St. Louis

This is a first installment on the town of St. Louis. After uploading these photos, and intending to load more later, I came home (back to the hotel in Toubacouta) to find the air conditioner leaking all over my electronic equipment, including my computer! It couldn't have been much wetter were it tossed in the swimming pool. Alas, I hadn't had a chance to save the photos of the last several days seminar to an online website or to a flash drive, so here's what I'm going to do about this blog: In the next few blogs, we'll jump ahead to more current events, then, when I get home, and (hopefully) have extracted data from my comatose computer, I'll be able to go back and describe some events and tours that you absolutely must know about. Deal or No Deal?

St. Louis

At one of our stops, young boys were enjoying a swim.

Riding on a caleche was a great way to see St. Louis. It got us out of the bus, and a little more connected with the town. Occasionally we stopped and got out to tour a site and listen to our guide explain the significance of an area or object. We were told not to take pictures around the military facilities, and in the Muslim area, we should only photograph scenery, not people. Our guide told us that the buildings were all either this gold, a brick red, or white. The condition of the walls on this building are typical of all the buildings in St. Louis. In St. Louis proper (or the French colonial part), we happened past a convent. The stairs are reminiscent of the stairs at the House of Slaves on Goree Island.
Leaving the fisherman's village in St. Louis, you can see how impacted the streets are.
It was short walk to the beach from our cabanas at Hotel Cap St. Louis, which provided the scenery for my morning walks while staying there. Often, Sue, Jan, Suzanne, Therese and Bill got up early to walk or run as well.
I didn't get one of these cute, round huts to stay in, but my little house was just perfect for me. Since mosquito nets were provided for each bed, I thought I'd better take advantage of mine. (Now that I am in Toubacouta, I'm wishing I had my own.)
Me, Chon, and Therese. We must have had green on the brain that day.

Another view of the Baobab tree that we stopped at on the way BACK from St. Louis. Note the vendor's stand on the left.

Elana, Lauri, and Mariane are standing INSIDE the baobab tree. I have climbed up a bit to snap the shot and look out of the "knot hole" to see the peanut field.