Senegal: Dakar – Exploring the City

Dakar is a 4 million people behemoth of a city on a peninsula jutting out of Western Africa. It’s busy, dirty, hectic, and relatively spread out. Many old colonial-type buildings are in need of repair, while there are some new boxy constructions and monuments. The Grand Mosque is almost a replica of the Casablanca Mosque (not surprisingly build by Morocco). The smaller but much more beautiful Fisherman’s Mosque enjoys a stunning setting by the sea with colorful boats in front of it. Then there is the Independence Square with shabby and aging government buildings, the abandoned former railroad station (trains used to run to Timbuktu in Mali). A large Dakar Cathedral has some interesting cupola paintings. The Black Africa complex build by North Korea is classically Stalinist, as is the African Renaissance Monument (in a separate post). The beach and coast is not far anywhere you are (the city is surrounded by Atlantic Ocean on 3 sides). There is a pretty fishing district in the south, a luxury Almadies area on the west facing a distant lighthouse (all bars and embassies are here).