Our travels have now come to an end after everyone agreed that they wanted to spent time with their communities before it's time to go home. Although I'm still in Kaolack we say goodbye on Friday and head back to Joal via Dakar, arriving on Sunday, to enjoy our final days in Senegal with family and friends there. Discovering a bit more of Senegal has been incredible but now that we're finished the end seems a whole lot nearer... and scarier!!

I won't attempt to describe everything that we saw or experienced over the last few weeks but begin by naming just a few of the most memorable moments for me. I've eaten more tapalapa baguettes and chicken and chips than I care to remember, often being the only thing left in the roadside cafes and travelled too many kilometres in transport which was too hot and too small and still managed only to leave Senegal once to the Gambia. I have absolutely no regrets about staying in the country though, we've had mountains and waterfalls, beaches and deserts, tropical forests and savannah whilst still being able to converse with the locals and join in the dancing. We've lost all our sugar and bananas to cunning monkeys, swum in rivers at sunset with baboons in the trees, been chased by aardvarks at 6am, eaten peanuts and mango juice with hippoes, had doors falling off cars, found secluded lagoons, caves and waterfalls and showered at their source, stayed in tiny villages at Guinee's border, watched lightning storms from plateaus, been interrogated at police controls, swum with cows on vast white beaches, been caught at night in pirogues with ragged sails, dolphins and shooting stars, eaten gazelle, kayaked through mangroves, danced the night away in Ziguinchor, cooked until ridiculous hours, spoken English in The Gambia and spent many hours chatting, eating, drinking and laughing and meeting a lot of strange and a lot of nice people.

It took surprisingly long to cover a surprisingly small area but we definitely did it properly and found a few real gems of places. At times it felt like we were in another part of the world completely, totally removed from everything in Joal and it still feels far away. I'm looking forward to going back to everything there and seeing everyone again. It's been nice to be on my own timetable for a while and to vaguely choose what and when I eat but I've definitely missed being at my Senegalese home and be stationary for a little while... and it really will only be a little while before it's time to start packing and thinking of that plane I'm supposed to catch which still feels very distant and like another reality completey. My next blog will also be my last though so I better makes sure I fill the final weeks with exciting adventures to report although I have a feeling there'll be a lot of emotional goodbyes instead.

Until next time continue enjoying the summer and I'll see you all before too long!
Kirsty x