Officials and unofficials
S/Y Pelerin
Colin Speedie & Louise Johnson
Sat 1 Dec 2012 13:55
The morning after arrival, we had to make the usual new-country-entry visits - police, customs, anyone else interested in new arrivals, etc. With some trepidation we set off in a taxi from the sail club here on Hann Plage. But we were not to fear - our taxi driver Mustapha was an experienced old hand at delivering new yachties to the various authorities, in the correct order, with the correct visa/passport photocopies and cash, and get various official bits of paper stamped to make ourselves official. Mustapha looked after us very well and we are now legal entries into Senegal (for up to 30days at least).
Since then it's been a little like business as usual; I've had a few days of work to complete, and Colin has been sleeves rolled-up tweaking with a few pipes on the new fuel-polishing system, and looking into optimum charging capacities for our batteries. The characters here at the Voile de Dakar sailing club are an eclectic bunch, and it looks like some washed up here years ago and never left! We've made some good friends already, and sampled a lot of international cuisine and hospitality on each others boats!
So where next? We're currently unsure which of the Senegalese rivers we'll head to... either the Sine-Saloum, the Casamance or maybe even the Gambia river. The wind is a bit wild at the moment for shallow river entries, where sandbars move at whim, but maybe we'll be off early next week. But first some exploring of the sights of Dakar... pics will follow!