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That one time I didn't have Dakar-age* to surf

barkhamossae

May 22, 20214 min read

Sometimes, the best decisions are the most spontaneous and irrational ones. After COVID-19 scuppered my plans for an Easter getaway in Egypt, I found myself in desperate need for a sea-side holiday as soon as possible. In a moment of utter randomness, I wondered, why not Senegal? and Fraser's enthusiasm about this destination clinched the deal. "You can help me with my bags!" being his main motivation, while mine included curiosity about discovering more of my continent, adding a dive in the Atlantic to bring me closer to my goal of diving in every country in Africa with a coastline.

Once the tickets were booked, I started reading a bit more about the country and the more I read about it, the more I looked forward to the trip. And Fraser - who did not benefit from my help with his bags - was based there for a bit of time and confirmed it was suitably pleasant. Senegal, the "Land of the Terranga" - meaning hospitality in Wollof, frankly should be on everyone's travel list. Combining diverse biodiversity with incredibly rich culture, there is so much to see and do and experience that I decided I'd love to come back here and work from here for a while.

Dakar is a mix of hipster, African chaos, old school, brutalist... it's perfect and has its quirky moments... like this "COP21" bar which serves... meat. I died of laughter.

Look at this road that was designed to go around a baobab, where other countries would just raze the tree to build the road:

Once I was back from Saint Louis, I was eager to see what Dakar had to offer and wasn't disappointed. In the Almadies area, ocean-front bars and restaurants and seafood markets offer some good nightlife; while the beach at Ngor and Yoff are popular spots to enjoy the beach. The Plateau area also has many gems, as well as the ferry to go to Goree Island... There are regular cultural and musical events...like this concert by Cheikh Lo, by the sea.

Cute little bars everywhere, although I did struggle a little bit as a vegetarian.

Dakar is home to the African Renaissance Monument, built by North Korea, purportedly to celebrate freedom from colonialism. However, word has it that this monument was built in exchange for land and fishing rights. 50m high, on top of a 100m hill near the lighthouse, the statue depicts a buff man aggressively holding his adoring woman while his baby is perched on his extended arm, casting a defiant gaze towards the west because that's what babies do.

I attempted to scuba dive in Dakar - but there's a reason why people don't rave about the Atlantic as a dive destination. It's cold, visibility is poor, there's very little to see, the current can be difficult. But at least I ticked this off my bucket list...

^My face says it all.

Rather than scuba, surfing is a really popular activity for both Senegalese and non-Senegalese people, so we thought we'd give it a go. I'm always curious about how people interact with the sea/ocean, especially here in Africa where our relationship with the water is often defined by reluctance, fear, and class or lack of access. To this day, water sports are seen as the realm of the privileged few, the tourist, the white person, and surfing is one of the sports where the territorialism over good waves can be very apparent. Ironically, surfing, and some interactions with the water, do stem from indigenous people - think of Polynesian and Hawaiian people, or even West African and North African people having their own surf culture (ps, check out Afrosurf - The Book, a visual essay by Mami Wata, a South African surf company, which documents the surf culture from Senegal, Morocco and other African countries).

Anyway, I digress. We went to the "Secret Spot" in Almadies, a bohemian, wooden shack by a tiny beach where the instructor kitted us out with wetsuits and booties and took us to the beach to teach us how to paddle out, sit, and hopefully stand.

After this super-brief intro, we were to paddle out. Being the fish/ seal that he is, Fraser had already paddled out within a heartbeat and I went in... only to have an epic panic attack when I saw the (tiny) wave. The thought of the cold Atlantic, the endless sea urchins, the rocks and other things just hit me all at once, and I just couldn't do it.

It was perhaps the worst moment of my Senegal holiday. I stood there ankle deep in the Atlantic, feeling angry with myself at not being able to even paddle out and being crippled by some stupid fear. The weather was "hazy" and a brown, apocalyptic sky added to my sense of doom.

I enjoyed watching Fraser try hard to stand up, and other experienced surfers gracefully and joyfully glide by, weaving across each other on the waves. They were incredibly kind, when I politely refused to join them on account of being too lame to jump in the water. Fraser was concerned and extremely kind about it as well, but I do believe sometimes you have to push yourself to do things and the "you get a prize for participating" philosophy seems a bit dumb. So, I'll be trying surfing again, at some point. Maybe not in Senegal, but somewhere that's hopefully free from sea urchins and rocks.