Trek to Ibel by Jessie and Elanor - SENEGAL

Our trek to Ibel took place on the second day of the week long trek.

We all awoke at 5:30 am expecting to leave an hour later to begin our hike. As usual, however, following true Senegalese custom, we ended up leaving about an hour late. After finally leaving, we trekked a basic 6 kilometers along the winding dirt road that leads to Ibel. Unfortunately for us, the 6k seemed to take forever due to our newly formed blisters and sores that were caused by our 15k hike the day before. Yet despite our discomfort, we reached the campement by about 10:00 that morning. At the campement, we rested for a little while before being sent to our individual homestay families that would take care of us for the night to come.

During our homestays, each of us encountered all sorts of experiences. We played with children, relaxed on woven mats, ate traditional Senegalese meanls, and interacted in various other ways with the family members.

That afternoon, Team Toubab (our nickname for the Senegal Dragons group) reunited at the campement and set off up the near by mountain to see an Anamist village's harvest celebration. None of us Dragons knew what to expect along the upwards hike, but we were delightfully surprised to find that we were walking nearly vertically the entire way. Our guide had unexpectedly decided to take us up the mountain along the path that the village people use: along the face of the mountain. Of course, we all felt like silly toubabs (the local word for white person) as we saw old women carrying giant logs and enormous buckets of water up the mountain on their heads with ease. They even made it up the mountain faster than we did without taking breaks, complaining, or dropping their items.

Once we reached the village at the top of the mountain, we experienced Senegalese culture once again as we waited for over an hour for the actual ceremony to begin. Once it did, however, we realized that it was worth waiting for. Two men dressed in local cloth and leaves, their heads covered by black cloth and an elaborate hat, danced and chanted in deep, rough voices, keeping rhythem perfectly with the bells on their fingers and canes. With all the exceitment of the festival, the time to decend down the mountain came all to soon.

On the way down the mountain, we visited the largest baobab tree in the area. It was enormous. This particular baobab was about the size of 10 oak trees combined. The sight of it was truely amazing and humbling.

To conclude the evening, Team Toubab ate a wonderful, Senegalese spaghetti dinner at the campement. Afterwards we were escorted back to our homestays for the night.

So there it is, yet another exciting day in our journey to Senegal.