In a far away land called Senegal there were three silly girls Katie, Bonnie, and Tegan. One day they decided that they were going to go on a bike ride across this magical land. They didn't know too much about the trip but they thought they would go on an adventure; and an adventure is what they got.
Day 1: These three lovely ladies met in Linguere excited, giggly, and nervous. Packing was interesting as they were going to be gone for two weeks but they could only pack what they could carry on the back on their bikes. Once all the bags were packed and strapped on, they got the boutique owner next door to take lots of fun pictures to commence the adventure.
They got out to the road, hopped on their bikes and were off! However, about three quarters of a kilometer later they were stopped. Great start to this bike ride. They thought Bonnie had a flat tire already, but luckily it was just a little low.
But then they were off....again. That first afternoon was just a short ride, 35km, to the village of another volunteer, Sophia, to spend the night. And of course, it was dark by the time they got there. So they had to pull out their head lamps and cell phone lights to make it the last 4km. They did eventually get there and found Sophia and got to her house. They greeted her family and then had a delicious dinner of millet couscous and leaf sauce. When the sauce ran out they added milk to it and it was amazing!!! Katie, Bonnie, and Tegan all got showered and passed out in bed.
Day 2: Everyone woke up refreshed and ready to go.
The only problem, they weren't sure which road to take, through the bush and sand but shorter? or on the paved and gravel roads but longer. They asked Sophia's host dad if he knew the way and he explained the longer route. But then he asked these three girls if they had a map...nope. a compass?....nope. well Bonne Chance (Good luck), he said with a little smirk and laugh. They all knew how ridiculous that sounded but it was going to be an adventure. So they went to the garage and asked a friend of Sophia's. He thought the girls should just get on a car to Velingara and then bike from there. The girls were not excited about that idea at all! They wanted to bike the entire way. But then at that moment another kid walked up. He had been a friend of the previous volunteer at this site. He said that the previous year the bikers had taken the longer but easier route. So that's what they did. It was getting late so they hopped on their bikes, waved goodbye and were on their way to Velingara....hopefully by lunch time. The road was good. They started off on a nice paved road. The only problem was that Katie's gears wouldn't shift, so she couldn't always keep up on downhills. But they made it to Lumbal Lana where they got some water from very nice women and a spiffy looking man in a nice car told them they weren't far from the turn to Velingara, about 7km. They eventually made it to the turn off on to the dirt road that was only 30km from Velingara. They kept biking and biking and biking, but eventually came upon some Date trees. Bonnie commented on how we were no longer in the Djoloff (nothing grows there, especially date trees). Then Katie and Tegan got ahead of Bonnie so they waited and there was a nice tree there so Katie thought why not climb it. So as Bonnie was pulling up, Katie was hanging from the tree like a monkey.
They all took a little break, then kept on plugging along. Then around lunch time they finally made it to Velingara!!! They asked a boutique owner if there was a place to buy rice for lunch. He then offered a place to sit/lay down in the shade and rest while he went and got those three lucky girls lunch. So they ate lunch, took a nap, and then asked how far it was to the next village on the other side of the bush. You see at this point in their journey there was no actual road, just tire tracks that make a bush road. The nice people of Velingara told them that the bush path was about 45-50km. The girls thought oh, that's not too bad. We can totally do that in a day. Little did they know! They had a man show them the start of the path and set off. This was much harder than the road of course but the beginning of this path was very sandy and had just a narrow path for the tire to be on without swerving off into the endless sand.
When the sun started to set they decided it would be a good idea to find a village to stay for the night. So the next one they saw they stopped there. The first couple they saw they asked where the village chiefs house was and how far is this next village they wanted to get to. The answer is not what they wanted....the man told them that it is 70km from Velingara to the next road town and they had gone about 10km so they still had 60km left. None of these foolish girls believed it. They thought he doesn't know what he is talking about, so they brushed it off. This was the beginning of the real adventure.
