west over Malta, Tunis and Algeria before turning southeast through Niger into Chad.
Turkish J IST-NDJ
Arrived into N'Djamena airport a few minutes late. The terminal seemed quite ramshackle with plywood walls. As a defence against Ebola they checked our temperature and made us use hand sanitizer on arrival. No issues at all on arrival, showed my passport, had my fingerprints taken and I was in Chad, country #176 . There were no banks or other change booths open in the airport, and no calls for taxi-taxi when I exited the terminal. I had arranged for the airport shuttle from the Novotel hotel but it was nowhere to be seen. The TK crew came out shortly after and I asked which hotel they went to, the Kempinski.
Finally I found a 'taxi' to take me to the Novotel for 5k CFA. Chad is on the Central African CFA along with Cameroon and Rep Congo. I still had a few coins leftover from my previous trip but not enough, but the driver said I could change money at the hotel. The Novotel was just a few minutes drive away and I was able to change $20 (at a very bad rate 500:1$) to 10k CFA. The CFA is tied to the Euro and the Euro has been crashing, meaning CFA was over 600:$1, but they haven't updated their exchange rates here!
There's really not a lot of choice for hotels in Chad, and definitely are expensive for what you get. The Novotel seemed quite dim inside, and the rooms were laid out in a motel-style with room access from an outside hallway. The room was decently clean with good bed. The wifi was atrocious though, I kept trying to send email to no avail. The aircon was amazingly loud and sounded like it was about to take off, but I was so tired by this point I didn't care and soon fell asleep.
Novotel La Tchadienne, N'Djamena
Flight: Houston, TX (IAH) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL); USAirways First
Flight: Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Boston, MA (BOS); USAirways First
Flight: Boston, MA (BOS) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST); Turkish A340 Business
Flight: Istanbul, Turkey (IST) to N'Djamena, Chad (NDJ); Turkish 737 Business
Hotel: Novotel La Tchadienne; N'Djamena, Chad; $185/nt
The day of departure finally arrived and the flight drama continued. There was a huge winter storm that hit the east coast on Thursday and I was flying through both Philadelphia and Boston.. with tight connections in both cities. I left Austin about 7:45 AM for the 3-hr drive to Houston. On the way I got a text that my flight to Philadelphia was delayed 45 minutes.. on a 1-hr connection. Oops.
I'd also been concerned about my ticket anyway, the USAirways site couldn't look up my ticket either by PNR or e-ticket #. I'd called in a few times about it and they said everything was Ok but I was still concerned when I couldn't checkin online. Arriving at the checkin desk and they couldn't check me in either! Luckily though they sorted it out. I had arrived early enough to request standby for an earlier Philadelphia flight but with the weather chaos, all flights were going out full. I tried calling USAirways to see about getting on different flights, even trying for the nonstop IAH-IST flight but since their agreement had ended there wasn't anything they could do. Likewise with all other flights being full the options were narrowing, especially when I didn't make the standby flight. I even debated buying a one-way ticket IAH-IST for $1300. The agent said there were 6 others making the PHL-BOS connection so I hoped they would hold the plane in PHL.
I kept checking the flight status on my original flight and the arrival time kept improving, finally at 45 minutes decided to chance it and go with my original flights (no idea what would happen if I missed my flight though considering they couldn't change my TK flight as it was). DanielW had already arrived in Chad but wasn't able to contact him as his phone wasn't working.
The flight finally arrived and we took off nearly an hour late... my stress level through the roof at this point. The pilot announced we would have a flying time of 2h20, with a 200mph tailwind he said it is the fastest time he had clocked on that route! They served a quite impressive meal onboard, esp for a ERJ. I even paid for gogo service so I could obsessively keep an eye on the arrival time and gate status.
USAirways First IAH-PHL
We arrived in Philly at C18 and had to hoof it down to A18.. I set off running especially when I heard the final call announcement over the PA. Arrived at the gate all sweaty only to wait another 30 minutes while other passengers boarded. Stress level decreased slightly but still was worried about making the BOS connection, especially switching terminals from B to E.
Great view flying over Long Island and looking across to Manhattan. On arrival into Boston I think we circled to Maine before coming back in over the bay for arrival. Ran outside (freezing - only had a light jacket as Chad was 100+ degrees) and caught the parking bus #88 over to terminal E, arriving just after 10:00. There was no line at security and I made it to the TK gate with just minutes to spare before boarding! I may have missed visiting the lounge or getting a cheesesteak but I at least had made it to Boston and now could relax (First world problems, right?)
TK business class seats were cradle style, similar to AF business I had flown on recently. Decent-sized TV screen. The staff served pre-departure drinks, I had a delicious strawberry/raspberry concoction. My seatmate was a student at Boston U going home for spring break. The attendants gave out a Godiva chocolate after takeoff. I watched the movie 'The Drop' while the chefs served 'dinner by candlelight' with a flickering light in a small bag.
Turkish J BOS-IST
We arrived into Istanbul nearly an hour early and we were transferred to the terminal via bus, where there was a non-sterile transit. Grabbed a Starbucks before heading to the TK Lounge for a few hours. The lounge was nearly empty when I arrived but started filling up an hour or so later. The N'Djamena flight boarded via bus. The bus wasn't full and indeed the flight was quite empty for the ~6 hr flight to Chad. Business class had only 5/16 and the seats were 7' apart so it felt like I nearly had the plane to myself. There were a few military/mercenary looking guys on the flight. We had a crazy flight route to avoid Libyan airspace, we flew west over Malta, Tunis and Algeria before turning southeast through Niger into Chad.
Turkish J IST-NDJ
Arrived into N'Djamena airport a few minutes late. The terminal seemed quite ramshackle with plywood walls. As a defence against Ebola they checked our temperature and made us use hand sanitizer on arrival. No issues at all on arrival, showed my passport, had my fingerprints taken and I was in Chad, country #176 . There were no banks or other change booths open in the airport, and no calls for taxi-taxi when I exited the terminal. I had arranged for the airport shuttle from the Novotel hotel but it was nowhere to be seen. The TK crew came out shortly after and I asked which hotel they went to, the Kempinski.
Finally I found a 'taxi' to take me to the Novotel for 5k CFA. Chad is on the Central African CFA along with Cameroon and Rep Congo. I still had a few coins leftover from my previous trip but not enough, but the driver said I could change money at the hotel. The Novotel was just a few minutes drive away and I was able to change $20 (at a very bad rate 500:1$) to 10k CFA. The CFA is tied to the Euro and the Euro has been crashing, meaning CFA was over 600:$1, but they haven't updated their exchange rates here!
