In-flight entertainment

Ogbeche77: Were you conversing in english or french with the cow boy and also the lady you met in the plane??

Most of my conversations in this story were in French.

Thanks for commenting.

How are you?

Above the clouds at Guinea's airspace..

Landing at Conakry, Guinea...

Aeroport International de Conakry Gbessia, Conakry, Guinea...

Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport, Dakar, Senegal..

Stumbled on your thread and have read everything! I found it very interesting and entertaining! Love your style of writing...lively and sprinkled with humour. Should I have to travel to these places I would thanks to you ....be better prepared and know what to expect. Well done!

Originalsly: Stumbled on your thread and have read everything! I found it very interesting and entertaining! Love your style of writing...lively and sprinkled with humour. Should I have to travel to these places I would thanks to you ....be better prepared and know what to expect. Well done!

Thanks Originalsly...

I'm encouraged by your comment...

More stories on the way..

Terrou-Bi

Terrou-Bi Hotel is one of the finest Dakar has. This hotel is about the size of a small university campus with baffling structures and features. It has a well-equipped gymnasium, a well-built swimming pool with chlorinated water, the beach side is awesome, there are boat-hiring services, and it has a casino. The restaurant is one extravagant complex where delicious Senegalese dishes are prepared. There is a very high population of whites in this hotel. This hotel stands to be the best I’ve ever been to.

After paying at the reception, a porter helped me with my luggage to my room. My room was at the ground floor, just after the restaurant. The porter opened the door using a key card as he led me in. The room is a well-furnished chamber with awesome lightening. It has two bedside lamps, two reading lamps attached to either sides of the bed, and other light gadgets strategically positioned. The air-condition is in-built and its control is a large electronic device attached to the wall. There is a large flat screen television hung to the wall with DSTV channels and Senegalese local channels plus a local radio station. In the wardrobe is a small fridge loaded with various kinds of drinks (and bottles of water), there were biscuits and other local Senegalese snacks on a tray on a slab in the wardrobe. There are coffee, tea, and an electric kettle on the table. On the bed was a small piece of chocolate (well-wrapped) placed on a saucer. This was a welcome package. My balcony presents a fantastic sea view in an always cold atmosphere.

I was too tired that evening. I didn’t bother to eat. I had a warm bath as I retired for the day lying on one of the softest of foams ever.

A view of my bathroom at Terrou-Bi...

A view of Terrou-Bi's restaurant...

My room at Terrou-Bi...

The sea view from my balcony...

In Search of Winners' Chapel, Dakar...

I woke up at about 0800 hours in the morning of the next day. It was a Sunday.

Before I left Lome, I did a research online in search of Winners’ Chapel, Dakar. I got this address: Winners' Chapel Dakar Av Bourguiba Ex-Lt Near Shell Station Cinema Liberté, Dakar, Senegal.

I got ready for church. At the reception, I demanded for a taxi.

“Bonjour monsieur” I said to the driver, an elderly man.

“Bonjour chef” He replied.

“Please can you take me to this address?” I asked showing him the address in my phone.

“Sure sir” he said.

I got in as we drove off.

In Senegal, the rains arrive in July, peak in August, and tale off by October.

It was raining that day. In the Sunday morning rain we drove in search of Winners’. It was my first opportunity to view the city of Dakar. (I arrived Dakar when it was getting dark).

The streets of Dakar are marked by the black and yellow taxis and buses most of which are in terrible states. The buildings are dispersed without any particular arrangement (as I observed) and the roads were averagely poor. There were lots of accumulations of water at various places, perhaps, as a result of poor drainage. The atmosphere was cold obviously because of Dakar’s proximity to the Atlantic.

We arrived at the address I got from the internet. The building is an old structure painted yellow (about two stories). There was no sign of a church being there. The driver called a local and asked him in their local language about the church. The local disclosed that the church had moved to another site. He gave us the new address and off we went under the spikes of the Senegalese rains.

We soon arrived at a yellow building just beside the highway. It was obvious that this was my destination as I could see the signboard proudly hung and I could hear the voice of the minister. I was happy.

I thanked the driver and asked him if he could wait for me till the end of service. He accepted. I stepped in to church.

It was an anointing service and I was just in time for the anointing session. I was welcomed as a first timer and I was entertained with a can of Sprite.

At the close of church, I returned to the hotel.

When I got to the room, I called Monsieur Le Cow-boy Idi (the driver that picked me at the airport).

"Monsieur, ca va?" I said as he picked the call.

"Ca va. Vous?" he said in a thick Senegalese French accent.

"Ca me va. Merci." I said.

