Medina-Bransan

Medina-Bransan is a Fula village in eastern Senegal.

They heard cattle and farm to survive.

Its amazing to see how much of a difference on a whole village of people the purchase of one $8k water well/pump can have.

Just amazing.

Medina-Bransan is up in the galleries.

Check it out.

Bassari

One of the two UNESCO World Heritage sites in eastern Senegal is the Bassari Region.

Within the region there are three distinct tribes of people each with different cultures.

I managed to explore two of the three before the rain ended my expedition.

The Bassari Region is up in the galleries.

Check it out.

Niokolo-Koba

Niokolo-Koba National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site in eastern Senegal.

Before visiting, I was under the impression that all the wildlife was hunted/poached to extinction.

Boy, was I wrong.

I didn't have any difficulty finding lots of wildlife.

Photographing it was another story.

As the rainy season was upon us by the time I visited, the greenery was growing, making it easy for the animals to disappear into the brush.

I did manage to get a few shots though.

Niokola-Koba is up in the galleries.

Check it out.

Headless, No More

The first time I visited Dakar was in September of 2009 and I managed to get a small tour of the city. At the time, they were in the midst of constructing the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, a 49m tall bronze statue (the tallest statue in Africa apparently). The (now former) president, Abdoulaye Wade, commissioned the statue which ended up costing $27 million to build. In a country with the issues that Senegal is facing, I'm pretty sure that expenditure wasn't greeted with too much enthusiasm.

On my last trip through Dakar, this past month, I managed to get back into the city, and see the monument once more.

Wade is gone and the current government is in a financial crisis.
But hey, look, the statue's finally got a head.

Subject I Know...

Well, I've been back to Senegal enough times this year to warrant a new gallery in the travel section. Oh, and I've created a new gallery for one of my favourite subjects: Gold Mining (both commercial and artisanal). Check them out!

Not quite Tonka

The big kid in me can't get over how much watching these guys work reminds me of playing with Tonka trucks in the sandbox when I was a kid.



Sabodala mining operations pictures have been added.

Ladies & Gentlemen...

...more baboons.
Enjoy.

New and improved...with more baboons!

Updated the Senegal Trip gallery.

New and improved...with more baboons!

Sabodala Village

On the surface, it is what I would have imagined it to be.
No electricity or running water.
No 2,500 sq ft homes.
No a/c.
No cars.
No 52" HD LCDs.
No cable TV.
No 3D Imax mega movies.
No ipods, ipads, iphones.
No bmw, versace, abercrombe or apple.
No designer shoes.
No designer anything.
No facebook or twitter.
No internet.
Not a whole lot by western standards.
They live in grass, straw and mud huts.
Not what a westerner would consider livable.
The morning communal meeting area?
The water supply station.
Where the women fill their pots.
Yet everywhere I walked, there were smiling faces.
And giggling children.
A different world.
A different pace.
Different.
Not inferior.
Their life, I would wager, is as much, if not more fulfilling than my own.
It is here, we could all learn a lesson.
I have for sure.
On what is truly of value.
What is key in life.
Key to happiness.
To fulfillment.
Sabodala Village

By the way, I've rearranged my Travel gallery to include both trips and destinations.

Images are Up

Ah, a weekend to relax, breath...
...and update the galleries.
The images from my West Africa trip are up.
And I've expanded and updated the rest of my galleries.
Check them out.