Dakar-Kaolack(Senegal)

yip..I tried hitch hiking out of Dakar..
got a ride first to Pikine..then to Rufisque..
but then..I got stuck..stood for hours...
not a very funny thing to stand hours in the scorching heat..
so..I dediced to go to the bus station of Rufisque and take..
a bus towards Mbour and Kaolack..Rufisque is an harbour..
lots of factories..industries..did not like it that much...
but Senegal..well..the people make it colourful..
Senegalese are very friendly..very curious people..
I always laughed when they started their funny French...
in the bus station from Rufisque..I met a Catholic Senegalese..
he told me to visit Keur Moussa..which is above Rufisque..
it's a Benedictine convent where the services are done..
well..in African style..with kora/djemb? etc...bit like gospel??
I did not go there..here is a link www.keurmoussa.com
so..I took a taxi brousse(Peugeot)towards Mbour-Kaolack..
quite an adventure..to sit as a foreigner..amidst the locals...
feels bit awkward in the beginning..but..they started joking..
about my long hair and beard...and they all smiled..
people can connect with smiles..words are not needed..
the trip towards Kaolack went through typical landscapes..
quite arid..I saw some baobab trees...there's a legend..
botanical name=adansonia digitata.. I'll get you all a link..
this tree is very much honoured by Senegalese..
it has very funny structure..as of its grown upside down??
everything of this tree..pods..branches..leaves...
Senegalese..have a way..to use all of it..the baoabab tree
is also given magical beliefs..often a griot will praise..
http://arts.osu.edu/ArtEducation/kplayground/baobabtree.htm
http://www.baobab-solutions.com/the_baobab.htm
under a baobab tree..so be it...anyway..I reached Kaolack..
it's a town on the Saloum river..it's a center for peanuts..
Senegal depends a lot on tourism..but also on peanut cultivation..
it was bloody hot in that town..I stayed in some local cheap hotel..
Kaolack has got a real nice market..where I saw funny stuff..
the local Senegalese woman..buy love potions(afrodisiacs)
extracts of lion or tiger claws,gazelle horns etc..funny...
some local dude...explained me...all these things...
I was determined to reach Tambacounda the next day..
that's East Senegal..and there was a train to catch to Kayes(Mali)
I thought of taking a taxi brousse..it's a share system..
they start when they are full..sometimes 12 people..
packed like sardines..in a Peugeot suitable for 8??
it was cheap anyway..so..why bother hitch hiking??
Tiger