There's really not a lot of choice for hotels in Chad, and definitely are expensive for what you get. The Novotel seemed quite dim inside, and the rooms were laid out in a motel-style with room access from an outside hallway. The room was decently clean with good bed. The wifi was atrocious though, I kept trying to send email to no avail. The aircon was amazingly loud and sounded like it was about to take off, but I was so tired by this point I didn't care and soon fell asleep.
Novotel La Tchadienne, N'Djamena
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:20 pm
Mar 17, 2015, 3:24 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 8, 2015
Hotel: Novotel La Tchadienne; N'Djamena, Chad; $185/nt
I still managed to wake up early around 6AM. I had forgotten to print out my hotel confirmations and had finally managed to download them to a USB stick and print them out in the business center. I took a walk around the hotel grounds. There was a view of the Chari river through the fence at the back. I had a decent breakfast then headed out to explore the city a bit before DanielW planned to arrive at 10AM. Today was Sunday and it was 7:20 AM so the streets were pretty deserted (I checked later and the LP book warned about walking on that street on Sundays). I headed down to a roundabout that had a statue of a soldier on a horse. This area was mostly government ministries and military and there were lots of police/guards out front. In one spot they made me cross the sidewalk to walk on the other side. I'd heard about Chad being paranoid and needing permits to photo, travel, etc.
The weather forecast called for 106 degrees today in N'Djamena, but this morning at least the weather was pleasant. I finally arrived at the huge cathedral which was closed and undergoing renovation. The cathedral sits between the presidential palace and the Place de la Nation with its huge arch similar to the St. Louis Arch. There were lots of police about so I had to be careful with the camera. Approaching the platform the arch sat on, the police wouldn't let me go any further as they were setting up for some sort of rally. I walked back a slightly different route via the immigration office. You are supposed to register your passport within 72 hrs of arriving in Chad, similar to Sudan. I was only here on a weekend though and the office is only open during the week and I hoped that wouldn't pose problems. Sure enough the office was closed, I asked about registration and one person pointed me inside, another said 'pas de probleme'...
Place de la Nation, N'Djamena
I made it back to the hotel by 8:30 and rested a bit. Chad has been on the offensive against Boko Haram in Nigeria lately and I heard several military jets taking off from the nearby airport. Daniel called right after 10AM. He had already arranged a car+driver for a city tour and visiting Gaoui pottery village. For some reason there were 4 other guys along with us in the SUV. Gaoui is about 10kms northeast of the city and is one of the towns possible to visit without a travel permit. Daniel filled me in about his visit to Dougia camp and visiting Elephant Rock. On the way we passed the Kempinski village. The rest of the city seemed a bit livelier than the area around the Novotel, but everything was pretty dry and dusty, a feature we found common across the countries we visited. We passed by restaurants selling 'Viande de chameau' (camel meat).
Overloaded bus, N'Djamena
Share taxis, N'Djamena
Taxis, N'Djamena
On arrival in Gaoui we had to get approval from the chief to visit the museum. The museum used to be an old sultan's house, two story mud house with windows made from broken pot necks. Various pictures and maps on the walls showed the old kingdoms of the area. After the museum we walked a bit through the town. We soon had a following of young kids all asking for a 'cadeau' (gift). We came across several women making the pottery jars used for hauling/storing water. In the distance we saw a hugely overloaded truck full of logs passing by.
Road to Gaoui
Gaoui museum
After Gaoui we headed back to town to see the National Museum but it was closed today. After a detour via the Grand Mosque and market, we came back to the Place de la Nation. The rally was just ending and there were truckloads of soldiers leaving the square. Apparently the rally was for Women's Week. There were some women here in brightly colored dresses and giving a TV interview. It was about 2PM at this point and we were pretty hungry. We looked for one of the restaurants in the LP but it apparently is closed/gone but we found another place nearby, the Cote de Jardin. Apparently everyone from the rally had ended up here as it was very crowded. It took quite awhile to get served. The food though was quite good, I had one of the Chadian specialities, chicken with peanut+ginger sauce.
Back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out again for dinner. We wanted to go to Le Central but it was closed today so we ended back up at Cote de Jardin. It was less busy for dinner. I had the souris d'agneau (lamb shank), which was falling off the bone tender. Back to the hotel for an early night as we had to be up at 2:45AM (ugh) for the flight to Casablanca.
I really can't say that much about Chad due to our short time there. I really wanted to visit the north/east parts of Chad in the Sahara (The canyons of Ennedi look amazing) but trips there take a minimum of two weeks commitment. The French company Point-Afrique was supposed to run charter flights from Marseille to Faya airport in northern Chad this year but canceled them due to poor bookings (Ebola+terror concerns unfortuantely).
Hotel: Novotel La Tchadienne; N'Djamena, Chad; $185/nt
I still managed to wake up early around 6AM. I had forgotten to print out my hotel confirmations and had finally managed to download them to a USB stick and print them out in the business center. I took a walk around the hotel grounds. There was a view of the Chari river through the fence at the back. I had a decent breakfast then headed out to explore the city a bit before DanielW planned to arrive at 10AM. Today was Sunday and it was 7:20 AM so the streets were pretty deserted (I checked later and the LP book warned about walking on that street on Sundays). I headed down to a roundabout that had a statue of a soldier on a horse. This area was mostly government ministries and military and there were lots of police/guards out front. In one spot they made me cross the sidewalk to walk on the other side. I'd heard about Chad being paranoid and needing permits to photo, travel, etc.
The weather forecast called for 106 degrees today in N'Djamena, but this morning at least the weather was pleasant. I finally arrived at the huge cathedral which was closed and undergoing renovation. The cathedral sits between the presidential palace and the Place de la Nation with its huge arch similar to the St. Louis Arch. There were lots of police about so I had to be careful with the camera. Approaching the platform the arch sat on, the police wouldn't let me go any further as they were setting up for some sort of rally. I walked back a slightly different route via the immigration office. You are supposed to register your passport within 72 hrs of arriving in Chad, similar to Sudan. I was only here on a weekend though and the office is only open during the week and I hoped that wouldn't pose problems. Sure enough the office was closed, I asked about registration and one person pointed me inside, another said 'pas de probleme'...
