Lend me some sugar... I am your neighbor!: Brikama to Dakar. Easy as a very complex pecan pie.

Soooooo…. You want to travel from The Gambia to Dakar? For one reason or another I have gone back to The Americas and because it is WAY to expensive to travel directly from Banul I booked a ticket out of Dakar. Here is a step by step of the awesome, very short and very comfortable journey…

PS I found out at the airport that you might be able to get a ticket to fly from Banjul to Dakar for $80 - $100 USD so if you don't like the outline below then consider this option.

Summary:
Trip Itinerary: From Brikama, The Gambia to Hotel Du Phare, Dakar, Senegal
Total Time: 530AM to 3PM
Cost: Approximately $20USD, 10,000 XOF or 550 dalasi
Modes of transportation: 6

Exchange Rates (you will never actually get these of course):
1 USD = 497 XOF
1 Dalasi =18 XOF
1 USD = 28 Dalasi

General Costs (Just what I saw quick fast):
Food: 2500 – 4000 XOF
Nice Dinner: 6000 – 10000 XOF
Local Beer: 2500 XOF
Shot of Alcohol: 3000 – 4000 XOF
Juice: 2000 XOF

Step 1: Exchange your dalasi to XOF. If you decide to do this at the border KNOW how much you should get back and triple check your money. It is a notoriously terrible spot to exchange money. You will not get a good deal to begin with and they will probably try to steal some anyway.

As an alternative I would suggest asking Alpha for the number of the guy that he knows who will exchange for you. I got a rate of 3,000 dalasi for 50,000 XOF. The guy was able to meet on Kairaba about a ten minute walk from the office right after we called him. Very convenient.

Step 2: Wake up at 530AM. Drink copious amounts of coffee, get ready and finish packing

Step 3: Leave house at 6AM. Walk to road where gele will pass. Get ride to Ferry terminal. It was free more me to get to the ferry terminal in Banjul, but usually you will need to take a gele which is around 8 – 18 dalasi depending on where you start (Brikama vs. Fajara)

Step 4: Take the first ferry from Banjul to Barra (unless you are already on the north bank of course)! The first ferry is at 7AM and can take anywhere from 1 – 2 hours to cross. Cost is 10 dalasi.

Still dark upon ferry departure:

Step 5: Look for ferry cakes on your walk to the Barra car park. Find a gele going to the border. Gele cost is 30 dalasi. My big backpack may have been 10 more dalasi.

Step 6: Drop at the border, eat a bean sandwich and get a departure stamp from The Gambia (I never got a stamp in my passport when I arrived to The Gambia so this was a small issue. Eventually they just gave me a departure stamp and let me cross). Cost is nothing

Step 7: Get an entry stamp into Senegal. Easy. Cost is nothing.

Step 8: Approx time is now 10AM. Grab a donkey cart to the Senegal car park. Cost is 5 dalasi each person. MUCH cheaper than a taxi or a scooter. Avoid these and go for the donkeys. Promise.

Sweet Donkey Cart Ride:

Step 9: In the car park get a “set-plas” headed to Dakar (this is a car that goes from one point to another without stopping so it is much faster. It fits about seven people). Cost is 6000 XOF and my big bag was 1000 XOF additional.

Note: For an additional 1000 XOF you might be able to buy the front seat. TOTALLY worth it. I got stuck in the middle in the back and was curled in a small ball the whole time. I was literally almost crying by the time we arrived because my but hurt so badly.

See how crunched I am!:

SOME people can read in the car... others cannot :(

Step 10: Sit in “set-plas” forever. We finally left the car park around 1030. It was still a little chilly because it was December, but by the end I was a puddle of sweat as usual. The first part of the road is ok, but it quickly disappears. There are a ton of pot holes and swerving and eventually the road turns to some strange dirt path. This lasts for about 45minutes and there is a TON of dust. After the dirt path the road magically appears once more and is pretty ok from that point forward.

Awesome road that did not make my dusty AT ALL:

Warning: There are a lot of police stops but they didn’t actually stop to let us out at all. I had to ask to pull over and pee so watch out for this. I hear that sometimes they let you out in Kaolack, but not during my trip.

Also, at some points people will start putting rolls, tangerines, lemons and other goods through the windows to sell. These are all 200 to 500 XOF for a bag and the rolls are delicious. You will need food at some point.

Step 11: Arrival to Dakar’s Banjul car park at 230PM (There are a lot of car parks so make sure you know where to get out. We took it all the way into Dakar and got out at the last car park.). There will be a few taxis sitting by the road and they started at 6,000 XOF to take us to the Hostel. Ha! We got them down to 3,000 XOF but just ended up walking across the main road and flagging a taxi down who agreed to 2,500 XOF right away (still prob too much but when you are so tired who cares).

Two notes:

One – Change is still a problem. Try to get change and never expect any taxi for person walking around selling food to have it. Eventually they will just take all your money. Also if you spent a lot of time bargaining and don’t have proper change the taxi may just not give you your change and tell you to get out. At this point you are screwed. Don’t put your luggage in the trunk if you can help it. This does not help your situation.

Two – Very few people speak English. French or Wolof helps a ton.

Step 12: Know where your hotel is and be able to convey this information to the taxi driver (i.e. street, neighborhood, main roads, etc). Arrival at hotel around 3PM. Took almost an hour to check in. First order of business was to wash layers of red dust of self and personal possessions. Second order of business to nap.

On the way to the hotel. Looks a little like a war zone: