A Turtle Sanctuary...

On a Saturday trip out to Lac Rose (The Pink Lake), we stopped by this Turtle Sanctuary! The conservation efforts are to re-populate an area just north of Dakar, St. Louis. Here, they rehab and raise the turtles that are then relocated to St. Louis to be in their natural habitat.
They had turtles of all shapes, sizes, and ages!! From 1 yr old to one that is 102 yrs old! Also, for 10,000cfa (about $20), you could adopt a turtle and keep it fed for a year. And the tradition is to name that turtle after the sponsor! They had Bill Clinton...and Monica Lowinsky too!! HAHA!
Some fun turtle facts that we learned:
1) They can live over 100 years...2) Grow to about 80kg (over 160 lbs)...3) Males and females have different shaped shells ...4) Females can hold a males sperm up to 4 years, and make herself pregnant when she wants!...5) The females dig a hole for the eggs, and the temperature of the hole determines the sex of the babies!! (only a few degrees difference can change the sex)...6) You can tell the age of these land turtles by the rings on their shells...enjoy the pictures!


This was actually a Floridian water 'snapping turtle"...very fast with that chomper!

Just a lizard, commonly seen around Dakar...this one was smart and checking out the food hut!

This was a turtle that actually ate too much (which is why his shell is pointy!), so he is in rehab...and on a diet!

Corban, Laurie, and Justin with the Baobab tree in the back...the tree of Senegal, one that can live for thousands of years, and one that becomes huge!! The fruit on these trees is called Monkey Bread! (I'll have to do more reseach on that, and get back to you!)

The diagram of a female turtle

The entrance to the Turtle Sanctuary

The food storage hut...with LOTS of green beans (haricots verts)!

Would you like some hay to eat little guy?

You can tell how old a turtle is by the rings on his shell! I lost count on this one, but I

think he was about 40 yrs...

Good times seeing lots of turtles!

Now off to Lac Rose...

pictures...

Looking out the front window...The colorful bus is called a 'car rapide', and is an economical form of local transportation. (although, not good for non-locals like us to ride!) They literaly pass by our place about once every 2 minutes!!!

Another form of transportion...a horse drawn cart! These pass by at least every 10 minutes! They are generally used to transport goods to and fro...to the small stands and stores. The horses are smaller than most that you see in the states, and aparently very resilient to the heat and hard work.

This is me standing on the roof of our building. It was a bit hazy/smoggy that day, but you can usually see the buildings downtown!

So nice to have a home!!

After 30 days in the hotel, we finally obtained key to our apartment!! This all came together while Justin was away in The Gambia...and once again, many THANKS to Megan for all her help!

Friday April 24th was our last night in the hotel!! And as nice as it was, we were so happy to finally move on to something we could actually call home!

We are now living in Mermoz, which is a neighborhood in Dakar. We are about half way between the airport and downtown, which is nice! Depending on traffic, we can get downtown in about 15 to 20 minutes by taxi. We are also less than 1/4 mile from the ocean...which I LOVE! We can actually see it from our place (although distant) and have a really cool view from the top of our building! The Corniche is the road that runs north/south on the very west coast of the peninsula and we are only minutes from it! This makes traveling and running much more fun!!

The apartment is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom spaceous place! Its bigger than anything we've lived in before, and is furnished. For the record, I'm not complaining...BUT, whoever picked out WHITE couches has no idea how dirty this place is!! We'll see how long they stay white...for now, we have inside and outside clothes! We also have a laundry room (separate from the apartment), complete with our own washer and dryer!!! YEAH!!!!! No more laundry in the hotel tub! HA! Its one of those...'don't know how much you love it, until you don't have it' sort of things!

Just outside our place are several fruit and vegetable stands...something else I LOVE! It is so fun to finally eat healthy again! However, we are also right next to a bakery/resturant...which has THE BEST pain du chocolate (croissant with chocolate inside). We go over there to get fresh bagettes just about every other day...at 150cfa each (about $0.30) - they are definitely worth it!! Just smelling all those decidant pastries is adding pounds! :)

We have made the most wonderful tomato, mozzerella, basil sandwiches...all from the local stands! YUM!!!

The first breakfast made in our new home...eggs, ham, bagette, and cantelope!

More pictures to come....

Africa 3-2010 to ... | Slideshow

Africa 3-2010 to ... Slideshow

Run around town!

On the morning of 4/24/2010...Megan and I went for a run, starting from her place in Point E...took pictures along the way...ENJOY!



"Chez Ass " Don't know exactly what it is,
but had to get a picture of the sign!

The busy street by the University...as you can see...there aren't always sidewalks!

A business of some sort...usually fresh bread or
sometimes a place to make copies!




































This was taken at 'Place du Souvenir' (place of rememberance), along the way, which is still under construction. Thankfully we got pictures before the guard came out and said 'pas de photos' (no photos)!!

