L'Ile de Ngor

My new favorite place.

Dakar traffic got you down? Sick of the hustle-bustle of city life? Want to soak your feet in the sea and sip fanta by a peaceful beach, but don't want to brave the traffic involved in getting out of Dakar altogether? Pick your way through the crowded village of Ngor, stroll along the beach to the far end, buy yourself a 500 CFA ($1) round-trip ticket on a fishing boat from the very efficient (a word I don't use lightly) embarcadaire, and zip out to l'Ile de Ngor, an incredibly charming get-away that's only about 200 meters off the northern Dakar coast.

The trip itself prepares you for adventure - you crowd into a long, hand-painted pirogue, slightly jostled by high school kids and families looking to escape the city for the softest sand and most swimmable water in town (the narrow strait between the isle and the coast is free of the treacherous currents that are otherwise common around here). At this point you're wearing a bright-orange lifejacket, which feels like an unimaginable formality in chaotic Senegal. One smooth motored ride (about 10 minutes not counting loading and offloading) later, and you're on a tiny island (25 minutes to circumambulate at a slow stroll), criss-crossed by narrow pathways between white villas and edged by beaches and grilled fish. My two fellow Ngor travelers and I settled into a beachside cafe, under a canvas awning, and feasted on grilled carp and gazelle beer (which reminds me of Indian Kingfisher - that is, light and somewhat flavorless, but delicious when cold), followed by the strong sugary tea that is the Senegalese equivalent of an after-lunch espresso. Perhaps as close to paradise as one could hope for.