The Secret Beach of Senegal
What makes a beach beautiful? I wasn’t sure what to expect of the secret beach my friends were bringing us to in Senegal, but I was intrigued. What would a secret beach be like?
I met my friends, Kate and George, in DC, but we all had a Florida connection. They were college sweet hearts who inspired and challenged each other in the best way. I met them through a friend at a wine night where Kate brought McDonald’s to eat. We would occasionally party and hang out usually sans McDonald’s. When my boyfriend of five years ended our relationship and I needed a place to live, I moved into their basement. That’s when we became closer as I felt more like they were family. I don’t always get to see them due to life and other things getting in the way and Senegal was the perfect opportunity to combine seeing them and a new-to-me country.
We had arrived to the airport in the middle of the night. We were lucky to have a direct flight from Casablanca after spending about a week in Marrakech. But that direct flight from Morocco to Senegal came at a cost to sleep. Kate and George arranged for a car service like Uber or Lyft to bring us to their place. After finally awaking my friends to pay and let us in, we briefly hugged and said, “let’s catch up in the morning”. That happened to be in about 3 hours.
I stepped out onto their deck in their high rise apartment and looked over Dakhar and the beach. Even though it was cloudy as it was near season for sand and dust storms, I was in awe. The water was an icy blue and contrasted starkly the whites and tans of the buildings and air quality. The water shined through like a beacon.
Being that they were kid free for the moment, we decided to hit the beach. My friends told me of this supposed secret beach of Dakhar. Although apparently it’s no longer a secret, but is still called secret?
We arrive and I’m unsure that we are by the beach for a moment. We are parked by the road in a sandy spot. As we exit Kate and George point to the right and down. It’s mini rock climbing time in flip flops while jet lagged. We begin our descent with me always uncertain of my footing and lacking proper balance as well as height to gracefully dismount the rocks.
The beach is quiet with the sand wide open. There are multiple make shift stalls at various levels towards the beach. Each stall contains a small sandy area, a person offering sale of food as well as to watch your items for a small fee. We find my friends’ favorite stall with a woman cooking fresh fish. We pay her and lay our towels down. Next up – crack open a beer or go into the water? Water it is!
Round two of another rocky ungraceful dismount as I go further down to get to the water. I’m thinking at this point, I should have had a beer. We get into the sapphire water and ride the waves. I turn and look behind me. The numerous staggered stalls and white sugary sandy beaches lead up to a large cliff. The cliff is dark and contains numerous crevices not unlike an old man’s face.
We make our way out of the water having cooled off and its beer time. We’ve got one of the few beers Senegal has to offer. It’s a non-offensive lager that’s easy drinking with a reasonable ABV. It makes perfect sense considering the heat (both weather and food wise available).
The beauty that came from this beach came from not just the physical beauty, but the beauty of hospitality felt in Senegal from strangers as well as my good friends.
