Lac Rose (Lake Retba): salty, gaseous and blue

So, here we are, October 10th- it's saturday of my second to last weekend in Dakar before I start my internship in Sokone. And I just can't get over how good last weekend was. I almost doubt that this weekend will live up to it, but there's so much going on today! Ile des Madeleines and Ile des Serpents (serpents=snakes but apparenly there are no snakes on the island. it is just a mispronunciation of a dude's name) this morning with Environmental Development class and then party at Jasper's (another MSID-kid). I'm glad to now know that I can get over the horrendous traffic, the dirty streets and the hot weather and actually enjoy myself in Dakar.

So here's the run-down:
FRIDAY-
Put off writing a paper to go swimming at la Piscine Olympique near school. Just a walk away, it is a lovely! olympic size pool with diving platforms and spring boards. Granted the diving well was only open for about 20 minutes and the kiddy-pool where we tried to frisbee was uncomfortably warm and the bathrooms were disgusting even for Dakar which is saying something. Other that though- 1000 FCfa (abt $2.25) gets you a wonderful afternoon in non-salt water. Oh! and I learned how to dive finally!!! Practice makes perfect so that's my excuse next time I need a dip in a pool.

SATURDAY-
Went out in the evening with a big group of MSID-students and a few Senegalese folks. We went to a swanky club only about 20mins walking from my house. Clubs are expensive! Granted I don't know much about entry fees in Mpls but here- my goodness! 10 000 francs (22.50 USD) just to get in is considered decent. Anyways, so one of the Senegalese used to be DJ there so he snagged a lower fee for us- still it was about $9.00. The only problem here is that I like my sleep and I like going to sleep at 11 or so, usually I don't even make it to 10:30pm. Here the club scene isn't really hopping until 1:30-2:00am or so- waaay past my bedtime. So we got to this place at 1:00am-ish only to see that our group made up 90% of the crowd. The other 10% were couples (who, poor them, had to put up with the great band of Toubabs) and a few lone men sleeping in the corner. This place apparently is the last stop on people's tours of Dakar clubs and so doesn't see much life until 4 or 5am...
Even though I was hoping to pick up some sweet dance skills from Senegalese dancing, it was pretty sweet having the place to ourselves. It definitely felt like the club had been rented out for us.

SUNDAY-
After being out the night before, it was a struggle to force myself out of bed at 9:00am but it was important! A huge group of us were meeting near school to go to Lac Rose for the day.
Problem #1: Meeting as a group means waiting til everyone arrives. Which is annoying when I just want to get on the road. It also meant having to find taxis for everyone. Waly, our program coordinator, said that taxis were really the only way to go. Granted it is possible by bus but it isn't reliable. I am always up for an adventure but not were there is no sure way of getting back. For about 20 000 F Cfa per taxi ($45), we hired a driver for the day (and no extra cost for the gas).
Problem #2: The lake wasn't pink. It was quite blue with small patches of brown. Two things need to happen for the lake to be pink- it needs to be hot and sunny, and it needs to be during the dry season. It was hot. It was sunny. The only problem was that the rainy season had just ended about a week or two ago and so the salt lake wasn't as salty as normally.
But it was still pretty cool. It was so easy to float! You just kind of bobbed, no effort needed. The lake was surprisingly warm, like a hot tub or as one student pointed out- a very similar color in some places and the same temperature as urine. At the bottom of the lake, hot gas was bubbling up. - and I could've sworn that it was pink if I squinted my eyes enough.
The lake is so salty that the women who cultivate the salt coat their bodies in a nut salve. After we spent a bit bobbing around, we decided it was best to get out before our skin dried up.
Problem #3:
When it was time to go home, it turns out the taxi driver's french was worse than we had originally realized. There was some confusion about when we were heading out, whether at 3pm or at 4pm. In the end we left at 4pm, but still, for a few minutes I thought the driver was going to forgo the money and just leave us stranded. If we had paid him in advance, there would have been no way of making sure our ride back home didn't leave without us.
Pulling up into Dakar, he tried to get an extra 5 000 F Cfa from us because of the extra hour. I just yelled back at him. In the end I gave him an extra 1 000 francs just to make sure he didn't run me over out of anger.