"Please can you take me through Dakar tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure I can. I'll make the necessary arrangements." he said.

"Thanks Cow-boy. See you tomorrow then." I said.

[...to be continued..]

Woww.. This is a real adventure. I'm sure you must be really loaded financial wise. How did you learn to write and speak french so fluently? You went to a french school in Port-Harcourt or you had a private tutor?

ecolime: Woww.. This is a real adventure. I'm sure you must be really loaded financial wise. How did you learn to write and speak french so fluently? You went to a french school in Port-Harcourt or you had a private tutor?

Thanks Ecolime..

I did a six weeks French program this year at Alliance Francaise (a French school).

At Togo, I did a two months program..

I still have A LOT to learn though..

A view of Dakar...

Chapelle Internationele des Vainqueurs (Winners' Chapel), Dakar...

Lol,poster keep it up

TOGO(lomé)

Kip it up sir Tonye. Wish i undastnd french..nonetheless, m learnin litu frm here. More ink to ur pen... Go on! M followin...

Jewel Bukky: Kip it up sir Tonye. Wish i undastnd french..nonetheless, m learnin litu frm here. More ink to ur pen... Go on! M followin...

Thanks Jewel..

French is easy.. You sure can understand, speak, and write French if you give it a try..

I appreciate..

Winners' Chapel, Dakar...

Terrou-Bi...

...I was still yet to try Terrou-Bi’s restaurant. I had been managing with the snacks and drinks in the room (they always replace these). I made a mental note to pay the restaurant a visit that evening.

On checking in, I was given a booklet of tickets. In this booklet, there were meal ticket, casino ticket, gym ticket, bar ticket, etc (one ticket per department). Each of these tickets entitled me to a 40% discount on my first trial.

That evening, I got dressed up as I prepared for a Senegalese dish. I left my room and walked up to the restaurant. I picked a sit as I sat waiting for someone to come and take my order.

A man that appeared to be in his early fifties (late forties?) walked to my table.

“Hello sir, good evening” he said as he released a smile.

“Hello sir, bonsoir” I replied.

“How are you doing sir?” he asked.

“I’m good as always sir, thanks. How about you?” I asked.

“All is fine sir. Thank you. What would you love to have please?” he said.

“Hmmm.. I don’t know the dishes you have here, it’s my first time in Senegal” I said.

I saw him raise his eyebrows in surprise.

“I would love to have a typical Senegalese dish” I recited my normal line.

“Ok sir. If you permit me, I would recommend rice, onion sauce and chicken.” He said.

It sounded nice. I accepted as he left to prepare the dish.

As I waited I swept the restaurant with a glance. I noticed that aside the employees, I was the only black man. I watched and studied the whites as they ate. Some seemed to be battling with boredom as they ate carrying a fixed, heavy face. Others carried faces that lacked expression. There was a group that occupied a bigger table at my right. They ate and talked in whispers. I assumed they were discussing business or something of that nature.

The waiter returned to my table with a plate of salad, bread, fruit juice, and water as starters.

My dinner that night comprised of rice, onion sauce, chicken, and water. It had a pleasing taste. I ate a belles dents.

The Senegalese are lovers of onions. They love there onions cut in big, round circles, floating on their sauce. The texture of their rice grains is lie that of the Togolese: softer and smaller than the average Nigerian rice. It appeared to have a higher Glycemic Index (than ours).

They are also lovers of salad. The French man loves to eat his salad with bread. I find this mixture strange.

After my dinner that evening, I returned to my room as I prepared for the journey of the next day…
[…to be continued]

Senegalese rice and onion sauce...

Tonye wia art thou ooo

Beautiful
Really nice

I am now torn between registering for French classes to better appreciate WA and still doing my planned Ghana- Togo and Benin trip!

Guess I will travel first and manage with my English

My biggest challenge is food
I am so cowardly with new dishes it is sure to be a disease! Smh

I will just do bread, rice(fast food too), meat
Must be wonderful being able to try out new/different dishes!

@OP: Inasmuch as we are enjoying your stories, tell us about the ladies and the night life as well. In Africa, we consider ladies to be the pillars of our culture; therefore, the best way to really understand the norms and values of a people is to 'sample' the women.

TONYE001: Hello friends,

How are you today? Hope great? And the story, hope I dey make sense?

My updates may be late today as I'm moving from Dakar to Freetown this morning. I shall continue the story when I'm settled.

Thanks for reading..

Bonne journee..

no b only sense you dey make, you dey heal heartache with your comic style of writing... you, monsieur ahmed, and david don finish me here with laughter.... monsieur tonye, i dey come, i still dey read dis your comic story...lolz