Seven wonders of Dakar
Today once again I am about to leave the cute little town of Mboro, my more or less permanent place of residence in Senegal and replace it with Dakar, the less cute and crowded capital of Senegal - this time to welcome my boyfriend for a visit to the Western tip of Africa.
Visiting Dakar from time to time for work and leisure is a great pleasure – and almost like a visit to a wonderland. If selecting carefully places to go to, one could live in Dakar pretty much like in a European city. At least if one has enough money, as I tend to use in one day in Dakar the amount of money I would use in a month in Mboro. So here we go: seven wonders of Dakar that I personally have enjoyed.
1. Modern art
The month of May was especially good culture-wise in Senegal. In the end of May I travelled for the annual jazz festival in Saint-Louis, northern Senegal, where I also visited some art galleries with exhibitions related to the Dakar Biennale, month-long modern art happening in Dakar and in a minor scale in Saint-Louis.
My very personal favourite of the works displayed - would have bought it if I had extra 1000 euros to spend.
In Dakar I only visited the main exhibitions and two ”off” exhibitions, one just by the National Gallery in downtown, and another one in the Village des Arts, near the airport. Exhibitions turned out to be somewhat weird experiences: the visit to the National Gallery resulted to one marriage proposal by the guide working there, the main exhibition at the IFAN museum gave me one new Facebook friend, and in Village des Arts I pretty much wandered alone in the sand-floored exhibition hall. The art itself in the Biennale was of interesting, though often very depressing and sombre with many references to immigration as well as on the fathers and revolutionaries of the independence struggle in various African countries.
The exhibition hall in Village des Arts, with fans and sand floor.
2. Dance spectacles
I was very excited to see that in May/June programme of the Institut Francais (formerly known as Centre Culturel Francais, CCF, name with which everybody still calls it) there are two dance performances, both nicely scheduled on the eve of monthly meetings I should come to Dakar anyway :)
The spectacle I went to see in the end of May was named as ”Fingerprints” (Empreintes). The group Bananga, led by the Congolese choreographist DelaVallet Bidiefono, came from Congo Brazzaville, and was extremely good. Part of the music was played live, with a drummer and one of the dancers playing guitar and singing at one point. The sticks stomped by the dancers, attached to a round bottom presented the fingerprints that we want to leave to the world. Dance was very physical and energetic, including some ”African dance” movements (see New York Times article delving more into this topic), although most of the movements came from the side of contemporary dance. The audience, mostly consisting of white-skinned people as usual at the Institut Francais appreciated the spectacle with a standing ovation in the end.
3. Veggie food: Tofu and falafel
In Dakar it is actually possible to eat vegetarian food in restaurants - something completely unthinkable in Mboro, if fish is not counted as a vegetable. I perplexed my colleagues by asking whether the Libanese take away restaurant has falafel on their menu – they did, but nobody in the office had never heard of this dish before.
Another treat, and a tip for vegetarians is the restaurant Bidew of the Institut Francais. For lunch and during show evenings they serve tofu burgers, probably the only ones in the whole city! The price is not that bad either, 3500 CFA (5,5 euros) for a burger with fries or salad. A very welcomed change to the usual - though normally very tasty - rice-with-fish-or-meat-and-sauce menu that I tend to eat daily.
4. Dairy products: cheese and ice cream
Continuing with the culinary delights: proper cheese is rare in Mboro, and I normally devour only Vache qui rit, small triangles of cheese spread wrapped in aluminium foil. In Dakar I ate actual cheese for breakfast, and I indulged myself with a whole platter of cheese at the Institut Francais restaurant, Thursday being a special cheese night there.
Ice cream is another treat of Dakar: N'Ice Cream is an excellent spot for ice cream near the Scouts' Headquarters and the Sandaga market. This circular little building holds dozens of ice cream flavours (and I still have quite a number of them to try!), and for 1000 CFA (1,5 euros) one gets a huge serving of one scoop. Highly recommended, and always very popular both among the local bourgeouisie and expats.