Day 3: Woke up early the next day feeling good. They had gotten a good nights rest at the village chiefs house. A little sore but nothing they couldn't handle. So they packed up their tents, filled up on water, ate a powerbar, loaded the bikes, and were off into the sand again. They thought that they could finish the bush portion by lunch. But they should have listened to the man in the village. They rode and rode and rode through all that sand. They soon realized it was a good thing they found that last village, otherwise they would have had to spend the night in the bush. This is horrible at first thought but there is no water to fill up with or actual food out in the middle of no where. So that would not have been a great option. As they were riding a car passed them and not thinking anything of it they kept riding. however, the car then stopped a little ways ahead of them. They weren't quite sure what was going on but then a man stepped out of the back seat and Katie recognized him. They were both very surprised to see the other one in the middle of absolutely no where. He is Katie's work partner in her village. He is the national nutrition program representative. They both asked each other what they were doing there and he just accepted the fact that three white girls were riding through the bush all the way to the south of the country. This was strange because most Senegalese people thought they were absolutely out of their minds. But this group of men were on their way to a different village in the bush and the girls asked them how far it was to the next road town that they were hoping to get to by lunch. The driver said they were about halfway from Velingara to this town, so they had about 20-25km left. They were quite excited about that. But then they kept riding and riding and riding some more. They were wondering why there are no km markers in the middle of the bush. Tegan then got a flat tire. She fixed that one under the shade of a Baobab tree. They kept going, and were wondering how far 50 km actually is. Tegan then got two more flat tires that Bonnie and Katie happily fixed for her.
Bonnie and Katie didn't get any flats of course. Once all tires were fixed and working, they headed off into the bush again. They eventually stopped at a well to fill up on water and ask some nice pulaars how far it was to the village. These pulaars said it was still 29ish km, The girls again, were like no way is it that far but then they asked some other pulaars up at a house and they said it was about 25ish km. Now, remember this is 3-4 hours after they had seen the car that told them it was 25 km way back at the beginning. So now that 3 people have told them this they are starting to believe it. So they kept riding until about an hour later they saw another pulaar herder and asked him how far it was. He said about 20 km!!!! They didn't know what to do because it felt like no matter how far they biked they never got any closer! But what else could they do but bike so they kept going. Tegan and Katie got a bit ahead of Bonnie and were riding through a few small hills and then Katie spotted it. An Antenna!!! That motivated them to keep going. You realize after riding through the bush and on dirt roads that antennas and fields are great signs of life. They knew they were close to a village, they weren't sure if it was the right one but at least it was a village where they could rest and get lunch. They arrived in this village that sadly did not turn out to be the right one but they were told that the right one was only 10 km away. That was easy peasy after what they'd just done. Tegan asked if there was a place to get rice for lunch. The girls were told there was no where to buy lunch but there was a baptism going on and they were welcome to go eat lunch there. Katie looked down at their clothes that they had been wearing for three days and hoped they could find another option. Luckily, a house took them in. They gave the girls a room to rest in, lunch, and water. They were very kind. 
Never the less, the girls had to get going again. Only 10km! So they started and got into a rhythm. Soon enough Katie spotted another antenna!! They had reached the goal. They were bombarded by children that followed them through town and even when they got on their bikes at the beautiful gravel road, they kids would hang on to the back of the bikes. The girls quickly got out of reach of the children. They had made it through the bush! 
They thought they could make it to Koupentoum by sun down, where a fellow volunteer lived. The other volunteer told the girls it was about 20km to the big village, Kouthibia, in between and then about 30 km to koupentoum. So 50 km total. After getting 50 km done through the bush in the morning they totally thought they could do it. But once again false information was given to them. It was much farther than 20 km to Kouthibia. They were all doing great but then it started to get dark on them and there were no signs of life, no fields, antennas, cows, sheep, pulaars, nothing. But they decided that they had to at least make it to Kouthibia because it wasn't a great idea to spend the night in the bush. so they were riding with their headlamps and flashlights. And eventually somehow they made it there. They village chief was nice enough to give them water for a shower finally and then they were out. Glad to be sleeping.
Day 4: Great day for biking! They knew that they could finally get back to the paved road today! They started off and had no problems all the way to Koupentoum where they finally saw the beautiful black paved road and their lovely friends who were taking a car to Kedegou. They got some omelet breakfast sandwiches at the garage.
