Dakar Doings: The Hamptons of Senegal: Cap Skirring

Last weekend Otman and I took a trip to Cap Skirring in the region of Casamance. The inhabitants of Casamance have staged several separatist movements throughout the past decades; however, now it is calm. Casamance is very different than the Dakar region, it is more green with fruit trees galore. Much to my delight I was able to see a cashew tree, a quest of mine for some time, and learned that cashews grow on the end of a fruit. The fruit, when squeezed, produces a delicious sweet juice. Apparently, if allowed to ferment, the juice can be alcoholic.

Cap Skirring was way too touristy for my liking. There is a direct flight from Paris to the Cap, so many French folks willing to pay very high prices populate the city. Everything was triple the price paid in Dakar. Dakar is expensive as it is, so this was incredible. Also, the quality of service was not great. If Dakar can be equated to New York City, Cap Skirring is like the Hamptons.

The highlights from day one were visiting Dioula (an ethnic group) villages, being told, “it’s sacred” when someone didn’t know the answer to our questions, having a delightful meal and a lively conversation with a radio DJ, and the cashew trees.

Day two, the final day, Otman and I went on a pirogue tour with three French nationals. They asked funny questions and Otman and I laughed privately. I know it is haughty to write that their questions were funny, but it made me realized how adapted I have become to the crazy country. Sample questions were about how to tell if a Senegalese person is rich and whether religious people mix “animism” into their practices. For the latter, our chain-smoking guide declared, “Of course not, for example I am Muslim and I don’t believe in any of that animism stuff. We respect each other’s beliefs completely but I don’t believe in animism.” I asked him if he wears gris-gris for protection and he lifted up his shirt to display several bands of gris-gris wrapped around his stomach. Gris-gris are definitely not “by the book” Islam, but are emblematic of the Islam practiced in Senegal, which is very much a fusion.

Unfortunately, on the trip with the French folks, I got a glimpse at how tourism has affected certain villages on the pirogue tour circuit. There is an utter lack of sustainability. If the separatist movement was to start up and the tourist industry died, I am not sure what would happen. An example of the pervasiveness of tourism is that kids constantly badgered tourists for candy. They attacked in swarms on the unsuspecting tourists, “bon-bon, bon-bon” was chanted until someone relented and purchased some candy. Bad for their teeth and bad for the village.

Since Casamance is a launching point for irregular migration to Spain via pirogues, the Spanish Embassy has invested in public programs to stem the flow. Health centers sponsored by the Spanish Embassy were in most of the villages we visited. Signs stating in French, “I want to go to school and succeed” were sprinkled on the main roads. I am sure a sign with such a proclamation is really helping kids from poor families stay in school.

Some pictures from the trip are below: