Christine: Life in the Tropics

Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula, the most western part of the African continent. Senegal completely surrounds The Gambia. (Map from www.cia.gov)

Senegal is just 14 degrees north of the Equator, about the same latitude as Honduras and Nicaragua. This means warm, tropical weather for everyone, and lots of sunscreen for me! Since my arrival at the end of May, the weather has consistently been in the low 80s during the day and the low 70s at night (no rain yet!). We are told that it will continue to get warmer and more humid as the summer goes on, and we’ve already started noticing it getting warmer in the past few days.

A view of the ocean from the north shore of Dakar at right. The island in the background is Ile de Ngor, one of a handful of islands that surrounds the peninsula.

While our project keeps us busy during the week (more updates on that forthcoming), we hope to start taking trips on the weekends to further explore of Dakar and a bit more of Senegal, like Saint Louis, the former capital. Last night we stumbled upon the neighborhood cultural center where people were doing some impressive dancing and drumming. We hope to return again soon, and maybe even learn some of these arts ourselves!

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