Napping on N’Gor Island

The sun is setting on my final day in West Africa as I sit in my open-air office on the deck of La Brazzerade (the beachfront hotel I’ve called home for two nights). It was a relaxing day, absent of the normal get-up-and-go that usually plagues my adventurous soul.

Knowing I wouldn’t get any sleep on my flight home, which leaves Dakar at 2 a.m. (in just a few more hours), I remained in a prone position all morning, then mustered some energy to take a short boat (pirogue) ride to N’Gor Island, where I spent another five hours lying under an umbrella at a beachfront restaurant called Chez Carla.

The pirogues leave frequently from the N’Gor beach, no more than 20 steps away from my hotel, and head over to the small, walkable island across the bay. The five-minute ride (500CFA or $1), takes you a world away from the hustle, or hustlers, and bustle on the mainland. Narrow alleyways lead past beautiful mansions behind beautiful gates covered with bougainvillea.

It’s a far cry from the shanty town around my hotel, where I saw a woman throw a bucket of urine into the lapping waves washing up on the beach. The island beaches, aptly name Big Beach and Little Beach, are definitely cleaner, but I steered clear of the water, but for some limited wading in a sheltered cove.

As afternoon set in, more and more people arrived from the mainland to frolic on the beaches. I finally decided to leave my beach umbrella and wander around the island a bit. The Atlantic side of the island was deserted except for a few empty benches for looking out over the ocean. As I approached the main beach, I could hear the sound of djembe drums emanating from a home, while a few rasta types danced on the sandy walkway between the houses.

Pretty soon, I could hear the drone of the pirogue motor approaching. The minute it comes ashore, people start piling in for the return journey home.

Home. That has a nice ring to it. I’ll be there soon.