Place de la Nation, N'Djamena
I made it back to the hotel by 8:30 and rested a bit. Chad has been on the offensive against Boko Haram in Nigeria lately and I heard several military jets taking off from the nearby airport. Daniel called right after 10AM. He had already arranged a car+driver for a city tour and visiting Gaoui pottery village. For some reason there were 4 other guys along with us in the SUV. Gaoui is about 10kms northeast of the city and is one of the towns possible to visit without a travel permit. Daniel filled me in about his visit to Dougia camp and visiting Elephant Rock. On the way we passed the Kempinski village. The rest of the city seemed a bit livelier than the area around the Novotel, but everything was pretty dry and dusty, a feature we found common across the countries we visited. We passed by restaurants selling 'Viande de chameau' (camel meat).
Overloaded bus, N'Djamena
Share taxis, N'Djamena
Taxis, N'Djamena
On arrival in Gaoui we had to get approval from the chief to visit the museum. The museum used to be an old sultan's house, two story mud house with windows made from broken pot necks. Various pictures and maps on the walls showed the old kingdoms of the area. After the museum we walked a bit through the town. We soon had a following of young kids all asking for a 'cadeau' (gift). We came across several women making the pottery jars used for hauling/storing water. In the distance we saw a hugely overloaded truck full of logs passing by.
Road to Gaoui
Gaoui museum
After Gaoui we headed back to town to see the National Museum but it was closed today. After a detour via the Grand Mosque and market, we came back to the Place de la Nation. The rally was just ending and there were truckloads of soldiers leaving the square. Apparently the rally was for Women's Week. There were some women here in brightly colored dresses and giving a TV interview. It was about 2PM at this point and we were pretty hungry. We looked for one of the restaurants in the LP but it apparently is closed/gone but we found another place nearby, the Cote de Jardin. Apparently everyone from the rally had ended up here as it was very crowded. It took quite awhile to get served. The food though was quite good, I had one of the Chadian specialities, chicken with peanut+ginger sauce.
Back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out again for dinner. We wanted to go to Le Central but it was closed today so we ended back up at Cote de Jardin. It was less busy for dinner. I had the souris d'agneau (lamb shank), which was falling off the bone tender. Back to the hotel for an early night as we had to be up at 2:45AM (ugh) for the flight to Casablanca.
I really can't say that much about Chad due to our short time there. I really wanted to visit the north/east parts of Chad in the Sahara (The canyons of Ennedi look amazing) but trips there take a minimum of two weeks commitment. The French company Point-Afrique was supposed to run charter flights from Marseille to Faya airport in northern Chad this year but canceled them due to poor bookings (Ebola+terror concerns unfortuantely).
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:21 pm
Mar 17, 2015, 3:35 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 9, 2015
Flight: N'Djamena, Chad (NDJ) to Casablanca, Morocco (CMN); Royal Air Maroc economy
Flight: Casablanca, Morocco (CMN) to Nouakchott, Mauritania (NKC); Royal Air Maroc economy
Hotel: Atlantic Hotel; Nouakchott, Mauritania
A very early start, waking up about 2:30AM and caught the free hotel shuttle to the airport at 2:45. We were already checked in and through immigration just after 3AM. Had no problems with not registering. I was wondering if the airport had a lounge, turned out the airport didn't even have walls! The terminal was completely gutted and only had plywood barriers in place. The upstairs waiting area was open-air overlooking the tarmac below. The Royal Air Maroc flight arrived on time and we boarded via bus from a secondary waiting lounge. We departed on time at 4:40 AM.
Royal Air Maroc Y NDJ-CMN
The flight was mostly uneventful and I woke to sunrise over the Hoggar mountains in southern Algeria. They served an anemic breakfast and we arrived early about 8:15AM. We had a 12+hr connection and decided to try to make a day visit to Rabat. There are trains running from the Casablanca airport every hour. Immigration was quick and we caught the 8:55 train (75 Dhs) to Casa Voyageurs station (~35 mins) where we switched to the train to Rabat. That trip took a bit over an hour and we arrived in Rabat about 10:40. Trains seemed very efficient here, there are kiosks where you can buy tickets to any destination (English+French).
I'd hoped there was a left luggage in either the airport or Rabat station. Unfortunately not which meant we had to wander around Rabat with our backpacks. We set off north to the medina, passing the post office. We heard some commotion down the street and went to investigate... some sort of protest was going on and we took a few pictures from across the street. As we were leaving the police came over and made us delete our photos, saying the rally was 'unauthorized!'
We came across the medina and entered the souq. There was a sweet shop selling mille-feuilles and other sweets, some of them dripping with honey but crawling with bees. Further in the medina was mostly residential and quieter, but a riot of color, blues, yellows, reds, etc. We were looking for a place to eat, my unerring navigation skills we actually passed right by it before finding a local to show us where it was. It was closed though so another boy showed us the way to another restaurant. They too appeared to be closed but after knocking at the door they let us in. Inside was a gorgeous traditional style house.
We had the tourist tajine menu, delicious citron chicken with couscous and lots of tasty mezze. After lunch we walked to the casbah overlooking the stream dividing Rabat from Sale village. Several people told us it was 'closed' but we ignored their lies (the LP guide warned of this) and continued into the casbah and the Platforme du Semaphore overlooking the creek and Atlantic. There were several couples here canoodling.
Rabat Casbah
It was getting time to head back to the train station, although we got a little lost trying a different route before my GPS set us straight. Along the way we stopped for an ice cream. Arrived at the train station about 2:30PM and caught the 3PM train. We were back at the airport by 4:45 and still had 4 hours before our flight at 8:40PM. The train had been quite full but no lines at immigration or security. I tried going to the Diners Club lounge but said my card didn't allow access. So it was a long wait. Had a bit of dinner about 6PM and finally boarded our flight.
Stopping for an ice cream
The flight to Nouakchott was about 3hrs. They also served a meal enroute. On arrival we headed to the visa on arrival booth, but ending up at the back of the line. Processing was pretty slow. In my research I had read the VOA was 90 Euros. Apparently the price has gone up as it was a shocking 120 EUR/$130! Very easy though time consuming. There didn't appear to be any ATMs at the airport so had to pay an extortionate $20 to get to our hotel. It was already after 1AM so we passed out at this point. The aircon worked and the wifi was (slightly) better than in Chad, and the hotel was half the price so already things were good.