Tegan started not to feel very good, so she laid down for a few minutes. Then they went back out to the bikes and were chatting with everyone when all of a sudden Tegan throws up out of nowhere with no sound. So graceful. At that point the other girls were suggesting Tegan just take a car the rest of the way because it was right there and Amy was also taking the car so they could ride together. They sat down for a minute and Tegan began to feel better and thought she could continue so they stood up to grab their bikes and go. Tegan quickly realized it was in her best interest to take the car. So one down, two to go. Bonnie and Katie now started out on the paved road together. The first half of the day went beautifully. They were flying along and thinking they would have plenty of time to get to Tamba, the destination of the day. For lunch they laid down under a tree and took a nap. 
When they woke up they had some gatorade, a little something to eat, then got up and Katie wasn't feeling the greatest when she stood up. But they both got back on their bikes and hit the road. After that point, it was slow going. They eventually made it to a little village with a gas station that they stopped at to get cold water and they shared a sprite. Katie thought that would help but it was even slower after that. She would see a km marker and think oh that has to be like 2 or 3 km past the last one she just saw. False! She had only gone 1km. Rough riding. and eventually they both realized they were not making it to Tamba that night. They tried to hail down a car but no one was stopping but the next village was only 4 Km ahead. They made it there and there was a mini car that was headed to Tamba sitting there. They thought thank goodness and put their bikes on the car and sat down to wait for it to leave. The car was crazy packed, probably more baggage than people. But they safely made it to Tamba where they could take real showers, grab something to eat, see how Tegan was doing, and go to bed. In the middle of the night Katie woke up and realized she needed to throw up right than. So she was down for the next day. two down, one to go.
Day 5: They all woke up the next day for a rest day. Katie was still feeling off, Tegan was better, and Bonnie got worse throughout the day. Mid afternoon she had a fever and the chills. 3 down, none to go. They decided it was in everybody's best interest to take a car with everyone else the following day. It was a hard decision to make but they thought that they wanted to get there and be alive for the fourth of July rather than trying to recover from the crazy adventure. Great decision. The bus ride down was so much fun and it was beautiful. And they saw monkeys in the national park.
They all decided that the hills would have killed them because it starts to become foothills in the south. They got to Kedegou ready to celebrate a great fourth and have some fun in rivers and waterfalls.
Day 1: These three lovely ladies met in Linguere excited, giggly, and nervous. Packing was interesting as they were going to be gone for two weeks but they could only pack what they could carry on the back on their bikes. Once all the bags were packed and strapped on, they got the boutique owner next door to take lots of fun pictures to commence the adventure.
They got out to the road, hopped on their bikes and were off! However, about three quarters of a kilometer later they were stopped. Great start to this bike ride. They thought Bonnie had a flat tire already, but luckily it was just a little low. But then they were off....again. That first afternoon was just a short ride, 35km, to the village of another volunteer, Sophia, to spend the night. And of course, it was dark by the time they got there. So they had to pull out their head lamps and cell phone lights to make it the last 4km. They did eventually get there and found Sophia and got to her house. They greeted her family and then had a delicious dinner of millet couscous and leaf sauce. When the sauce ran out they added milk to it and it was amazing!!! Katie, Bonnie, and Tegan all got showered and passed out in bed.Day 2: Everyone woke up refreshed and ready to go.