5.Shops
Dakar is all about commerce. And somehow I always end up returning from Dakar with more stuff: last time with
- three pairs of shoes, two pairs of them from Sandaga market. I could not help bursting into laughter when the salesman assured me that ”they are very good quality”, having him joining me with laughter after seeing my reaction. The most exquisite pair with silver polka dots was found from an actual shoe shop of a Lebanese owner (it is probably not possible to leave Africa without each time buying silver-coloured shoes)
- parts 3 and 4 of the Aya graphic novel series (post coming up on this topic)
- J'apprends le wolof, and children's book ”my first French-Wolof dictionary with 1000 words”, both very useful for language learning
- another children's book on Senegalese wrestling
- map of Senegal
- academic book (Karthala series) on marriage and divorce in Dakar
The shoe collection
Besides shops for local consumers, during the last few years big Casino supermarkets have been popping up in different neighbourhoods of Dakar, mainly serving the Senegalese middle-class and non-Senegalese expats. Probably one of my biggest cultural shocks took place in the huge Casino supermarket where I went after spending one month in Senegal. I felt so out of place with my flipflops, scarf and partly Senegalese clothing among all the rich (white and black) people – yet it would have been just an ordinary supermarket in Europe. Just looking at the prices of beauty products or more upscale clothing made me feel dizzy, and besides deodorant and nail polish remover that I went there to look for in the first place I ended up buying weird stuff like scotch (tape) and notebooks featuring cover photos of Yekini (the champion of Senegalese wrestlers at the moment).
6. Monument of renaissance
This cooperative achievement of North Korean builders and Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby, 49-meter tall statue that is promised to last for at least 1 200 years to the citizens of Senegal, is better known as the Monument of Renaissance. The statue is particularly visible on the West Corniche and in the neighbourhood of Ouakam where I often stay during my visits in Dakar. During the night it has kitch, blinking blue lights - maybe to avoid airplane crashes, as the current airport is situated quite near the monument. President Wade has planned to build a complete museum complex around the monument, and has already reserved one third of the expected revenues to himself as the right of the inventor. The rest of the benefits should then cover the building costs of 27 million dollars. President with great visions, he sure is!
7. Rooftop sheep
”Almost everybody has sheep in Dakar.”
Well, that was something I did not know before, although the sight of various animals on the streets of Dakar is very frequent: cows, sheep, chicken, you name it. On the roof of the house of my colleagues, here he is, enjoying the views of Dakar!
Visiting Dakar from time to time for work and leisure is a great pleasure – and almost like a visit to a wonderland. If selecting carefully places to go to, one could live in Dakar pretty much like in a European city. At least if one has enough money, as I tend to use in one day in Dakar the amount of money I would use in a month in Mboro. So here we go: seven wonders of Dakar that I personally have enjoyed.
1. Modern art
The month of May was especially good culture-wise in Senegal. In the end of May I travelled for the annual jazz festival in Saint-Louis, northern Senegal, where I also visited some art galleries with exhibitions related to the Dakar Biennale, month-long modern art happening in Dakar and in a minor scale in Saint-Louis.
My very personal favourite of the works displayed - would have bought it if I had extra 1000 euros to spend.
In Dakar I only visited the main exhibitions and two ”off” exhibitions, one just by the National Gallery in downtown, and another one in the Village des Arts, near the airport. Exhibitions turned out to be somewhat weird experiences: the visit to the National Gallery resulted to one marriage proposal by the guide working there, the main exhibition at the IFAN museum gave me one new Facebook friend, and in Village des Arts I pretty much wandered alone in the sand-floored exhibition hall. The art itself in the Biennale was of interesting, though often very depressing and sombre with many references to immigration as well as on the fathers and revolutionaries of the independence struggle in various African countries.
The exhibition hall in Village des Arts, with fans and sand floor.
2. Dance spectacles
I was very excited to see that in May/June programme of the Institut Francais (formerly known as Centre Culturel Francais, CCF, name with which everybody still calls it) there are two dance performances, both nicely scheduled on the eve of monthly meetings I should come to Dakar anyway :)
The spectacle I went to see in the end of May was named as ”Fingerprints” (Empreintes). The group Bananga, led by the Congolese choreographist DelaVallet Bidiefono, came from Congo Brazzaville, and was extremely good. Part of the music was played live, with a drummer and one of the dancers playing guitar and singing at one point. The sticks stomped by the dancers, attached to a round bottom presented the fingerprints that we want to leave to the world. Dance was very physical and energetic, including some ”African dance” movements (see New York Times article delving more into this topic), although most of the movements came from the side of contemporary dance. The audience, mostly consisting of white-skinned people as usual at the Institut Francais appreciated the spectacle with a standing ovation in the end.
