I was also trying desperately to get a photo of something that looked suspiciously like a Milkweed tree, which I knew my mother would love, (to weedwhack) but no such luck. Next time.
We arrived in the village and got to Madame Pasqualini (my former landlady in Corsica)'s house and got settled in, agreeing to the days the housekeeper would come and cook us Chicken Yassa (again! YUM!) and getting down to resting. We spent our days laying on the porch, even though the beach was right around the corner it was chilly and we were in the mood to be lazy. Her screened porch was amazing with it's perfect lounge chairs and we spent a lot of time reading and hanging out.
We had meals at a few local places within walking distance and it was very much a 'beach town' feel, everyone we met seemed cool and calm and less tense than the city dwellers (not that the city people seemed overly perturbed or anything, I think things just seem calmer when you live by the ocean) There were a few main hotels in town, both on the beach, as well as some restaurants which I ran by one morning. A restaurant caught my eye, which I decided to try to bring Adiya and Ella to for lunch. However, finding what I was looking for proved to be much more difficult from the road side than from the beach side where I had been running, so we ended up at a different restaurant instead. We walked up some stairs to a raised area so we could look out at the ocean as we ate.
Our view of the fishing boats and fish cleaning depot was really lovely, if not sunny, and we were treated to a prix fixe menu that was SOOOOOOOOOOO good, aside from Chicken Yassa the best food of vacation. I had a veggie quiche that was insanely good, Parmesan crusted fish that was ah-maz-ing, and a papaya rice pudding for dessert. We headed back via the beach (still no sign of where I was trying to bring us for lunch) and were treated to some classic Ella dancing. We had watched Pitch Perfect 2 the night before and were serenading ourselves with some of the songs. (Serenading ourselves was an ongoing theme of vacation)
That evening, our last in Somone, the housekeeper came to make use our chicken and we headed out for an evening stroll with the house caretaker who had had a role in building a Mangrove Forest reserve right behind the house as part of the Lagune de Somone, the inlet at the end of the town. A rich French guy had invested money to create a protected area with raised walkways to show of the crazy-cool Mangrove trees and all of the wildlife that they attract. It was awesome! Mangrove trees (which live in water) grow these long skinny things that look like big string beans. When the time is right, the trees drop their string beans straight down into the water (it looks kind of like someone is writing underwater) and the trees grow roots and more roots and become kind of like a full grown hedge all growing together. It was so cool! There were crabs and fish in the water below the trees, and SO many birds in the Lagune... I didn't get any good pictures, but if you have a magnifying glass, you might be able to find the egrets and pelicans that I thought I was photographing?!?!
We headed back to the house at dusk for our Chicken Yassa and packing, and we left the next day to return to Adiya's friends house in Dakar for our final night of vacation. We did a return trip to Goree Island to pick up some art that Adiya had her mind set on, and spent a fun evening with the family hosting us. They also rose early to take us to the airport - we were very grateful! Thank you! And that was vacation. (We had a long layover in Ethiopia, where we went out to eat fun Ethiopian food as well!)
Overall I was very very happy to have experienced non-Congo Africa in such a fun way, traveling with friends, meeting up with friends and having interesting places to stay. Air travel was an experience, super fun (lots of kindle reading!) and I really really enjoyed both Ghana and Senegal for different reasons. I am happy to have come and will be happy to return one day! Until then!
The basketball tournament was a success (will update with pictures of the new basketball court) and now to bear down for the last stretch of school. Seven more weekend blog posts until I am home! Hard to believe. I have some plans to take a picture drive and get some last pictures and I am already planning my ending posts. More to come! Have a wonderful week ahead! <3
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