From Plateau to Ouakam to Almadies: Exploring Dakar, Senegal, Dakar, Senegal

We kick off day 3 with another breakfast at Melo Patisserie around the corner. While I do highly recommend it, after a few breakfasts there in a row, it seems like too much food, and a bit pricey. This is something that confuses me about Senegal. It’s a relatively poor country. So when breakfast is $15 USD or more, and budget hotels are over $50 USD/night I can’t quite comprehend the high prices against the general state of the economy.

After breakfast we Yango it over to Almadies. I’ve started using Yango as a verb and I’m proud of it. I’m just frustrated because Julie is doing the Yango-ing because I can’t get the app to work on my phone. Pro Tip: you need a local number/SIM card for a start, which I have, but can’t figure out why I’m not getting the confirmation text. Towards the end of our week in Dakar, I figure out that you also need a WiFi connection, and then I’ll become a master Yango-er!

We decide to check out another market, Marché Artisanal de Soumbédioune. It’s right near a beach, and has a blend of stalls with souvenir stuff, and hand-made crafts. The vendors are a little persistent, trying to get us to check out their shop. When I say “a little” I mean, a lot. In some cases, it’s frustrating because neither of us wants to buy a big wooden statue. It always seems to be the person selling wooden statues that tries the hardest to get our attention. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).