Get out and Push.

     You can't be a Peace Corps volunteer without traveling a bit.  For us down in the beautiful and luscious region of Kolda, this usually entails hours upon hours of traveling on questionable roads. I tried unsuccessfully to find a picture, so you'll just have to use your imagination.  I'm assuming you've seen Swiss cheese.  The road kind of looks like that.  The holes can be tiny and just an irritation or they can be craters the cars literally have to drive around.  You know how in America you drive on either the right side or the left side depending on what way you're going?  In Senegal you drive wherever you can to avoid other cars, bikers, pedestrians, and donkey cars as well as giant craters.  If you come to Senegal and are prone to getting car sick even a little, don't leave Dakar.  That being said the road is not as bad as it is in Kolda throughout Senegal.  Kolda has been a little neglected in the past because it's so far away from everything, but there have been talks to fixing the road.  If this happens it would cut at least an hour off any trip if not more, and it would be a miracle.

The Best Region

      What, you ask, are the cars like?  That, my friend, is a wonderful question, and there are several different answers.  The best kind is a Peace Corps car or another NGO car.  These cars have air conditioning and are just like cars in America.  I rant and rave about how wonderful Totstan is all the time, and they only proved how truly wonderful they are by picking me up during an especially long bike ride at the hottest time of the day.  It was a wonderful ride and they are wonderful people.  

     The next best type of car is a sept place (7 places), which has 7 seats for passengers.  One lucky individual gets to sit up front with no people, while everyone else is squished in the back.  The worst seat is the very back middle, which I thankfully have never been forced to experience.  These are more expensive than other options but good for long rides (i.e. Dakar or Thies or almost anywhere from Kolda).  They fill up the car with 7 people and then just drive until you get there.  They can drop people off along the way, since some towns on the road don't have a garage, but you still have to pay the full price.

     When going to a town without a garage, you can also take what volunteers call an Alham, so named because they usually have "Alhumdulilah" written on the front.  I have no idea what these cars are actually called, which can be a problem when traveling.  In those cases I just point and get in.  These are good for short distances or if you're strapped for cash because they're cheaper.  Unfortunately they stop a lot to pick people up and drop people off and aren't as efficient.  They can also get really full.

    When in the city you can also take a taxi.  These are wonderful especially when it's really hot out or I get a nice package downtown.  I don't recommend leaning, on the doors, however, since a good bounce can unlatch the door.  My lovely friend Courtney experienced this while we were off-roading to a farm, and I haven't leaned on a door since.  (She's not dead, FYI.)

    As you might or might not have noticed from these wonderful pictures I've posted, compared to America the vehicles are a little run down.  This can sometimes make for some uncomfortable yet interesting traveling.  When traveling anywhere I give myself a whole day and try to leave as early as possible.  This may not always work, as I learned when I went to Kedagou for the 4th of July and sat waiting for my sept place to fill up for 4 hours.  Volunteers like to fill a whole car to cut down on awkwardness and waiting time, and I joined such a car on the way back from the same trip.  Unfortunately our car broke down about halfway through the trip.  Fortunately we (and by we I mostly mean the driver and the one male volunteer in our car) only had to push the car about a kilometer to the garage.  There we waited for about 2 hours while they fixed the car.  But it's ok because I got to buy Pringles in Tamba.  This being said, it IS amazing that some of these cars can still run and these mechanics are geniuses.

   So the only one I left out of my wonderful synopsis was the motorcycle.  These are banned by the Peace Corps because they are unsafe, but there are so many motos in Senegal.  They are everywhere.  They are actually pretty dangerous, especially since the roads are full or holes they have to avoid as well as sand they can slip on.  They are, however, the preferred Senegalese mode of quick transportation.  I'll stick with my bike, though, thanks.



*Disclaimer: I don't know any of these people who took these pictures personally, and found them via a Google search.  So thanks omalleyausenegal.wordpress.com (sept place) peacecorpsgray.wordpress.com (alham), and www.pbase.com (taxi).