Day 35: Nicolocoba National Park

I woke up to the chicken in my room for the last time. It was a sad parting at around 7:30 when I left my compound. I took some pictures (which they asked me to send to them, but if I did, I doubt they would ever get there) shook hands, and waved goodbye. These people were so genuinely nice to me.

We had a short drive to the gates of Nicolokoba Nat’l Park where we gained entry and commenced our drive through the park. We drove on a rough dirt road for (what ended up being) almost 3 hours. It felt like longer. Along the way, we spotted only a little wildlife. After that long drive, we reached a visitor center/hotel place where we sat and ate lunch. After lunch, we saw some monkeys, antelopes, guinea fowl, warthogs, and an iguana. We retraced our path all the way back to the park gates. A quick word about the park: It seemed that we were the only visitors. Seeing that it was a Tuesday in the off-season, this isn’t too surprising. However, the National Park of Senegal was far different from any nat’l park in the US. We just drove in to the park in our vans, and drove back out. There wasn’t anyone trying to sell us anything, no scenic vistas, none of that. It was nice to see animals in their natural habitats though…

After seeing the park, we continued onto Kedougo where we found a “campement” to stay at. This wasn’t a hotel, but it certainly felt like the Ritz after we had been living in a rural village…It was nice to have running water and electricity. We will be staying here for just one night.