Royal Air Maroc Y CMN-NKC
Atlantic Hotel
Flight: N'Djamena, Chad (NDJ) to Casablanca, Morocco (CMN); Royal Air Maroc economy
Flight: Casablanca, Morocco (CMN) to Nouakchott, Mauritania (NKC); Royal Air Maroc economy
Hotel: Atlantic Hotel; Nouakchott, Mauritania
A very early start, waking up about 2:30AM and caught the free hotel shuttle to the airport at 2:45. We were already checked in and through immigration just after 3AM. Had no problems with not registering. I was wondering if the airport had a lounge, turned out the airport didn't even have walls! The terminal was completely gutted and only had plywood barriers in place. The upstairs waiting area was open-air overlooking the tarmac below. The Royal Air Maroc flight arrived on time and we boarded via bus from a secondary waiting lounge. We departed on time at 4:40 AM.
Royal Air Maroc Y NDJ-CMN
The flight was mostly uneventful and I woke to sunrise over the Hoggar mountains in southern Algeria. They served an anemic breakfast and we arrived early about 8:15AM. We had a 12+hr connection and decided to try to make a day visit to Rabat. There are trains running from the Casablanca airport every hour. Immigration was quick and we caught the 8:55 train (75 Dhs) to Casa Voyageurs station (~35 mins) where we switched to the train to Rabat. That trip took a bit over an hour and we arrived in Rabat about 10:40. Trains seemed very efficient here, there are kiosks where you can buy tickets to any destination (English+French).
I'd hoped there was a left luggage in either the airport or Rabat station. Unfortunately not which meant we had to wander around Rabat with our backpacks. We set off north to the medina, passing the post office. We heard some commotion down the street and went to investigate... some sort of protest was going on and we took a few pictures from across the street. As we were leaving the police came over and made us delete our photos, saying the rally was 'unauthorized!'
We came across the medina and entered the souq. There was a sweet shop selling mille-feuilles and other sweets, some of them dripping with honey but crawling with bees. Further in the medina was mostly residential and quieter, but a riot of color, blues, yellows, reds, etc. We were looking for a place to eat, my unerring navigation skills we actually passed right by it before finding a local to show us where it was. It was closed though so another boy showed us the way to another restaurant. They too appeared to be closed but after knocking at the door they let us in. Inside was a gorgeous traditional style house.
We had the tourist tajine menu, delicious citron chicken with couscous and lots of tasty mezze. After lunch we walked to the casbah overlooking the stream dividing Rabat from Sale village. Several people told us it was 'closed' but we ignored their lies (the LP guide warned of this) and continued into the casbah and the Platforme du Semaphore overlooking the creek and Atlantic. There were several couples here canoodling.
Rabat Casbah
It was getting time to head back to the train station, although we got a little lost trying a different route before my GPS set us straight. Along the way we stopped for an ice cream. Arrived at the train station about 2:30PM and caught the 3PM train. We were back at the airport by 4:45 and still had 4 hours before our flight at 8:40PM. The train had been quite full but no lines at immigration or security. I tried going to the Diners Club lounge but said my card didn't allow access. So it was a long wait. Had a bit of dinner about 6PM and finally boarded our flight.
Stopping for an ice cream
The flight to Nouakchott was about 3hrs. They also served a meal enroute. On arrival we headed to the visa on arrival booth, but ending up at the back of the line. Processing was pretty slow. In my research I had read the VOA was 90 Euros. Apparently the price has gone up as it was a shocking 120 EUR/$130! Very easy though time consuming. There didn't appear to be any ATMs at the airport so had to pay an extortionate $20 to get to our hotel. It was already after 1AM so we passed out at this point. The aircon worked and the wifi was (slightly) better than in Chad, and the hotel was half the price so already things were good.
Royal Air Maroc Y CMN-NKC
Atlantic Hotel
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:22 pm
Mar 17, 2015, 3:36 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 10, 2015
Hotel: Atlantic Hotel; Nouakchott, Mauritania
Nouakchott is pretty short on sights. The only things we planned to see today were the museum and the fish port/market in the afternoon. After breakfast at the hotel we planned to go to the Senegal embassy to get our visas ahead of time, hoping to save time/hassle at the border. On my book maps, the embassy was only a few blocks from our hotel, but after walking back and forth awhile (and getting conflicting directions everytime we asked), we went back to the hotel, only to find the embassy had moved! They arranged a car to take us there and back. Arrived at the embassy (after a detour to the fortress-like French embassy.. not sure why the driver thought we wanted to go there) about 10:30 only to find out we needed a photocopy of the passport. After asking at a few shops I wandered into a dingy looking office and they were able to get our copies made. Back to the embassy and after a bit of waiting and getting photos/fingerprints taken we got our visas on the spot!
The embassy actually wasn't too far from the hotel so we walked back to the hotel then down into the center of town. Local men in Mauritania wear beautiful blue or white robes and turbans. There were several shops selling the robes along the main street. We came across an ATM and got out some much-needed cash, before passing the Saudi mosque. Getting pretty hungry, we stopped at a Lebanese place and sat on the floor eating chicken and minced beef with couscous. A local man there started talking to us and offered his phone number if we needed any help. My phone wasn't working here unfortunately.
After lunch we walked via the market to the museum. In the market there were several stalls selling the robes, I asked about one and even tried one on but they were pretty expensive (~$60) so declined to buy one. The one they made me try on was more like a tent than a robe anyway and felt like it was made of paper (too much starch). When we arrived at the museum, there was noone manning the ticket booth so we just walked upstairs to see the exhibits on local clothes, leather work, jewelry, etc. Coming down though the man was back in the booth and we paid the 500 entry.
We caught a taxi (1000 MRO) back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out to the fish marke t at 4PM. This is when the boats come ashore and it was complete chaos. Old cars with pickup truck beds filled with fish passed us as we walked down to the beach. It was a scene of color (and smells..) and half the town must have been here! There were hundreds of colorful boats pulled up on the sand and dozens more out in the surf. Runners dressed in ponchos and boots took the fish off the boats in cartons and ran them up the beach to the waiting trucks... we had to be careful otherwise get splashed with fish juice as they ran past! The locals seemed mostly fine with us taking photos and there wasn't any hassle at all. After 40 minutes or so we headed back to the hotel.
Fish market, Nouakchott
For dinner we wanted to go to a pizza place nearby, we walked there but didn't seem like much. There was a fancier looking parilla restaurant next door where I had grilled beef, delicious!
