Thursday 24 November 2022

We get up and head for breakfast. After I have finished eating and am watching the old man tuck into plate no 4, a cat appears by the table hopeful for scraps. There are signs asking guests not to feed the various animals, with a helpful photo of some children feeding a kangaroo. Because everyone knows West Africa is teeming with kangaroos! Not one to take notice of instructions, I go and get some slices of sausage from the buffet. In my mind, what happens next is that I surreptitiously sneak a morsel of sausage under the table where it gulped down by a grateful cat.

What actually happens is that the cat cannot pierce the skin of the sausage. Each time he tries, the sausage rolls away. He assumes it’s still alive and pounces on it several times, chasing it half way round the restaurant. Eventually, after multiple attempts spanning a vast area, the cat finally manages to completely unsurreptitiously eat the sausage. The waiter confiscates my remaining plate of sausage.

Lesson learned, we return through the hotel gardens to our room. I stop several times to photograph some birds, a giant snail and some flowers.

A few minutes later, the gardener appears at our door. He says he saw me photographing the flowers and presents me with a vase of freshly cut blooms.

After a busy morning of reading, swimming and sunbathing, we catch a tourist taxi ( different from a local taxi as you have exclusive use and the driver waits until you’re ready to return) to the nearby resort of Senegambia.

The hotel we’re staying at in Bakau is nice, but the surrounding area is rather quiet. Senegambia has a cordoned off street, running from the main road towards the beach – a strip of restaurant and bars.

After a wander down the road as far as the Senegambia Hotel, where they have a far slacker policy on not feeding the animals. A woman with a bag of peanuts is causing mayhem amongst the monkey population.

Back up the other end to the craft market. We lived in Nigeria for 3 years, so rapidly conclude that we have more than sufficient West African handicrafts and go instead in search of dinner.

On a friend’s recommendation we choose Paradiso. I order the chicken Yassa; chicken in a spicy onion sauce. It’s very tasty, and is washed down nicely with a couple of beers, while we wait for the prearranged time to meet our driver for the return journey.