The Pink Lake

On Saturday, I had the chance to explore Senegal a little bit.  About a 1.5 hour bus ride outside of Dakar, which is actually only about 30 miles away, is Lake Retba or the "Pink Lake".  It is a salt lake that gets its pinkish color from the algae that grows there.  The color is more pronounced in December & January, but it still had a pinkish tinge while we were there.

We decided to take public transportation which consisted of going down the street to the bus station, waiting for the correct bus and then getting off at a bus stop and finding the next bus going the rest of the way to the Pink Lake.  It sounds easy, except none of us spoke fluent French or Wolof and there is no bus schedule.  We met a friend at the bus station who made sure we got onto the right bus, and then when the people on the bus found out we weren't sure what stop to get off or how to get the next bus, they graciously went out of their way to help us!  A man who spoke some English actually got off the bus and led us to the next bus, even though he wasn't even going the same way as us.

This bus ride we were lucky enough to get seats.  Most of the other bus rides we ending up in the standing area.

These horse-and-carts are frequently seen in both the city and more rural areas.

There are some dunes surrounding the Pink Lake, but these are not wild camels.  They are here to give rides to tourists.

 We took a 4x4 ride through the desert dunes.  Before we starting off, the driver and his helper had the hood up and were pouring water into the engine.  They brought the water container along and we stopped at least once to top off.  At one point, there was a loud clanging sound and the driver jumped down and pulled a large metal piece out from underneath the vehicle and tossed it inside.  Our tour guide laughed and said "This is Africa!" and we went on our way again.

 

The Pink Lake did have a slight pinkish tinge, but on pictures ends up looking sort of rusty.  It has a very high salt content, so some men scrape up salt from the bottom and row it to the lake-side to be hauled off for processing.

 We went on a ride in a small row boat to with our guide, Ismael, to get a closer look at how the salt is gathered.  The work is very hard, and it's extremely easy to become dehydrated while working in such salty water with the high heat.

 Afterwards we stopped at a small restaurant to try some authentic Senegalese food - thieboudienne.  This huge plate consisted of rice, fish, carrots, eggplant, sweet potato, yucca, and some unidentifiable vegetable that looked like a green tomato.  This large plate of food costs 2,000 cfa's which is approximately $3.40.  This is a surprising cheap price, because most things in Dakar are actually very expensive.

 I was also surprised to find that they have bissap juice - a fruit juice made from a hibiscus flower.  This flower and drink is called sorrel in the Caribbean.

I wasn't expecting to have much of a chance to explore Senegal while working with Mercy Ships, but I'm glad I have these opportunities to explore the surrounding area and experience local culture!