The two day trip to Senegal (Day 2 late morning and early afternoon) - Dakar - The Grand Mosque and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Victories - The 24th of May 2015

We headed towards the Grand Mosque, whose exterior we were allowed to see as the guardian let us onto the yard. It was designed by French and Moroccan architects and it was opened in 1964 by Hassan II King of Morocco and the Senegalese President at the time Léopold Sédar Senghor.

 

We were told that Senegal and Morocco have a strong bond and the actual King was now paying a visit to the country as we had already noticed in the various placards spread in the city streets, as well as trough the numerous Moroccan flags placed outside the Presidential House we headed to next.

 

 

I was impressed by the size and posture of the Presidential House guardian. Had he not been black and he may well have resembled the guardians of the Houses of Parliament in the UK. He didn't even blink an eye, as he stood there firmly in an upright position in such a rather warm day.

We walked further along the street of the Presidential House to soon fall onto a baptism ceremony at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Victories, whose interior Layla and I visited briefly. I was rather impressed with the dome painting, as well as the glass windows depicting some of the Apostles in a rather modern artistic way.

 

The two day trip to Senegal (Day 2 morning cont.) - Dakar - the fishing quarter - The 24th of May 2015

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As we drove down we briefly stopped at the plateau to take a few photographs though I felt the best ones were those overlooking the Omarienne Mosque, which looked quite different from any of the mosques I had seen and visited so far.

We didn't stop there though and drove to the fishing quarter of Dakar having been to the small beach filled with colourful fishing boats, strongly reminding me of the many similar ones I have seen in both Cape Verde and even Portuguese villages. The greatest difference was the fact that among the boats one could see quite a few sheep proudly looking us in the eye. They were beautiful and had such a presence that I must have looked as proud as their owners while I was photographing them.

 

It was Sunday so no fishing boats had gone to sea and there were only a few shepherds to be seen standing around looking after the sheep, as well as handicraft vendors, as there was quite a well organised market behind the beach with a huge variety of beautiful things that caught our attention. Kayla and I fell in love with some glass painted artistic pieces and with Aly's help to bargain for a cheaper price ended up buying two each.

 

Among the handicraft stalls stood a small mosque we were told. is often used by those who rarely leave the area.