Day 22… Packed up, paid up and said goodbye to our fellow campers. We drove with Ben a nice German chap to Thies which was en-route to Dakhar. Another hectic drive into a major city and I wouldn’t recommend it. We saw a car hit a trailor right in front of us which in turn wobbled and knocked into 2 mopeds. The moped drivers were not wearing helmets – one jumped off quickly and the other skidded along the ground but got up. We drove on by and felt guilty for not stopping but would not have been any help where we were not involved and could have been an easy scapegoat for the police. Moments later a near miss with a fast vehicle to our left who was probably trying to manoeuvre too fast around the carnage behind us – squeaky bum moment! Fortunately we had decided earlier in the day to treat ourselves to a little luxury with a hotel booked in Dakhar for the night – much needed after the events of the day! Air-con, a working hot shower, a proper dinner and comfortable bed. Yay!
Allen’s perspective…
We don’t have any photos going into Dakar, but will aim to get some heading out.
One thing we didn’t get to captcha was a group of Senegalese mamil’s on their bikes in the blazing African heat. You can’t escape them! (Watch out Will)
Dakar was easier than expected to get into and with less traffic than I was led to believe… but the driving is atrocious. There are no rules, everyone finds a gap and fills it. You cannot spend to long looking in your mirrors as you’ll either lose a spot or someone will hit you. It is driving by the seat of your pants, pure gamer mode, thankfully in a vehicle I own and don’t care if it gets beaten up.
The city is incredibly densely packed, but also a lot more modern than expected. With good choices of stores and restaurants throughout. A far cry from the more traditional African (but also more interesting) villages we passed through on the way.
The drive out of Dakar should be fun!