What A Nice Bracelet You Have

Friday morning my friend and I left Koungheul for Kaolack in our two day trip to make it to Dakar.

My endeavor to leave Koungheul started with the usual disorganized mess of people and baggage. I had to walk to the garage with all my luggage, of course, being a foreigner, I was harrassed endlessly by the children of the town. "Give me money" and "Give me a gift" are all I hear when I walk around.

We found a sept place at the garage and hopped in. The far back seat was empty so we opted to take both window seats. An hour later, two seats are still empty and those of us in the car are itching to go. Finally, for some reason, the driver pulls out of the garage and takes a turn in the wrong direction.

After a bout of confusion we ended at the Gendarmerie, where one man and a gendarme get in the car, thereby filling all seats and giving us the green light to start our travels.

Interestingly, my friend was acquainted with the man who sat between us as they had once met on a bus. He informed my friend he was traveling to Kaolack for a program. Two hours later pass and we are going through a city that I can't recognize and I decide to lean forward for a better look out of the window. As I am doing this, I notice this man has an odd metal bracelet on his right wrist. Leaning slightly more forward, I see a chain connecting this odd bracelet to another on his left wrist. They were handcuffs!!!

This explains why the Gendarme was in the car! I'm not sure what kind of 'program' he had to go to but he started his visit to Kaolack at the Justice Palace. I never noticed the handcuffs because he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and kept his hands covered with his mini briefcase.

The adventures continue....