From Kedougou, we drove about 2 1/2 hours to get to a town on the border of Senegal and Mali. We passed through lots of small villages, and also our first river. The current looked fast, so Wouri drove the vehicle across first (without a hitch) and we walked behind. My dad lost both of his flip flops, but when we got to the other side one of the (many) onlookers had already retrieved them from the water! It was fun :)
When we got to the border town village, we stopped to say hello to some people my parents had met on a previous trip. These women were such sweet hostesses, and even gave us some muffins that were really good! Tasted like home. Then the men (Dad, Kendrick, and Wouri) left to go see what they could find out about the river. While they were gone, Mom drew pictures in the dirt with a stick and the little kids would guess what it was.
On past trips, "The River" (dun dun dun!) has proved to be an issue. Rainy season is from June(ish) through December, causing this river to be unpassable. I asked, "Uh, why don't they just build a bridge?!" [Simple fix, right?] To which my mom replied, "Because there's nothing on the other side!" Nothing, except where we are trying to go. When the men got back, they reported that everyone told them the river was too high and no cars can cross.
With this news we felt a bit disheartened. It was too late in the day to try crossing at another point in the river, which might also turn out to be too high. We decided to go back to Kedougou and think of a plan B.
On the way back to Kedougou, we had to cross that river again. This time, Wouri was more confident since we made it across the first time with no prob. So, we all stayed in the car and went. On the other side of the river, there was a woman bathing right where we needed to get out! We honked at her to encourage her movemement, but she didn't budge. Wouri, being the polite driver he is, didn't hit her, but tried to go around...then....we got stuck. Stuck on a big rock. Our tires were spinning and we weren't going anywhere. Then I noticed, "Hey, my feet are underwater!" So, we got out of the car (with the money and cameras) and walked to dry land.
Of course, by this point we had attracted alot of attention (thankfully!) and some of the villagers came to our rescue to help push the car free. Exciting!
These were the guys who helped us. One of them asked for my email address, to which I replied, "Do you have a computer?!" He said he did. I did not give him my email address.
We made the rest of the trip back to Kedougou uneventfully. There, we decided that even if we couldn't cross the river in the car, we would wade across with our backpacks. One way or another, we were going to get there!
More to come.
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