G’day all. We are reaching the close, the climax, the final destination of this trip I took LAST YEAR from Dhaka, Bangladesh to Dakar, Senegal. Saly would be the penultimate stop. Last week I wrote about Saint Louis, in the north of Senegal. Senegal is a curiously shaped country as it actually surrounds the country of the Gambia, an English speaking enclave surrounded by French speakers.

That’s in the southern half of the country, Dakar is in the northern half of the country and Saint Louis right north on the coast. Saly is yet another coastal town, 80km from Dakar and south-west of the capital. I knew I had a couple of days to spare, and in the end I took an extra day in Saly taking in three nights, and the good news for me was that I was able to get there from Saint Louis without passing through Dakar, which was the full stop on the journey and it would have been weird to pass through and then return in the context of the continuous journey.

Originally I had in my mind to get to The Gambia. I haven’t been there before (but I have been to Senegal) and I figured how many opportunities would I get to say I’ve been there. It would have meant crossing another border – twice – and it was many hours further on from Saly and it would have been a real push just to say I had visited this small country. So in the end I opted for Saly, which also meant traveling far less to get to Dakar as well.

There was no direct transport as far as I could find from Saint Louis to Saly, so it meant share taxis, one to a town called Thies and then another to Saly. I organised the one to Thies from my hotel in Saint Louis. The share taxi was headed all the way into Dakar, via Thies but from memory I still had to pay the full fare.

The share taxi was also picking up from my hotel which was handy and saved a bit of time, but it also was a bit late. I was in a Toyota with just two others on this trip, I’m not sure if they couldn’t fill the fourth place (this was a regular share taxi not a ‘Sept Place’) or if it wasn’t usually filled. Importantly the driver didn’t spend hours looking for one more person. It was the most comfortable share taxi I had had to this point, looked like a lot more modern car.

So perhaps it was ironic or predictable – or both – that this is the ride with two breakdowns on the way to Thies! The first was an electrical issue. We stopped in the middle of nowhere but very quickly others were there to help out. Or just look, it was hard to tell. Drivers in Africa are generally brilliant when it comes to fixing cars, and after about twenty minutes of tinkering under the hood, we were on the move again.

And then five minutes later we noticed a screeching sound from the back left tyre. Something was lodged I think in between the metal and the break pad. There was a small town, we pulled over, the driver bought a new break pad from one of the many car shops there, and set about taking the wheel of and replacing the break pad. We were on our way in about 15 minutes.

By mid-afternoon we arrived in Thies, and after waiting 45 minutes or so, I was on my way to Saly in another share taxi, which dropped me off at my accommodation, Le Clos de Papillons. I guess you could call it a bed and breakfast or a guesthouse. The owner was a Belgian chef and I ate there each night devouring some very good meals.

The place wasn’t cheap though and the room itself was a little disappointing, The pool however was wonderful, and overall I really liked the place. My time in Saly was really about trying to just relax. I shot a very short vlog on Saly, and basically chilled in the wonderful confines of Le Close de Papillons – amazing garden and space along with the pool, and checked out the beautiful beach too, taking some photos and doing very little.

A few artists reside in Saly, there are some nice houses, but I found it pretty sleepy in general and perfect for just relaxing. There’s apparently a bird sanctuary nearby and a few things to do in the region, but it was the time for chilling. I heard there is also a few nightclubs in Saly, although some are on the more seedy side. I was happy doing very little, although a friend I’d made in Saint Louis was also there and I hung out with him and his girlfriend a couple of times too which was nice.

And then… it was time for the final push – to Dakar! Which is going to take me more than a single post to detail, two or three – we will see! SO stayed tune for the conclusion of Dhaka to Dakar! Thanks for popping by today. Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!