Crawling to Dakar

I've only had a few occasions to visit Dakar since my arrival in Senegal last December. Unless I have to run an errand downtown, I would avoid it like a plague. It's just too much of a burden to get there. And from where I'm currently located in Somone, heading 90km up to Dakar can take a painstaking 3-hour drive. It's basically crawling bumper-to-bumper, I shit you not!

                     Street vendors in Dakar sell everything from used clothing to kitchenware

Leaving Port-au-Prince behind and coming down to Dakar has given me some kind of nostalgia. And I mean it in a good way. It's a real bustling place filled with all kinds of economic activities ranging from street vendors selling traditional arts and eateries to mid-range office buildings. I wouldn't call it heaven here, but what this city stands out from Port-au-Prince and Haiti as a whole is political stability and security.  

                             Dakar was rated as one of the world's most expensive cities in 2010

Just by going to Dakar alone from Somone can drain away half of your day, which pretty much leaves you only the afternoon to do whatever you were headed out to do. But since Senegal is 90% Islamic, government offices and banks are closed for lunch break at 12:30pm. Work resumes at 2:30pm. I guess it has a lot to do with going to prayer, or something like that.