We think someone actually lives in this little hut...

Along the Corniche... (yea for sidewalks!)

Muscle Beach!! Bench presses (notice the weights are concrete tire rims on a bar!), pull up bars, obstacles, etc. And this place is FULL of people in the evenings!!!

Ok...still getting you caught up! I'm writing about things that happened over a week ago, so I'm trying not to leave any fun details out!!

So the next morning after taking the taxi to Megan's, etc....we got up, had expresso, and headed out the door to go for a run. Mornings are a good time to go, because it gets really hot during the day! She wanted to try a new route, since she had someone else with her, so we cut through the University near her apartment, and over to 'the Corniche'...its a road that runs north/south along the western edge of Dakar. Its kind of like the Pacific Coast Highway of Dakar!! Run along the ocean, gets pretty breezy, but the scenery is fantastic! Megan also decided, since there were two of us, that it would be a great time to take her camera and shoot as we go!!

These are the pictures we took on our run!!!

Ended up doing about 3 miles...came back, ate breakfast (first time I've had cereal and a true cup of coffee since we left the States - YUM!), and cleaned up for the rest of our day....

Small hurdle...huge victory!

Just go out there and take a taxi....

So the morning of Wednesday 4/21, JUSTIN'S BIRTHDAY, we headed over to the gym near our hotel and got in a good workout before he was to leave to head out to The Gambia. Afterwards, we grabbed some breakfast (the $26 buffet at the hotel -ouch!), and called to see if our apartment was ready...'no, not yet, but maybe Friday'. (Justin was actually contemplating skipping out on the Gambia trip if we were able to get into it). So...off he went, with 4 other guys, to check out another country!

Hmmm, what to do for the day while Justin is gone...blogging, internet surfing, reading, studying French (cause I can't really have any good conversations with people), and of course...hang out by the hotel pool! So that is what I did. As the day was winding down, and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do for dinner...I could take the safe route and eat at the hotel...try to go somewhere, but its not a smart idea to go out by yourself at night...then our friend Megan called! 'Since Justin is out of town, we should hang out! I can make dinner and your welcome to stay at my place tonight! And you can bring your laundry!" AWESOME! Awesome! and AWESOME!

Only one problem...that means I would have to take a taxi...by myself!!! Most of the taxi drivers speak some french, but mostly Wolof! How in the world will I stumble my way through that?! I don't have anyone to tell me what they are saying...what if....what if.... - That was it...I finally admitted that I was 'scared'!! sigh... (not something I'm good at doing) Megan completely understood and said, "let me think about it, and we'll figure something out". ...we'll talk again in about 1/2 hour or so...

I gathered my stuff...feeling like a helpless jerk...and started my way back to my room. It sounds like a great idea, but I can't do it. The whole time, trying to talk myself into some courage...courage to just do it...get in that taxi and go! Sooooo...I grabbed a glass of wine on my way to my room, cleaned up, and it worked! The wine/liquid courage worked! I called Megan - "Megan, I think I have found some courage!!! I will be on my way to your place in about 5 minutes!"

Walked out to the taxi area...bargained for a taxi - one guy tried to charge me 4000cfa for a trip that should only be 1500cfa ($8 vs $3)! I told him that I am not a tourist, I live here, and I didn't think he was being very nice! - (in broken french). He laughed, but understood! Another taxi guy walked up and waved me into his car. It was the same taxi driver that Justin and I had taken the night before! I was able to tell him where I was going, and he knew right where to go!!! I was on my way to Megan's apartment, all by myself!

I arrived at Megan's and she opens the door, with a big smile, and says "You did it!" She totally understood!!

I know its seems silly, and it even does to me as I'm writing it (can't believe I'm blogging about it), but this was a huge victory for me!!!! I felt like I had broken down a huge wall...into the ability to fend for myself, to get somewhere without an interpreter/babysitter!! I say it all the time here...and its very appropriate..."Yeah for small victories!" whoooo hoooooo!

Megan made a great dinner, the laundry was done, and we chatted over a glass of wine!

ahhhhh....Bliss!

Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (The Gambia)...

So the next time you find yourself complaining about healthcare in the US...just remember these pictures! This was one of the stops on Justin's trip to the Gambia - a tour of Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital...
Thanks 'H.E. Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh' for opening this pediatric ward!
Could your name get any longer????

Rooms and ward...

The X-Ray unit...

The Analog X-rays developing!

(no procesessor here!)

In the US, we now have digital which allows the doc to see the images immediately!

Sheets and scrubs drying...

This guy made Justin think of his Dad, Michael! (who bikes to work everyday in Arizona)

He seems to be prepared for anything!

Random pig.... (HAHAHA!)

So, that sums up Justin's trip to The Gambia! We are hoping to get back down there together sometime soon...although neither one of us is looking forward to that 8 hour drive!