We checked into a nice guesthouse with a garden and got free Wifi so we could do some catching up and look at other travel options. At the guesthouse we met Terry from the UK. He had interesting stories to tell about his African experiences. He had a local wife with two children but they were no longer on speaking terms. He had come to spend time catching up with his sons who speak more French than English, and had organised British passports for them. He also had an ex wife in Zimbawe with a child and another ex in the UK with two adult children. He had sold his house and was using the money from that to travel and it was nearly at an end.
We also met Laurent from France. He had a hotel in Guinea Bissau and a boat that he used to run fishing charters. Unfortunately his boat got stolen so he was in Senegal looking at what kind of business he could get into here but spent most of his time drinking pastis, a French aperitif, and chasing a local lady. Both he and Terry kept us entertained. Terry was able to tell us where to find good places to eat as there is not much to see or do here. We were able to find a bar to watch Barcelona and Manchester United in the Champions League Final. Unfortunately the power went off at the beginning of the second half and we missed Barcelona's two winning goals.
As we had some time we headed for Cap Skirring on the coast. We had a good trip by sept-place and the road was in excellent condition with a lot of it through the lagoons. A lot of the mangroves were planted in straight rows and we wondered why they were farming them.
We had to visit several guesthouses along the beach front outside the village of Cap Skirring before we found a place to stay. Some of the places were renovating and looked like construction sites. One place wouldn't give us a room without air conditioning even though the weather is cooler and we weren't going to pay for something we didn't need. Finally we got a place that suited us. It had a separate bathroom and a wee covered alcove with a cooking area. It also had a lovely garden.
Looking from the beach to the hotel which is in the middle.
The beach was quite nice and absolutely deserted. The little stalls on the beach were open but no one was buying anything. The beach restaurants were all closed as it is the low season. Many of the hotels owned by mostly French and Swiss people are closed as well.
We walked into the town every night for a meal as we couldn't find anywhere on the beach to eat. The only restaurant open in the town would organise food for us each evening. We would order food with the owner and go to the internet shop. The restaurant owner would rush off to the market and a bar down the road and get our food ready for when we got back. He would also give us a free dessert so we enjoyed his grilled chicken, fish kebabs, steak, and John got addicted to the prawns.
We enjoyed our days on the beach without any touts or 'bumsters' like The Gambia. We read a few books and I improved my Sudoku solving skills and John his computer Spider Solitaire percentages. There was a small room off our unit where we could cook so we enjoyed having a big breakfast rather than having the usual bread and jam fare.
There is a huge Club Med resort at Cap Skirring and we never saw anyone on the golf course they owned that ran along the side of the town.
The sky was grey in the morning and we got our first taste of the wet season thunder and rains. The guesthouse's thatched dining area flooded as the roof needs replacing but we survived a night without any leaks.
The Cap area has lots of foreigners with businesses, mainly Europeans. In the wet season they head back to Europe where it is warming up and then they return for the peak seasons when the rains stop.
We wanted to go onto St Louis but discovered that they are having a jazz festival over the time we want to be there. We spent a bit of internet time trying to find some reasonably priced accommodation there.
The cheaper slower option to a sept-place is this minibus!
After a relaxing time in the Cap we returned to Ziguinchor where we would catch up with Anette from Sweden, whom we had met in Bamako. After Ziguinchor we plan to spend a night back in Banjul, The Gambia and then head onto Dakar.