Mauritania is another place I wish I had more time.. one of my original plans for West Africa was to start in Moroccco and go overland all the way to Liberia. One of the great adventures in Mauritania is riding the iron ore train from Noadhibou on the coast inland to Choum (empty) or v.v. (full). The trains are often over 1km long and run every day. Mauritania is where Arab/Berber north Africa meets black sub-Saharan Africa. It's also one of the only open trans-Sahara routes open anymore after routes via Algeria/Libya to Niger have become more dangerous.
Hotel: Atlantic Hotel; Nouakchott, Mauritania
Nouakchott is pretty short on sights. The only things we planned to see today were the museum and the fish port/market in the afternoon. After breakfast at the hotel we planned to go to the Senegal embassy to get our visas ahead of time, hoping to save time/hassle at the border. On my book maps, the embassy was only a few blocks from our hotel, but after walking back and forth awhile (and getting conflicting directions everytime we asked), we went back to the hotel, only to find the embassy had moved! They arranged a car to take us there and back. Arrived at the embassy (after a detour to the fortress-like French embassy.. not sure why the driver thought we wanted to go there) about 10:30 only to find out we needed a photocopy of the passport. After asking at a few shops I wandered into a dingy looking office and they were able to get our copies made. Back to the embassy and after a bit of waiting and getting photos/fingerprints taken we got our visas on the spot!
The embassy actually wasn't too far from the hotel so we walked back to the hotel then down into the center of town. Local men in Mauritania wear beautiful blue or white robes and turbans. There were several shops selling the robes along the main street. We came across an ATM and got out some much-needed cash, before passing the Saudi mosque. Getting pretty hungry, we stopped at a Lebanese place and sat on the floor eating chicken and minced beef with couscous. A local man there started talking to us and offered his phone number if we needed any help. My phone wasn't working here unfortunately.
After lunch we walked via the market to the museum. In the market there were several stalls selling the robes, I asked about one and even tried one on but they were pretty expensive (~$60) so declined to buy one. The one they made me try on was more like a tent than a robe anyway and felt like it was made of paper (too much starch). When we arrived at the museum, there was noone manning the ticket booth so we just walked upstairs to see the exhibits on local clothes, leather work, jewelry, etc. Coming down though the man was back in the booth and we paid the 500 entry.
We caught a taxi (1000 MRO) back to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out to the fish marke t at 4PM. This is when the boats come ashore and it was complete chaos. Old cars with pickup truck beds filled with fish passed us as we walked down to the beach. It was a scene of color (and smells..) and half the town must have been here! There were hundreds of colorful boats pulled up on the sand and dozens more out in the surf. Runners dressed in ponchos and boots took the fish off the boats in cartons and ran them up the beach to the waiting trucks... we had to be careful otherwise get splashed with fish juice as they ran past! The locals seemed mostly fine with us taking photos and there wasn't any hassle at all. After 40 minutes or so we headed back to the hotel.
Fish market, Nouakchott
For dinner we wanted to go to a pizza place nearby, we walked there but didn't seem like much. There was a fancier looking parilla restaurant next door where I had grilled beef, delicious!
Mauritania is another place I wish I had more time.. one of my original plans for West Africa was to start in Moroccco and go overland all the way to Liberia. One of the great adventures in Mauritania is riding the iron ore train from Noadhibou on the coast inland to Choum (empty) or v.v. (full). The trains are often over 1km long and run every day. Mauritania is where Arab/Berber north Africa meets black sub-Saharan Africa. It's also one of the only open trans-Sahara routes open anymore after routes via Algeria/Libya to Niger have become more dangerous.
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:23 pm
Mar 17, 2015, 7:40 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Dubai
Posts: 3,301
Thanks for the opportunity to be part of another awesome hauteboy adventure!!! So many great experiences and happy memories and certainly got a decent dose of culture, fun and excitement
.
Just a photo from one of my (many) highlights from the trip:
.Just a photo from one of my (many) highlights from the trip:
Mar 18, 2015, 10:15 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 11, 2015
Hotel: Hotel de la Poste; Saint-Louis, Senegal
Today was another long travel day. The plan was to head to the border of Senegal and cross over to Saint-Louis, the old capital of French West Africa. We had the hotel photocopy several copies of our fiche. There are many police checkpoints in Mauritania and it is recommended to have a fiche prepared with passport details, visa number, etc to save time handing over your passport at each stop. I had found a template online and filled it out beforehand except for our visa numbers.
We left the hotel early at 6:30 AM and caught a rogue taxi to the Garage Rosso south of town. On the way we noticed some minibus companies going to Rosso so pulled off at Salama Voyages. There was one ready to leave just after 7AM and we bought tickets for 2500 MRO each. While waiting on the minibus, we noticed two locals trying to stuff a goat into a sack, which then went up on the roof of our minibus! We set off about 7:10 and the only thing I could think of was I hope the roof doesn't leak!
Stuffing goat in a sack
It was quite chilly this morning and I managed to fog up the windows in the minibus, making it difficult to see the landscape outside. Mostly flat desert with some scrub here and there, it reminded me of crossing Turkmenistan between Uzbek border and Mary. We were waved through the first few set of checkpoints until the police started noticing some gringos in the back. So I was glad I'd made 10 copies of the fiche. We used 5-6 of them before reaching the town of Rosso about 2.5hrs later. The Salama Voyages bus stop was a km or so from the border, we just decided to hoof it the rest of the way.
Mauritania landscape
The Senegal-Mauritania border crossing at Rosso has a lot of bad press, lots of 'friends' trying to help and general hassle. Supposedly it has gotten slightly better the past few years but it was still confusing. I had read there was a separate pedestrian crossing area to the left of the car crossing. At this point a 'friend' attached himself to us despite our ignoring him. We found the pedestrian crossing (40 MRO for a ticket) and they checked our passports and yellow fever certs here. Then through to the passport stamp window which was confusingly labeled 'enregistrement voitures'. The border is the Senegal river and there is no bridge so you must take a ferry (only runs a few times a day) or pirogue across. We had just missed the ferry so had to hop on a pirogue instead. The friend came along with us. At the Senegal side the police took our passports and we had to wait quite awhile before getting them back. Meanwhile I changed my remaining MRO into West Africa CFA (Siffa), though at a bad rate.
