A Rainy Day in Dakar = The End of Blog Neglect

It's amazing what a little rain can do.  After breakfast I was all dressed up ready to go explore the neighborhood around my hotel in Dakar, Senegal and then the monsoon starts.  So the rains drove me to my dear albeit neglected blog and to write much needed updates to my beloved ones.

This is a picture with the rains in the background on my "petit" porch in the "suburbs" of Dakar.   Yes, I am SO into wearing headwraps now.  Not so much to work but definitely on the weekends.

The outfit I'm wearing today has a unique story.  I bought the material from Senegalese merchants when I was in the Peace Corps in Cape Verde about 12 years go.  I designed and had the shirt made in Cape Verde and the head wrap was formerly a skirt.  I haven't been able to wear the skirt for years but I kept the material.  Just a few weeks ago my favorite tailor in the world (more on her and why she's my favorite later) remade the skirt into a scarf and voila!!  A fun travel outfit.

This are some pics I snapped yesterday before the monsoons began.

Note:  I am updating this entry @3 hours later and it's still raining. . .I may need to go have lunch in the hotel too.  

So, questions on your mind may be "How far is delightful Dakar from beautiful Benin?  Why are you there?"

Here's a map of West Africa and my journey (the yellow line) from Cotonou to Dakar.  We flew from Cotonou in the far south of Benin to Abijan in Cote D'Ivoire.  It was an hour flight.  I stayed on the plane during the stopover in Abijan while new passengers got on the plane.  We stayed there for about an hour.  Then we took off again to finish the trip to Dakar and that took about another hour.  So the total flight time was 2 hours. I arrived in Dakar Wednesday evening.

Taxi ride from King Fahd to Terrou-Bi

My first hotel was King Fahd Palace but I just moved to terrific Terrou-Bi last night because King Fahd, as lovely, huge and regal as it is, has a mold problem.  Mental note:  When traveling, always take a close look (and smell) of the room before settling in.:)

Before this post gets to long, I'll end it. I still need to answer the 2nd question so more to come:)