The Cape Town Waterfront

After visiting Stellenbosch in South Africa, we returned to lovely Cape Town.
Table Mountain as seen from the waterfront.

Cape Town's waterfront is the perfect place for a leisurely stroll, something Harare's not really built for.

The waterfront's clock tower, such an old world charm and a reminder of Cape Town's strong sea-faring history.
Its bottom floor holds an old tidal-gauge mechanism to check tide levels.  I really like clock towers---it had been awhile since I had seen one here.

We tried to visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was in prison for decades but the weather was too choppy to take the ferry.
I'm always looking for an excuse to return to Cape Town---this may be it!

Oh! Dakar! How I thought of you immediately, what a strong sense of Senegal being worlds away.

I couldn't resist a few photos of Majeka House where we stayed in Stellenbosch--isn't the breakfast area just adorable? Love the blue.

The view from the breakfast nook.

Absolutely loved the ceiling in our room, a splash of fun color.

The hotel was lined with cactus fences, I thought they were so ingenious.
(Side note: would completely recommend Majeka, it's small, beautiful, and just perfect tucked away in wine country.)

One last shot of the waterfront!!  Then it's back to Zimbabwe....

Tweet

Au revoir, Sénégal, au revoir...

It is with sadness that I note my time in Senegal has come to end and this will by last post on the beautiful country. In honor of the wonderful experience I've had living in Senegal, this post is a collection of my favorite photos from my time wandering Dakar and beyond.

Please stay tuned because this does not mark the end of my African adventure or the blog as I am relocating to a new country in southern Africa and will pick up my photographic wanderings right quick!

For my favorite photographs from Zimbabwe: go here!!

For my favorite animal photographs: go here!!

In no particular order, my favorite photographs of Senegal:

The sunset over Lac Rose (Pink Lake) -- An Amazing Sunset

A young Senegalese boy wandering the beach at Lompoul-sur-la-Mer - Lompoul: Unexpected Company

Dusk in beautiful Saint-Louis - Part VIII: Dusk Embraces Saint-Louis

Sunset along Dakar's Corniche after a rain storm - Take My Breath Away

The light house in Gandiol - Part IV: Gandiol's Light House

The sun streaming through the clouds after the first rains of the season in Palmarin - Light Through the Storm

A Senegalese boy with Mali style baskets in Fadiouth - Fadiouth, Senegal

A dune in Lompoul - Lompoul: The Campsite & Dunes

Tweet

A Dakarois Smorgasbord

When I think of Senegal outside of Dakar, this is the image in my mind.

Car rapides in Les Almadies, Dakar, Senegal

A car rapide in traffick in Ouakam, Dakar, Senegal

The Grand Mosque of Dakar

Mosque by the Sea's beach where fishermen launch each morning

Les Almadies

Tweet

Muscle Beach

A work out bench at "muscle beach" (as the ex-pats call it) near Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal

A Senegalese man exercises.

In case you were curious the full spread of work out equipment.

Hello, UCAD!

Tweet

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

A flight approaches Dakar, Senegal, over the Atlantic Ocean

Tweet

Life in Les Almadies

A man cleans himself at a construction site in the Les Almadies neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal.

A woman transports food in Les Almadies.

There is great wealth and great poverty in Dakar, and often they are right beside each other, particularly in housing.
 Often wealthier individuals build walled compounds and soon make shift abodes are built using part of the wall.

A man looks out on morning traffic on the Corniche.

The VDN in Dakar.

Tweet

Odds and Ends in Dakar's Plateau

A barbershop in the Plateau neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal

Three boys walk near the train station in Dakar, about to link arms.

Construction near the Malian market in Dakar. The market used to be outside in this area

but was moved inside for this construction to build a road to the Chinese-built National Theater.

I always thought the train that never moved from Soumbédioune and was about 20 years past its prime was random, but

when I realized there are TWO mini-tourist trains in Dakar, one that actually takes people out on tours, it totally made my day.

Here's another Dakar oddity: A traffic light at Carnot and Place de l'Independence. 

 Never saw it used once in two years. In fact, it took me a year to notice it was there...

Lights have gone up downtown but I've never once seen a working traffic light.

Tweet

Birds & Volcanic Rocks & the Atlantic Ocean

Birds on the volcanic rocks surrounding the îles de la Madeleine, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal

Volcanic rock formations, weathered flat by the Atlantic Ocean in one of the bays of the larger island

Hello, birds!

I really liked the wings on the birds on the left rock.

The bay's beach.

Tweet

The Signs of Senegal

Parking exit sign on the Place de l'Independence, Dakar, Senegal.

The decorations are from Christmas and the World Festival of Black Arts AKA le Festival Mondial des Arts Negres

Children crossing sign in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

A sign in Fadiouth, Senegal forbidding non-authorized vehicles. Strange logic: It was a tiny, sea-shelled path with barely enough room to walk. 

To the left is a pedestrian bridge. I was standing on a pedestrian path when I took the photo. What vehicles?

One of my favorite signs. Ever. Possibly in the history of ever. Who knew an Assembly Point sign could be so intense?

A Senegalese driver told my non-Senegalese friend that this sign meant that it's a dry area so you shouldn't light a match. Because that's a match not an exclamation point (aka caution!). Seriously. And you wonder why West African drivers aren't the best...

Corniche, Dakar, Senegal

Les Almadies area of Dakar.  It reminds me of Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Why?  Because of this famous image from the delightful book.

Tweet