Well, it was a late morning with my wandering out at 10 for breakfast. I found a local cafe and sat out on the balcony on the first (second) floor overlooking the street. It was a bit confusing about how the cafe worked – it had what looked like a cafeteria on the ground floor but had waiter service on the first (second) floor. So, I ordered at the cafeteria and then made my way upstairs (confusing them greatly). Since lunch was not available (sandwiches), I had two ham & cheese croissant and a large grapefruit juice. I took my time looking down on the street which was quite quiet – it is a Sunday after all. The next table filled up with bikers as they rode their “hogs” up to the restaurant and parked on the street below.

I made my way back to the area around the Marché Sandaga where not a lot was open. I went inside and was surprised at how similar the inside of the market was to Serekunda in The Gambia – except this one is on two levels. Inside is quite dark and dingy selling all sorts of spices, fruits and fish (the smelliest section, of course). The stalls are all very close to one another but they certainly are not as pushy about selling you things as they are on the street.

I made my way east from the market along a side street (avoiding Pompidou and trying to lose a few people who were determined to sell me something and were following me around). Eventually I passed over the Place de L'Indéndance and headed over to the other big market in Dakar – Marché Kermel. This is a octangular building that I am told the stall owners did not appreciate the high rents that were charged in this new building (built when the old market burnt down) so they have boycotted and have stalls all around the perimeter of the market. Inside I found a few stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetable but nothing caught my eye. I was a bit unnerved on the streets around the market though – two people approached me on either side and seemed to want to sell me something but were actually checking my pockets. No damage done but VERY irritating. I got rid of them by passing across the rather wide, busy road and wandered through some side streets to return to the park at Place de L'Indéndance.

I returned to the hotel where I met up with Ben and Kate who wanted to return to Sandaga so I walked over with them to see that a number of additional stalls had opened since I had been by earlier. We were eventually approached by someone who guided us around and away from the market to a small factory where they were making clothes. It was a large room with people operating sewing machines everywhere with clothes, handbags and anything else they can think of made of their fabric hanging from the ceiling and piled up in every available space. The aisles leading around the place were narrow as we were shown various different styles and types of clothing. I was quite impressed with a few fabrics and shirts so picked out a few things while Ben and Kate did the same. Eventually we were guided out and led off to the side of the back alley of the factory and got down to “brass tacks” – money. They wanted a LOT of money that we were simply not willing to take. Eventually, for my two shirts and a pair of trousers (pants) I talked them down to about 20% of what they initially asked for (using a calculator to do the talking) but Ben and Kate made no headway and eventually we walked away with only myself having made a purchase (and, we discussed, even I had paid too much – considering the prices we would pay in the Gambia, though, granted, the quality here is so much better). They followed us all the way as we made our way back to the market area attempting to convince us of the sale but Ben and Kate were having none of it. We stopped at a few other stalls to see what they had but nothing really appealed as we headed away from the market down Avenue Pompidou.

We eventually found our destination – lunch at Ali Baba Snack Bar. A small, rather dingy looking, diner that sells one of my favourite fast foods – Chawarmas. We had read that this was one of the best places for them in the city so we decided to give it a go. Not too bad and the price was not that expensive. Chawarmas are a bit of an odd sandwich – shaved beef with chips (french fries), onions and a sauce wrapped up in a pita. Good though.

We spotted Christine and Steve walking by so we flagged them down and then we all made our way down the road to get some ice cream. It was really nice as I lapped up my sorbet (my favourite!). Heading away from Pompidou we returned to Rue Mohamed V where Ben was pleased to see everything was open. They wandered through a number of shops looking at masks and statues and eventually, through a long negotiation process, picked up a few things at a small shop just down from our hotel (though these are quite LARGE and how they will get them on the plane to return to The Gambia I do not know…).

On the way back to the hotel we spotted another Dakart exhibit being housed in a wrestling theatre so decided to take a look. One particular piece on the upstairs balcony was very dramatic – a large black, burned out piece depicting burned bodies and buildings that was called “September 11th, 2001”. Not nice at all, but very powerful. A few of the pieces caught Ben's eye – they are realising that they are leaving the Gambia in a few months and they NEED to do some shopping for art to put in their place when they return.

Once again we had a bit of a siesta at the hotel and I headed out to take a look at the IFAN (Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noir) museum which is just down the road from where we are staying. Unfortunately, it was not open but there was a small Dakart exhibit in a small building around the back which I visited instead.

Returning to the hotel I was followed by a “friend” who was disappointed I did not want to go to see his gallery but I wanted, instead, to relax for a few minutes before dinner.

For dinner we headed off just down the road (again) to Le Dragon which was mentioned in our guidebook as having the best Vietnamese in town. Unfortunately, the other restaurant we had wanted to go to, the “Big Five” which has a lovely African interior and good food (which Kate and I had seen yesterday) was closed. Le Dragon turned out to be very good and we had a very nice meal starting with a consumé starter and spring rolls, followed by curried prawns and pork noodles for our main dishes. The sorbet was wonderful for me for dessert while Ben and Kate had a “flambé” – I could smell the alcohol from across the table.

It was an early night after yesterday. CNN was a bit disappointing as the audio is not all that good…

⇒ Continue to Monday, May 13th, 2002 - Île de Gorée, Senegal