Saint Luis - Langune de Barbarie (SEN) : out of the desert

N 15°59.843' W 016°30.608'
As often after crossing a border things change: the roads busier, the land greener, the towns livelier and the gendamerie on the look-out to make a fast buck asking for driving licence, passport, carte gris, passavant, vaccination certificate or anything else he might think of. It is not hard to see why the French chose Saint Luis as an administrative centre with its island in the last km of the Senegal river sheltered from rich fishing waters by a 40 km long spit of land. Now the local fishermen still dry tons of fish by hand along th river banks. The smell is pleasant and not a fly in sight! 35 km further south we relaxed for a few days and planned the itinerary for the next weeks at the Swiss-run Zebrabar (N 15°51.873' W 016°30.749'). This overlander meeting point is on the river, close to the sea and adjacent to the national park of La Langune de Barbarie with its many bird species and turtle hatching grounds.