Crossing the Senegal River
Finally in Senegal, it hadn't been that bad a crossing really even with the friend helping us. There were some cars here that wanted 2500 to the garage or 25000 all the way to Saint-Louis. With the USD$ getting stronger every day actually 25k wasn't bad ($40 for both of us), but all I had was 5k. We paid the friend 5EUR (he did buy our pirogue ticket for us, unasked). He complained he wouldn't make any money though afrer commissions he had to pay. Too bad, so sad. We walked the mile to the garage where there was a sept-place waiting for the trip to Saint-Louis. Sept-place are old Peugeot 504's in various states of decrepitude, with two rows of seats in the back, holding 7 (or more) people plus the driver. I lucked out and got the front passenger seat. Price was 2200 + 1000 for bags, so 5400 for the both of us. I only had 5200 (Still had 200 CFA from my West Africa trip in 2010) and they finally accepted that. We departed about 11:45 though there were several stops along the way for police/customs checks.
Sept-place bush taxi
Road from Rosso to Saint-Louis
I fell asleep for most of the ride and woke up just as we were entering Saint-Louis. The gare routiere is in the southern part of town and the driver dropped us off at a roundabout in the center of town. It was about a mile and a half walk through town and across the bridge onto Ndar island. The Faidherbe bridge was designed by Gustav Eiffel and originally was meant to cross the Danube river. The island is full of crumbling French colonial architecture. We had booked the Hotel de la Poste right at the end of the bridge. The hotel was old school and was a stopover on the mail route connecting France with its colonies in Africa and South America. The hotel had an airplane theme and had lots of old time posters for Air France and maps of French West Africa.
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Pont Faidherbe, Saint-Louis, Senegal
Hotel de la Poste, Saint-Louis, Senegal
It was about 2PM and we were pretty hungry. After checkin we headed over to the La Flamingo waterfront restaurant overlooking the bridge. I had a delicious sole meuniere. After lunch we wandered around the north part of the island, zigzagging along the blocks admiring the old buildings. Saint-Louis was the capital of French West Africa from the 1673 until early 1902 when it was moved to Dakar and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of the buildings definitely could use some TLC. Only a few roads were paved while most of the cross streets were sand. We came across the north part of the island before wandering back to the hotel to rest a bit. For dinner we headed back to the Flamingo restaurant. Had a decent pizza.
Sole meuniere
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Hotel: Hotel de la Poste; Saint-Louis, Senegal
Today was another long travel day. The plan was to head to the border of Senegal and cross over to Saint-Louis, the old capital of French West Africa. We had the hotel photocopy several copies of our fiche. There are many police checkpoints in Mauritania and it is recommended to have a fiche prepared with passport details, visa number, etc to save time handing over your passport at each stop. I had found a template online and filled it out beforehand except for our visa numbers.
We left the hotel early at 6:30 AM and caught a rogue taxi to the Garage Rosso south of town. On the way we noticed some minibus companies going to Rosso so pulled off at Salama Voyages. There was one ready to leave just after 7AM and we bought tickets for 2500 MRO each. While waiting on the minibus, we noticed two locals trying to stuff a goat into a sack, which then went up on the roof of our minibus! We set off about 7:10 and the only thing I could think of was I hope the roof doesn't leak!
Stuffing goat in a sack
It was quite chilly this morning and I managed to fog up the windows in the minibus, making it difficult to see the landscape outside. Mostly flat desert with some scrub here and there, it reminded me of crossing Turkmenistan between Uzbek border and Mary. We were waved through the first few set of checkpoints until the police started noticing some gringos in the back. So I was glad I'd made 10 copies of the fiche. We used 5-6 of them before reaching the town of Rosso about 2.5hrs later. The Salama Voyages bus stop was a km or so from the border, we just decided to hoof it the rest of the way.
Mauritania landscape
The Senegal-Mauritania border crossing at Rosso has a lot of bad press, lots of 'friends' trying to help and general hassle. Supposedly it has gotten slightly better the past few years but it was still confusing. I had read there was a separate pedestrian crossing area to the left of the car crossing. At this point a 'friend' attached himself to us despite our ignoring him. We found the pedestrian crossing (40 MRO for a ticket) and they checked our passports and yellow fever certs here. Then through to the passport stamp window which was confusingly labeled 'enregistrement voitures'. The border is the Senegal river and there is no bridge so you must take a ferry (only runs a few times a day) or pirogue across. We had just missed the ferry so had to hop on a pirogue instead. The friend came along with us. At the Senegal side the police took our passports and we had to wait quite awhile before getting them back. Meanwhile I changed my remaining MRO into West Africa CFA (Siffa), though at a bad rate.
Crossing the Senegal River
Finally in Senegal, it hadn't been that bad a crossing really even with the friend helping us. There were some cars here that wanted 2500 to the garage or 25000 all the way to Saint-Louis. With the USD$ getting stronger every day actually 25k wasn't bad ($40 for both of us), but all I had was 5k. We paid the friend 5EUR (he did buy our pirogue ticket for us, unasked). He complained he wouldn't make any money though afrer commissions he had to pay. Too bad, so sad. We walked the mile to the garage where there was a sept-place waiting for the trip to Saint-Louis. Sept-place are old Peugeot 504's in various states of decrepitude, with two rows of seats in the back, holding 7 (or more) people plus the driver. I lucked out and got the front passenger seat. Price was 2200 + 1000 for bags, so 5400 for the both of us. I only had 5200 (Still had 200 CFA from my West Africa trip in 2010) and they finally accepted that. We departed about 11:45 though there were several stops along the way for police/customs checks.
Sept-place bush taxi
Road from Rosso to Saint-Louis
I fell asleep for most of the ride and woke up just as we were entering Saint-Louis. The gare routiere is in the southern part of town and the driver dropped us off at a roundabout in the center of town. It was about a mile and a half walk through town and across the bridge onto Ndar island. The Faidherbe bridge was designed by Gustav Eiffel and originally was meant to cross the Danube river. The island is full of crumbling French colonial architecture. We had booked the Hotel de la Poste right at the end of the bridge. The hotel was old school and was a stopover on the mail route connecting France with its colonies in Africa and South America. The hotel had an airplane theme and had lots of old time posters for Air France and maps of French West Africa.
