The schedule

OK, we've done some thinking about the schedule for the ten days that you will be here. Chris, there will be opportunities to walk, and I like to walk (so does my mom) - so if you want to walk, bring your shoes! As for the nature reserve, see Days 5 and 6 - I am soliciting opinions, please comment!

So, for the schedule, the summary is like this, followed by the detail:

Day 1 and 2 - Dakar
Day 3 and 4 - Thies
Day 5 and 6 - beach
Day 7 and 8 - Dakar
Day 9 - you're sleeping this night on the plane!

Day 1: Thursday 04 Sept
You (except Lyn) arrive at 04h40 in the morning. We will pick you up with the church van. We should have access to this van (11-seater) for the time that you are here - we need to determine and negotiate the price. You will likely sleep most of the day after flying all night and not getting any sleep. Everyone will be staying in our place, except for Jerry and Chris, who will be staying in a hotel or room nearby. Jeanne may be around just a few hours in the morning, however as it is the day of the wedding, she intends to disappear until the next day. Thus, we are on our own for dinner and don't need to do anything too fancy -we can go out or stay in, depending on the group's preferences.

Day 2: Friday 05 Sept
We have the day to rest and get ready for the big day. The event begins at 3 PM (also known as 15h00 here). The civil building is right across the street, so we can have lunch at the apartment before going over. From there, we will head across town to the church - the van will be available to transport everyone. After the church, we plan to take some pictures, maybe on or near the beach - we' re working on that one. Then, we have the reception back at the church in the courtyard. Afterwards, Jeanne and I will head to a hotel room for the night, and we will leave you in the hands of Fatim and Julien who will be with us for your entire visit.

Day 3: Saturday 06 Sept
Wedding day 2 begins, but probably not until 11 AM or noon. At that time, we will head to Thies to the family's house there. The party there will likely start at 1 PM and go all day (until when, not sure). Accomodations are prepared for you there already in a hotel not far from the house. Jeanne's dad says it is good - I wouldn't expect spectacular, but I am certain that you will have the essentials (AC, hot water, clean and reasonably comfortable bed, etc.)

Day 4: Sunday 07 Sept
Two days of wedding, we will all surely be tired. Sunday is for resting at the family's place, and allow you to see a day in Thies when there is not a wedding taking place and allow some of those people who maybe couldn't make it on Saturday to stop by and greet the new married couple on Sunday. Chill day today, nothing exceptional.

Day 5: Monday 08 Sept
Monday is a transition day. We will probably leave mid-afternoon after lunch for the beach. We have several possibilities for the beach. We could go nearer, which is around 1-1/2 hours from Dakar to a couple of areas - either Toubab Dialow or Popenguine. There are some nice inexpensive hotels situated right on the beach in these areas. If we wanted to add a nature reserve aspect, we could go to a park called Bandia. Google "Bandia Dakar" and you should find some information on the park, though they don't appear to have home page. I have never been there, and I am not certain about what it's like, but the people that wrote about it on their blogs seemed happy with it.

An option to this is to venture to Palmarin, which is around 5 hours by car and the atmosphere is much more village-like, but there are very reasonable accommodations. It is very close to one of the country's nature reserves, and so the surrounding areas might be a bit nicer than the first beaches mentioned. There are also possibilities to go kayaking and other activities too (not sure what they are, but we could find out before we go - the kayaking is fun though). But, it would require us to spend more time traveling and I wouldn't recommend that we also do Bandia with this trip. We may be able to do a few hours in Joal-Faidouthe as well with this option - ask my mom and sister, we went there last year (the island village).

Both are really good options, and we can't go wrong either way!

Day 6: Tuesday 09 Sept
See Day 5. Day 5 and 6 will be in the same place.

Day 7: Wednesday 10 Sept
A transition day. If we choose option one on day 5, this day may be good for Bandia. In any case, we travel back to Dakar and maybe go out to eat together in town. We'll be back in Dakar for Wed and Thurs night before you fly out on Friday.

Day 8: Thursday 11 Sept
Today, we can take a tour of the city and go to Goree Island off the coast of Dakar. No trip to Dakar can be complete without this. Maybe, I will get my father to cook a nice Persian meal for us in the evening.

Day 9: Friday 12 Sept
The time will past faster than you can imagine. The last day in Senegal can be spent as you wish. I would suggest maybe a trip to the artists' market, or other things that we think of during the week.