Back in a week

Hey all,

Anne and her supervisor Ismael have been planning a trip to the Casamance-the southern, lush area of Senegal- to collect water quality data, and I've luckily been invited along. We leave this afternoon, by ferry from Dakar, arriving in Ziguinchor. The trip will likely last 5 to 7 days, so I'll be back around next Thursday. I'm really looking forward to it since it is supposed to be a 'must see' area of West Africa, with a culture very different from northern Senegal.

Much of this difference has to do with its geographic separation from the rest of Senegal- the Gambia lies between the two. The Casamance has a religiously diverse population and the education standards are better than here. There are several employees at CRESP who grew up in the Casamance, and they claim that once you visit, you won't want to leave. Vegetation and fruit abound, affordable accomodations due to the recent civil unrest and lack of tourists as of late, change of scenery- all sound pretty good to me right now!
I'm pretty sure I'll miss Yoff, though.