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Pont Faidherbe, Saint-Louis, Senegal
Hotel de la Poste, Saint-Louis, Senegal
It was about 2PM and we were pretty hungry. After checkin we headed over to the La Flamingo waterfront restaurant overlooking the bridge. I had a delicious sole meuniere. After lunch we wandered around the north part of the island, zigzagging along the blocks admiring the old buildings. Saint-Louis was the capital of French West Africa from the 1673 until early 1902 when it was moved to Dakar and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of the buildings definitely could use some TLC. Only a few roads were paved while most of the cross streets were sand. We came across the north part of the island before wandering back to the hotel to rest a bit. For dinner we headed back to the Flamingo restaurant. Had a decent pizza.
Sole meuniere
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:24 pm
Mar 18, 2015, 3:18 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 12, 2015
Hotel: Hotel Al-Baraka; Dakar, Senegal
A slow start this morning as we weren't in any hurry to head to Dakar. After breakfast we had a walk around town a bit more and over the bridge to the fishing village on the Atlantic coast. Some of the things seen on the beach: goats, kids playing soccer, a steaming turd pile, and horsecarts. Back to the hotel where I bought a postcard for my daughter and sent it via the post office next door.
Breakfast at Hotel de le Poste
WWI memorial
Atlantic coast
We checked out of our hotel and headed over to La Residence Hote for lunch. This was another old school hotel and very nice inside but we were the only ones eating. The waiter said tourist numbers are way down lately. There were a few cases of Ebola in Senegal but they were handled promptly and Senegal has been Ebola free since then.
Hotel La Residence bar
We left about 1PM and caught a taxi to the gare routiere to catch a sept-place to Dakar. Seats were 5000 CFA+500 for bags. We were 'volunteered' to buy three seats in total for 16k. This gives you more room and also ensures the car can leave earlier. We proceeded to spend the next ~4hrs cramped in the backseat of a bush taxi... the headroom in the back seat isn't the best! Still the ride wasn't too bad. I had my GPS tagged on central Dakar so I was surprised when the car stopped some distance outside of town. Apparently they built a new bus station and all buses/bush taxis now run from Pikine. The taxi mafia love this as now they can charge 5k to go to Central Dakar.
Vendors selling oranges at taxi stop
Dakar Train Station
We had booked the Al Baraka hotel. It was a good location just a few blocks from the port and lots of restaurants. We walked down to one of the recommended ones, La Loutcha. I had yassa poulet, traditional Senegalese dish of chicken with onions in brown sauce. Quite good but the portions were huge!
Yassa Poulet
Hotel: Hotel Al-Baraka; Dakar, Senegal
A slow start this morning as we weren't in any hurry to head to Dakar. After breakfast we had a walk around town a bit more and over the bridge to the fishing village on the Atlantic coast. Some of the things seen on the beach: goats, kids playing soccer, a steaming turd pile, and horsecarts. Back to the hotel where I bought a postcard for my daughter and sent it via the post office next door.
Breakfast at Hotel de le Poste
WWI memorial
Atlantic coast
We checked out of our hotel and headed over to La Residence Hote for lunch. This was another old school hotel and very nice inside but we were the only ones eating. The waiter said tourist numbers are way down lately. There were a few cases of Ebola in Senegal but they were handled promptly and Senegal has been Ebola free since then.
Hotel La Residence bar
We left about 1PM and caught a taxi to the gare routiere to catch a sept-place to Dakar. Seats were 5000 CFA+500 for bags. We were 'volunteered' to buy three seats in total for 16k. This gives you more room and also ensures the car can leave earlier. We proceeded to spend the next ~4hrs cramped in the backseat of a bush taxi... the headroom in the back seat isn't the best! Still the ride wasn't too bad. I had my GPS tagged on central Dakar so I was surprised when the car stopped some distance outside of town. Apparently they built a new bus station and all buses/bush taxis now run from Pikine. The taxi mafia love this as now they can charge 5k to go to Central Dakar.
Vendors selling oranges at taxi stop
Dakar Train Station
We had booked the Al Baraka hotel. It was a good location just a few blocks from the port and lots of restaurants. We walked down to one of the recommended ones, La Loutcha. I had yassa poulet, traditional Senegalese dish of chicken with onions in brown sauce. Quite good but the portions were huge!
Yassa Poulet
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:25 pm
Mar 19, 2015, 12:47 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 13, 2015
Hotel: Hotel Al-Baraka; Dakar, Senegal
We were planning on catching the ferry to Goree Island this morning. They operate ferries every 1-2 hrs starting at 6AM but we planned to catch the 10AM ferry. After breakfast at the hotel we walked via the Place de l'Independance and the Hotel de Ville and railway station to the port. They used to run passenger services to Bamako but now the train station looked run down and unused. There wasn't much to the place de l'Independance either, just some closed tourist kiosks.
Coffee vendor
As we approached the ferry office a guide approached us and said his name was Papi.. probably the same guy ironmanjt ran into. He seemed pretty friendly but we weren't interested in the guide. The tickets for the ferry are now 5200 CFA vs 5000 I'd seen online. We were early so sat down in the spacious terminal to wait. There were some other people there that introduced themselves to us including a woman who wanted us to visit her shop. Papi kept coming back and touching my shoulder and saying are you sure you don't want a guide? Even more sure I don't want one now if you start touching me.
The ferry left right on time at 10:00. There were a bunch of schoolkids onboard as well. The ride took about 20-25 minutes to Goree Island out in the bay. Goree has a history as a slavery port, the last place slaves would see before being shipped to the new world. The island also sits at the entrance to Dakar harbor and had several defensive emplacements. There was a kiosk where we had to pay a 500 CFA tourist tax. The island was covered with French colonial buildings, though these were in much better shape than the ones in Saint-Louis.
Maison des Esclaves
We walked down to the south part of the island and up the hill for a good view back to Dakar. There were some huge guns here (now pointed inland) and bunkers which were now art galleries. Lots of vendors lined the path up the hill, imploring us to come look at their shop. Back down the hill to the Maison des Esclaves (500 CFA) which held slaves before they were put on ships. The lower level was dank dungeous for men, women and recalcitrants. There was a 'door of no return' like I had seen in the slave castles in Ghana. Upstairs was a museum displaying info on the slave trade (in French only). There were some Americans there, turned out they were missionaries that had lived in Cote d'Ivoire for the past 20 years and now were in Senegal.
