Our group meeting spot this morning was the Western-Most Point of Africa. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to it. A couple fishermen and one of those sign posts pointing to major cities all around the world (Johannesburg, Berlin, Paris, etc.). After taking some pictures there, we were on our way to the beach where we'd take a pirogue over to Île de Ngor, when we passed the massive, over-extravagant US embassy. It was only after I had taken a couple pictures that I noticed the “No Pictures” signs posted on the gate, so I quickly put my camera away before being caught. Raphael (the new intern from Brazil), however, wasn’t so discrete. He had his camera out, snapping photos like the jolly tourist he was, when one of the guards noticed his illegal behaviour. She proceeded to remove his camera from his hands and then walk him to the front gate where they asked for his driver’s licence to copy down for future reference. Although when you first see it, the embassy appears unnecessarily large, it would be my guess, because Senegal is one of the more stable countries in Africa, that this embassy represents America for all or most of West Africa. After the hassle at the embassy was taken care of (and Raphael’s criminal record had been updated), we made our way to the beach and then over to Ngor. The island itself was actually fairly small, however it was big enough for Akon (who is Senegalese) to build a house on, which we would walk by and admire. As small as it was, the island turned out to be a fantastic place to remove oneself from the hussle and bussle of the city and relax on the beach for the afternoon.
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