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.

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Strolling Through Downtown

The Plateau neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal

The building with the beautiful windows is actually a mosque

A shirt vendor in the Plateau

I really liked the random Zorro van

A jacket vendor near the Place de l'Independence

A football jersey vendor

For some reason this shop makes me smile each time I pass it. Maybe because of the fantastic memories I have of Montana

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Selling in the Plateau

A street vendor on Avenue G. Pompidou, Plateau, Dakar, Senegal

Items being sold in this photo: prayer rugs, jump ropes, board games, clothing...

Avenue Pompidou, Dakar

Sandaga market in Dakar's Plateau neighborhood

The beginning of the gigantic Sandaga market

Clothing venders on the outskirts of Sandaga market, Dakar's largest market

Two boys crossing the Place de l'Independence, Dakar

Avenue G. Pompidou in Dakar

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Finally, all this heat has paid off!

The spike in temperature with the rainy season has resulted in the most fantastic sunsets this past week in Dakar, Senegal

The sun setting over the Atlantic Ocean - The Corniche in Dakar

The sun setting over Dakar's Grand Mosque

Couldn't resist another shot of the colors behind the mosque!

The last remnants of light over the Plateau area of Dakar

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Notre-Dame des Victoires de Dakar

The confessionals and Stations of the Cross in Notre-Dame des Victoires de Dakar

[Our Lady of Victories] - Plateau, Dakar, Senegal

The dome

The Baptismal Font

It is Dakar's Cathedral and also known as La Cathédrale du Souvenir Africain de Dakar

[Cathedral of African Remembrance]

2011 marks its 75th anniversary

After Sunday Mass

A close up of the unusual painting on the Dome

A close of up the facade's statues.  

It reads "To the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus the Savior"

For more information on the Cathedral

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Les Almadies & Petite Corniche

 birds in Les Almadies, Dakar, Senegal

 Soumbédioune with a storm coming off the Atlantic, Dakar

 View of the Plateau from the Petite Corniche, Dakar, Senegal, on a strangely overcast day

 View from the Petite Corniche

find the peacock in Les Almadies

what the peacock actually looked like

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World Festival of Black Arts

These banners are all over Dakar (still!) advertising the

World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal

(or in French: le Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres)

The Presidential Palace's Banner for the Festival, it reads:

"The long walk from slavery to the renaissance"

from L-R: House of Slaves and the Door of No Return, Martin Luther King Jr, 

Nelson Mandela [who wrote The Long Walk to Freedom], Thabo Mbeki, Barack Obama, 

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, and the African Renaissance Monument

Banner welcoming Gambian President Jammeh on Rue de la République, Plateau, Dakar

Other banners welcomed other African heads of state like Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Qaddafi (Libya)

 Lights went up on trees, poles, corners, everything imaginable in preparation for the festival

Rue de la République, Plateau, Dakar

 French telecom company Orange erected this awesome tree for the festival

Place de l'Independence, Plateau, Dakar

Another view of the tree

If you look close, you can see the Festival's logo on the globe in the middle of the (empty) fountain

Place de l'Independence, Plateau, Dakar

I saw Baaba Maal as part of the Festival!

What is the Festival?!

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Christmas in Dakar

 Inside the Christmas Tree on the Place de l'Independence -- Dakar, Senegal

[sponsored by Orange for the World Festival of Black Arts AKA

le Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres]

 The tree on the Place de l'Independence -- Plateau

 Christmas Tree street vendor -- Plateau, Dakar, Senegal

 The Tree!

 The Place de l'Independence decorated

 Avenue du Président Léopold Sédar Senghor -- Plateau, Dakar

 Place de l'Independence

Rue de la République -- Plateau, Dakar

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