Mission: ‘Waterfalls’

After experiencing enough dry sandy plains a group of us decided to venture to southeastern part of Senegal to see the waterfalls. The travel was actually longer (4 days) than the stay (3 days), but not less adventurous.
 

Waiting and doing some fukajai (secondhand) shopping at the ferry crossing over River Gambia in Janjembureh.

Getting breakfast (egg sandwiches with sugary coffee)  at Manda Duane, Senegal border village, after negotiating the price for a set plas to take us directly to Kedougou, which will be about 4-5 hr ride through Tamba Kunda.

 
Admiring sidewalks, paved and marked roads...

Passing through Parc National du Niokolo-Koba  we saw some wildlife: unidentified bird, monkeys and bush pig.

  
Finally at 4pm in the afternoon covered in dust, hungry and tired we arrived to Kedougou.

 
Kedougou PC house is an incredible place to hang out. It looks like a campment and is run by the volunteers. We camped at the house for threenights.

 
Our camping site at PC house.


The following day we (six of us) together with other six people traveled to Segou. At first when they said that there will be tree people traveling in the trunk seat, four people riding in the middle seat, two – in the front seat and two on the top of the car we laughed. It is not possible! Well… in Senegal it is possible:).
 

Getting ready…

 Just a little uncomfortable...

 
Mesmerized by the baboon gang. ..more than few hundred of them playing, chasing each other, standing, climbing the tree. 


 

Hiking to the Segou waterfall  with our guide, Dauda.

 

 

 

Crossing the stream, climbing the rocks… 

 After about few hour hike covered in sweat we reached the destination, but the water was so biting cold.

Me, Jen, Kate, Stephanie, Hilary and Dauda.

Segou beauty…

 

 Guard for cattle - structure unseen in the Gambia.

 

Second day we headed to the Dendifello village, which is about 5km from Segou village, to see Dendifelo waterfall . Due to shortage of transport in the area we decided to walk the distance but got a lift by construction truck halfway into the hike.

 

Modern meets traditional…solar street lights in Dendifelo village.

 

Hiking to Dendifelo waterfall (about 30min hike).

 

Impressive Dendifello waterfall falling from 100m (I was not able to fit it in one shot).

 

Warming up by the fire set up by the locals who came together with a  group of tourists. They also shared the leftover lunch (rice) with us. Thank you! The snacks we brought with us were 2 packs of Biskrem cookies. Haha.

 On the third day we hiked to Bedik village, Estuar, on this hill. Most of the people in Bedik villages are animists who still practice the traditional way of life.  

 

Estuar village… all the people were gone to the fields, not a single person was present in this small village. It was so strange walking through deserted village – it felt like intruders. On the way out we left some CFAs to their village sacred tree (the donation they usually ask from the tourists per Patric, PCV living in Bandassari, the nearby village). 

 

Bandassari village which is located in the valley.

Further at the horizon - Guinea.

 

We were lucky to get a transport back to Kedougou. We did not tell the driver our destination in Kedougou, but he knowingly stopped at PC Kedougou house. Who else will be speaking local language and looking for lift on the side of the road?

 Dry season – sand and dust…

 

  

Spotted a crowd of baboons in Parc National du Niokolo-Koba on the way back to Tamba Kunda.

Language was a bit of a problem, because main languages spoken there were Fula (Pular) and French. All of us, except for Stephanie who knows Fula (different dialect though), speak Mandinka and English only. Kate and myself knew few French words and phrases which was helpful to get the prices. Traveling in beat-up and overcrowded setplases definitely was an adventure. On the way back from the border to Basse we had twelve people traveling in the wagon type car, including the driver. Two were in front passenger seat, one was sitting together with the driver in driver’s seat, four in the middle seat, three in the trunk seat,  and one on the top of the car. Again, do you think it is impossible to drive a car with a passenger in your seat? Think again:)

 

Story...

So I read a very interesting (hmm) story book used in the school curriculum in the schools here (not sure which grades though). I wanted to share one of them with you.

The Little Bird that would not stop Flying

Once upon a time, there was a little bird. One day, it learned how to fly. So it said:

-I will never stop flying!

Up, it flew and flew until one of its legs fell off.

-Ahh! That will not stop me from flying! Said the little bird. So, it went on flying until the other leg fell off too.

-I will not stop flying! Said the little bird again.

And it flew and flew until one of its ears fell off. But the little bird said:

-That won’t stop me from flying!

Then it flew and flew and flew until the other ear fell off. Again, it said:

-That will never stop me from flying!

On and on it flew until one of its eyes fell off.

Once more, the little bird said:

-I don’t mind! That will not stop me from flying!

The little bird continued to fly and fly until the other eye fell off too.

Again it said:

-That will not stop me from flying.

It flew and flew and flew until its nose fell off.

Again it said:

-That will never stop me from flying!

And on and on it flew until its belly fell off. It said:

-That would not stop me from flying!

The little bird continued to fly and fly until its chest fell off. Once more, it cried out:

-That would never, never stop me from flying!

So, it went on flying, flying and flying until its back fell off. Yes, the little bird said:

-That shall never stop me from flying!

And it kept on flying and flying until its tail fell off. Again it said:

-I will not stop flying!

The little bird continued to fly and fly until one if its wings dropped off.  Once more it said:

- That shall not stop me from flying!

On and on, the little bird flew and flew and flew until the other wing dropped off also.

And as the little bird fell down, it said:

-That shall not stop me from flying!

But when its beak fell off, the little bird was no more.

Few questions following the story:

·         <…>

·         Why was the beak the last part to fall off?

·         What lesson do you learn from this story?

First true harvest – Pigeon Peas

Pigeon pea is my favorite vegetable to grow here! I tried to grow other vegetables (tomatoes, squash, zucchini, carrots, cucumber and etc.) but all of them were lost to pests, poor soils, or heavy rains. However, pigeon pea is drought resistant, nitrogen-fixing that lives for 6 to 10 years. I have not had trouble with the pests also except birds that enjoy munching on green pods. 

 

Pigeon pea trees in my backyard.

Harvested peas (unshelled and shelled).

I was looking forward to eating the green peas hoping that they resemble sweet pea, but they are not sweet at all. Darn! However, the cooked ones taste pretty good. I will give the peas to my family to use them in the benachin dish. Yummy!