Our cultural orientation last week wrapped up with a lunch on the rooftop patio of the U.S. Agency for International Development building. It was a hot day, per usual, but the breeze on the patio was nice and the views even better.
The left side of the photo shows the coast on the mainland of Dakar at the northern part of the city. (We live near this area.) On the right, you can see a piece of N’Gor Island, which is a great little escape from the city. For about $1 USD, you can take a careening, semi-scary-but-fun little ferry out to the island. N’Gor has no cars, which is perhaps its strongest selling point; it’s nice to escape the swerving, honking taxis that overpopulate Dakar.
Some expats we know put on fins and swim between Dakar and N’Gor for weekend exercise. The distance is only about 800 yards, and even though I’m not a strong swimmer, I definitely want to give it a try.
Rachael Cullins is a twentysomething American girl living in Dakar, Senegal, with her husband and two dogs. She blogs about her adventures in Senegal and travels elsewhere in West Africa. She will reside in Dakar until summer 2013, when she and her family will move to another foreign post as part of her husband’s career with the U.S. government. In addition to West Africa, she has traveled to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Costa Rica and plans to continually add to that list.
