Thursday, January 2, 2014

Something Fishy

We take our last big day trip of the vacation with our guide from Saint Louis, Ismaïla, who has stayed down south near the Saly beaches for a few days because he's got other clients in the area. We start by visiting the local fish market of Mbour, the "big" city by the beaches. Coming from nearly-black-and-white Paris, the colorful sight just makes me smile. The wanderlust part of me feels tremendously at home here; it reminds me in many ways of markets I saw when living in Asia.
 
 
This is about as un-touristy as it gets -- we're the only non-local people here -- yet this is where I take the most photos all day. So many, in fact, that I'll have to write up the rest of the day in a separate posting.
 
 
Given that it's got a huge coast, and waterways to the interior, this is a big seafood/fish country. So it's a working fish market, with the catch coming back in the handmade boats around 9am.
 
 
 
   
 
As my brother and I like to say when we travel someplace highly photogenic, "This place is one big photo op!" Every direction I look, it's a great picture. To prove my point, I stand in one spot, swivel, and shoot. This is the rough panorama I come up with:
 
        
 
Crunching on the shell-strewn beach, everything is done by hand. Or by horse.
 
 
 
Or by head.
 
 
Other precious cargo might be carried by back.
 
  
 
One of my favorite aspects is the women in their traditional, brightly colored clothes.

  
 
Traditional, but notice the earbuds on the woman in orange. She's higher tech than my parents.
 

 The "retail" market that is attached to the fish market (just inland) is equally colorful.

   
 
I must admit that even though the fish market does not smell fishy or disgusting at all (because it's just really fresh), the effect of both markets together does make me want to shy away from seafood. And vegetables. And meat. Luckily, I get over this aversion by lunch time.
 
 
 
The end is nigh! The end is nigh! Except that in this case, he's not the "The End is Nigh" local crazy guy but rather the local seller of plastic bags. However, make no mistake, the end is nigh. THE END


 

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