3. Veggie food: Tofu and falafel
In Dakar it is actually possible to eat vegetarian food in restaurants - something completely unthinkable in Mboro, if fish is not counted as a vegetable. I perplexed my colleagues by asking whether the Libanese take away restaurant has falafel on their menu – they did, but nobody in the office had never heard of this dish before.
Another treat, and a tip for vegetarians is the restaurant Bidew of the Institut Francais. For lunch and during show evenings they serve tofu burgers, probably the only ones in the whole city! The price is not that bad either, 3500 CFA (5,5 euros) for a burger with fries or salad. A very welcomed change to the usual - though normally very tasty - rice-with-fish-or-meat-and-sauce menu that I tend to eat daily.
4. Dairy products: cheese and ice cream
Continuing with the culinary delights: proper cheese is rare in Mboro, and I normally devour only Vache qui rit, small triangles of cheese spread wrapped in aluminium foil. In Dakar I ate actual cheese for breakfast, and I indulged myself with a whole platter of cheese at the Institut Francais restaurant, Thursday being a special cheese night there.
Ice cream is another treat of Dakar: N'Ice Cream is an excellent spot for ice cream near the Scouts' Headquarters and the Sandaga market. This circular little building holds dozens of ice cream flavours (and I still have quite a number of them to try!), and for 1000 CFA (1,5 euros) one gets a huge serving of one scoop. Highly recommended, and always very popular both among the local bourgeouisie and expats.
5.Shops
Dakar is all about commerce. And somehow I always end up returning from Dakar with more stuff: last time with
- three pairs of shoes, two pairs of them from Sandaga market. I could not help bursting into laughter when the salesman assured me that ”they are very good quality”, having him joining me with laughter after seeing my reaction. The most exquisite pair with silver polka dots was found from an actual shoe shop of a Lebanese owner (it is probably not possible to leave Africa without each time buying silver-coloured shoes)
- parts 3 and 4 of the Aya graphic novel series (post coming up on this topic)
- J'apprends le wolof, and children's book ”my first French-Wolof dictionary with 1000 words”, both very useful for language learning
- another children's book on Senegalese wrestling
- map of Senegal
- academic book (Karthala series) on marriage and divorce in Dakar
The shoe collection
Besides shops for local consumers, during the last few years big Casino supermarkets have been popping up in different neighbourhoods of Dakar, mainly serving the Senegalese middle-class and non-Senegalese expats. Probably one of my biggest cultural shocks took place in the huge Casino supermarket where I went after spending one month in Senegal. I felt so out of place with my flipflops, scarf and partly Senegalese clothing among all the rich (white and black) people – yet it would have been just an ordinary supermarket in Europe. Just looking at the prices of beauty products or more upscale clothing made me feel dizzy, and besides deodorant and nail polish remover that I went there to look for in the first place I ended up buying weird stuff like scotch (tape) and notebooks featuring cover photos of Yekini (the champion of Senegalese wrestlers at the moment).
6. Monument of renaissance
This cooperative achievement of North Korean builders and Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby, 49-meter tall statue that is promised to last for at least 1 200 years to the citizens of Senegal, is better known as the Monument of Renaissance. The statue is particularly visible on the West Corniche and in the neighbourhood of Ouakam where I often stay during my visits in Dakar. During the night it has kitch, blinking blue lights - maybe to avoid airplane crashes, as the current airport is situated quite near the monument. President Wade has planned to build a complete museum complex around the monument, and has already reserved one third of the expected revenues to himself as the right of the inventor. The rest of the benefits should then cover the building costs of 27 million dollars. President with great visions, he sure is!
7. Rooftop sheep
”Almost everybody has sheep in Dakar.”
Well, that was something I did not know before, although the sight of various animals on the streets of Dakar is very frequent: cows, sheep, chicken, you name it. On the roof of the house of my colleagues, here he is, enjoying the views of Dakar!
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