We had made the roughly one hour bus ride from Ziguinchor (the capital city of the Casamance region, where the boat docked) to Cap Skirring the day before, with the intent of spending two of our nights in the small, relaxing village. On this specific day, we headed to the ocean, where we would supposedly find the nicest beaches in West Africa! Our expectations were maybe placed slightly too high, because the stretch of beach we saw left a little to be desired. I assume, however, that this partially had to do with the fact that I am in Senegal for their tourism’s “saison morte.” I have been told that the country attracts the most tourists between October and May, when rainfall and mosquitoes are almost non-existent. So I would assume during this period that the beaches are cleaned up, the vendors set up their shops, and it is in general a more happening place to be. Walking along the beach at one point, we spotted an enormous sea turtle, that had died and been washed up on shore – quite an impressive creature, other than the fact it was dead. There was also a herd of cattle roaming the beachfront. I use the word “grazing” but there wasn’t really anything for them to eat, or drink for that matter, on the beach. This was a really astonishing site, something you would never see back home.
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