Wandered around a bit more before heading back to catch the 12:00 ferry. The woman from the ferry terminal kept telling us to come and visit her shop. Back in Dakar, we wandered around looking for a recommended restaurant but couldn't find it... there was only a demolished building where google maps said it was, so my guess is it was closed... ended up going back to La Loutcha again. As we entered we heard someone mentioning X orders for the Ambasador of Tunisia. I had the poulet thieboudienne , a huge portion of dirty rice and vegetables.
Thieboudienne
It was only 2PM by this point so we decided to see about arranging a taxi out to Lac Retba, otherwise known as Lac Rose for the pink color of the water due to high salinity and mineral content. A taxi driver near the hotel spoke English but he had a client already, but he called his friend. At first they wanted 30k CFA but came down to 25k CFA ($42) which wasn't too bad as it was nearly 100kms roundtrip. The trip out took about an hour, with stopping for gas, filling the radiator, etc. We took the tollway most of the way.
The Pink Lake was traditionally the finish point of the Paris-Dakar rally, which now no longer goes to Dakar due to terrorism concerns in Mauritania. There are still some basic hotels here. On arrival several vendors started swarming us and telling us the adventure options. They have a 4WD that goes around the lake and across to the nearby Atlantic coast, but they wanted 45k CFA which seemed a bit much. So we just walked around to a nearby beach bar where I had a Lac Rose mocktail made from orange juice, milk and grenadine. Quite good actually! The water color looked more reddish/rusty than pink today but it depends on the sun angle. We took off our shoes and wandered into the lake. Afterwards I had a look around one of the shops owned by the 'Picasso of Senegal'. Ended up buying a sand painting and some dolls for miss hauteboy.
Lac Rose (Pink Lake)
It took about 45 minutes back to the hotel, where the driver started grumbling about wanting more money, 30k as he 'paid the tolls'. Well I gave him another 2k which he seemed ok with. I arranged with another taxi driver for a ride to the airport at 4AM in the morning. For dinner we went looking for the Farid Lebanese restaurant, rated #1 on Tripadvisor. Only 2 blocks from the hotel but got lost as Google Maps had it in the wrong location! Very nice inside and had a the schwarma plate. I splurged on dessert, getting a chocolate mousse.
Farid Restaurant
Hotel: Hotel Al-Baraka; Dakar, Senegal
We were planning on catching the ferry to Goree Island this morning. They operate ferries every 1-2 hrs starting at 6AM but we planned to catch the 10AM ferry. After breakfast at the hotel we walked via the Place de l'Independance and the Hotel de Ville and railway station to the port. They used to run passenger services to Bamako but now the train station looked run down and unused. There wasn't much to the place de l'Independance either, just some closed tourist kiosks.
Coffee vendor
As we approached the ferry office a guide approached us and said his name was Papi.. probably the same guy ironmanjt ran into. He seemed pretty friendly but we weren't interested in the guide. The tickets for the ferry are now 5200 CFA vs 5000 I'd seen online. We were early so sat down in the spacious terminal to wait. There were some other people there that introduced themselves to us including a woman who wanted us to visit her shop. Papi kept coming back and touching my shoulder and saying are you sure you don't want a guide? Even more sure I don't want one now if you start touching me.
The ferry left right on time at 10:00. There were a bunch of schoolkids onboard as well. The ride took about 20-25 minutes to Goree Island out in the bay. Goree has a history as a slavery port, the last place slaves would see before being shipped to the new world. The island also sits at the entrance to Dakar harbor and had several defensive emplacements. There was a kiosk where we had to pay a 500 CFA tourist tax. The island was covered with French colonial buildings, though these were in much better shape than the ones in Saint-Louis.
Maison des Esclaves
We walked down to the south part of the island and up the hill for a good view back to Dakar. There were some huge guns here (now pointed inland) and bunkers which were now art galleries. Lots of vendors lined the path up the hill, imploring us to come look at their shop. Back down the hill to the Maison des Esclaves (500 CFA) which held slaves before they were put on ships. The lower level was dank dungeous for men, women and recalcitrants. There was a 'door of no return' like I had seen in the slave castles in Ghana. Upstairs was a museum displaying info on the slave trade (in French only). There were some Americans there, turned out they were missionaries that had lived in Cote d'Ivoire for the past 20 years and now were in Senegal.
Wandered around a bit more before heading back to catch the 12:00 ferry. The woman from the ferry terminal kept telling us to come and visit her shop. Back in Dakar, we wandered around looking for a recommended restaurant but couldn't find it... there was only a demolished building where google maps said it was, so my guess is it was closed... ended up going back to La Loutcha again. As we entered we heard someone mentioning X orders for the Ambasador of Tunisia. I had the poulet thieboudienne , a huge portion of dirty rice and vegetables.
Thieboudienne
It was only 2PM by this point so we decided to see about arranging a taxi out to Lac Retba, otherwise known as Lac Rose for the pink color of the water due to high salinity and mineral content. A taxi driver near the hotel spoke English but he had a client already, but he called his friend. At first they wanted 30k CFA but came down to 25k CFA ($42) which wasn't too bad as it was nearly 100kms roundtrip. The trip out took about an hour, with stopping for gas, filling the radiator, etc. We took the tollway most of the way.
The Pink Lake was traditionally the finish point of the Paris-Dakar rally, which now no longer goes to Dakar due to terrorism concerns in Mauritania. There are still some basic hotels here. On arrival several vendors started swarming us and telling us the adventure options. They have a 4WD that goes around the lake and across to the nearby Atlantic coast, but they wanted 45k CFA which seemed a bit much. So we just walked around to a nearby beach bar where I had a Lac Rose mocktail made from orange juice, milk and grenadine. Quite good actually! The water color looked more reddish/rusty than pink today but it depends on the sun angle. We took off our shoes and wandered into the lake. Afterwards I had a look around one of the shops owned by the 'Picasso of Senegal'. Ended up buying a sand painting and some dolls for miss hauteboy.
Lac Rose (Pink Lake)
It took about 45 minutes back to the hotel, where the driver started grumbling about wanting more money, 30k as he 'paid the tolls'. Well I gave him another 2k which he seemed ok with. I arranged with another taxi driver for a ride to the airport at 4AM in the morning. For dinner we went looking for the Farid Lebanese restaurant, rated #1 on Tripadvisor. Only 2 blocks from the hotel but got lost as Google Maps had it in the wrong location! Very nice inside and had a the schwarma plate. I splurged on dessert, getting a chocolate mousse.
Farid Restaurant
Last edited by hauteboy; Sep 12, 2019 at 10:26 pm