World's oldest profession v2.0

Bed crawling with ants

Senegal has been absolutely fantastic.  Entering it, we finally felt like we where in the real Africa.  Loud colours, lots of music and very friendly people.  Smiling faces everywhere. We really loved it. The roads are slowly getting worse, and the bikes love it more.  Even the police are friendly, we did not get stopped once at any road blocks, everyone just let us pass.  Amazing!! The bit I saw off St Louis looks so interesting, and we would have loved to spend more time there, but we had admin to sort out for the bikes.  They only give you 48 hours to get from the border to Dakar, where we needed to get some papers stamped for the bikes.  Again something that should not have taken long, but it took us more than half a day.  I ended up in the port commander's office trying to find the right people.  Everyone is really helpful, but have no clue as what to do.  You would think we are the first people to take bikes into Senegal, the home of the Paris-Dakar Rally.

Breakfast in heaven

Slave monument, Dakar

The only thing I struggled with in Senegal was the heat and humidity.  OUCH!!  The humidity has slowly been building as we have been moving south.  It is unbelievable.  To the point where it is useless to try and do anything.  The moment you move you are dripping with sweat.  The only way to get some relief is to cover miles on the bike.  As long as you are moving it is bearable,  but 5 minutes after stopping you are soaked.  I initially thought we would miss the humidity because the rainy season just ended, but according to the locals the ground gets so soaked that it takes about 2 months for the humidity to come down.  The dry heat off the desert is much easier to deal with.

In Dakar we had our first experience off the worlds oldest profession. Prostitution.  The accommodation in Dakar is really expensive compared to everything so far, so I  was negotiating really hard for a discount.  The manager refused but said the girl in reception comes free with the room.  Morton and I laughed and thought nothing off it, went to our bungalow and unpacked the bikes.  10 minutes later there was a knock on the door, and it was the girl, wanting to come in.  Luckily Morton was quick to say 'no thanks' and close the door.  She was half way in before the door was even properly open.  WOW!!  Once the shock subsided we had a good laugh.

We didn't stay long in Dakar.  The humidity was even worse than the rest off Senegal, so we decided to keep moving rather than sit and suffer in our rooms.  It was impossible to do anything outside.  Again, it looks like a very interesting city, with loads off history and I would have loved to see more but we heard the humidity is better in Gambia so decided to head there.

Gorgeous road

Gambia has been fantastic.  Still hot and humid as hell, but for some reason less than North Senegal.  Was 32 degrees in the shade by 10 am yesterday, with high humidity so still not a walk in the park, but after Senegal its a relief.  Gambia is the friendliest country so far, and people speak English.  Such a big difference being able to have normal conversations with people.  It's like being released from jail.  Verbal freedom.

Fishing village,  in the water

Here we got to see how the upgraded version of prostitution works.  It all started when we went to the beach for a couple of bears and some sun.  I saw a Gambian guy in on the beach, standing there for hours pretending to do exercises, and poses showing off his muscles.  He was unbelievably cut, every muscle group perfectly visible.  But not really doing much, just standing there showing off.  I later noticed a few hundred meters away was another guy doing a combination of yoga and exercises, and past him a guy splashing in the shallows doing the whole surfer act.  Weird!!  Turns out these guys are 'bumsters,'  they hang out around the tourist hotels and show off their goods.  The idea is to get a western girlfriend, and access to her funds, but fee for service is the other available options.  Every bumster tries to act out a stereo type that he thinks the girls like.  Hilarious to see, especially once you know its all a act.  But it works, saw loads off bumsters walking around with their tourist girlfriends.

Relics of worse times

Next is the girls.  They are a little more subtle, but not much.  They befriend the older male tourists, show them the local hangouts, introduce them to some friends, and show them how great Gambia is.  Amazing to see how the tourists melt from a little flattery by a hot young girl.  Again the main mission is to work your way into a long term relationship, where you get funds regularly, but fee for service is always available. The locals we spoke to are very open about their  western partners that send money monthly.  They live a good life from few hundred Euro a month, and need to do very little work.  The weird part is that the locals we spoke to dont see it as prostitution, but as entertaining tourists with a bonus on the side.  A great way to make a living.  Before the trip I knew prostitution is big business in Africa,  but not for one second I thought it would be so open and accepted.  And this among relatively well off young people. Huge culture shock.

First ferry crossing

Perfect road

Perfect Coke add