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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Senegal: Foundiougne

A pirogue in the Siné-Saloum Delta
Overtaking another pirogue on the way through the Siné-Saloum Delta

The thought of trying to get out of Djiffer – stuck there on its sandy peninsula where the River Saloum flows into the Atlantic – sat at the back of my mind like the promise of tomorrow's hangover when the night is still young. Senegalese buses are enough to make anyone go weak at the knees, but when you're sitting there watching the African moonlight play over a serene beach right outside your bungalow's back door, they're even less enticing. Luckily we found an alternative, one far more suited to the lush surroundings of the Siné-Saloum Delta.

Heading Upstream

The bows of a pirogue
Looking towards the bows of our pirogue

This morning the four of us – me, Jeremy, Sarah and Chris – met André on the beach at 9am sharp, ready to head on up the river. We stowed our bags in the bows, wobbled into the middle of the boat as the waves slapped the sides, and waited while the three local crewmen heaved our pirogue into the slow-moving waters of the River Saloum. The motor coughed into life, and after a few precarious tilts that threatened to scupper our trip before it had even begun, we headed off in a northeasterly direction, against the flow of the lumbering river.