The only problem, they weren't sure which road to take, through the bush and sand but shorter? or on the paved and gravel roads but longer. They asked Sophia's host dad if he knew the way and he explained the longer route. But then he asked these three girls if they had a map...nope. a compass?....nope. well Bonne Chance (Good luck), he said with a little smirk and laugh. They all knew how ridiculous that sounded but it was going to be an adventure. So they went to the garage and asked a friend of Sophia's. He thought the girls should just get on a car to Velingara and then bike from there. The girls were not excited about that idea at all! They wanted to bike the entire way. But then at that moment another kid walked up. He had been a friend of the previous volunteer at this site. He said that the previous year the bikers had taken the longer but easier route. So that's what they did. It was getting late so they hopped on their bikes, waved goodbye and were on their way to Velingara....hopefully by lunch time. The road was good. They started off on a nice paved road. The only problem was that Katie's gears wouldn't shift, so she couldn't always keep up on downhills. But they made it to Lumbal Lana where they got some water from very nice women and a spiffy looking man in a nice car told them they weren't far from the turn to Velingara, about 7km. They eventually made it to the turn off on to the dirt road that was only 30km from Velingara. They kept biking and biking and biking, but eventually came upon some Date trees. Bonnie commented on how we were no longer in the Djoloff (nothing grows there, especially date trees). Then Katie and Tegan got ahead of Bonnie so they waited and there was a nice tree there so Katie thought why not climb it. So as Bonnie was pulling up, Katie was hanging from the tree like a monkey. They all took a little break, then kept on plugging along. Then around lunch time they finally made it to Velingara!!! They asked a boutique owner if there was a place to buy rice for lunch. He then offered a place to sit/lay down in the shade and rest while he went and got those three lucky girls lunch. So they ate lunch, took a nap, and then asked how far it was to the next village on the other side of the bush. You see at this point in their journey there was no actual road, just tire tracks that make a bush road. The nice people of Velingara told them that the bush path was about 45-50km. The girls thought oh, that's not too bad. We can totally do that in a day. Little did they know! They had a man show them the start of the path and set off. This was much harder than the road of course but the beginning of this path was very sandy and had just a narrow path for the tire to be on without swerving off into the endless sand.When the sun started to set they decided it would be a good idea to find a village to stay for the night. So the next one they saw they stopped there. The first couple they saw they asked where the village chiefs house was and how far is this next village they wanted to get to. The answer is not what they wanted....the man told them that it is 70km from Velingara to the next road town and they had gone about 10km so they still had 60km left. None of these foolish girls believed it. They thought he doesn't know what he is talking about, so they brushed it off. This was the beginning of the real adventure. Day 3: Woke up early the next day feeling good. They had gotten a good nights rest at the village chiefs house. A little sore but nothing they couldn't handle. So they packed up their tents, filled up on water, ate a powerbar, loaded the bikes, and were off into the sand again. They thought that they could finish the bush portion by lunch. But they should have listened to the man in the village. They rode and rode and rode through all that sand. They soon realized it was a good thing they found that last village, otherwise they would have had to spend the night in the bush. This is horrible at first thought but there is no water to fill up with or actual food out in the middle of no where. So that would not have been a great option. As they were riding a car passed them and not thinking anything of it they kept riding. however, the car then stopped a little ways ahead of them. They weren't quite sure what was going on but then a man stepped out of the back seat and Katie recognized him. They were both very surprised to see the other one in the middle of absolutely no where. He is Katie's work partner in her village. He is the national nutrition program representative. They both asked each other what they were doing there and he just accepted the fact that three white girls were riding through the bush all the way to the south of the country. This was strange because most Senegalese people thought they were absolutely out of their minds. But this group of men were on their way to a different village in the bush and the girls asked them how far it was to the next road town that they were hoping to get to by lunch. The driver said they were about halfway from Velingara to this town, so they had about 20-25km left. They were quite excited about that. But then they kept riding and riding and riding some more. They were wondering why there are no km markers in the middle of the bush. Tegan then got a flat tire. She fixed that one under the shade of a Baobab tree. They kept going, and were wondering how far 50 km actually is. Tegan then got two more flat tires that Bonnie and Katie happily fixed for her.
Bonnie and Katie didn't get any flats of course. Once all tires were fixed and working, they headed off into the bush again. They eventually stopped at a well to fill up on water and ask some nice pulaars how far it was to the village. These pulaars said it was still 29ish km, The girls again, were like no way is it that far but then they asked some other pulaars up at a house and they said it was about 25ish km. Now, remember this is 3-4 hours after they had seen the car that told them it was 25 km way back at the beginning. So now that 3 people have told them this they are starting to believe it. So they kept riding until about an hour later they saw another pulaar herder and asked him how far it was. He said about 20 km!!!! They didn't know what to do because it felt like no matter how far they biked they never got any closer! But what else could they do but bike so they kept going. Tegan and Katie got a bit ahead of Bonnie and were riding through a few small hills and then Katie spotted it. An Antenna!!! That motivated them to keep going. You realize after riding through the bush and on dirt roads that antennas and fields are great signs of life. They knew they were close to a village, they weren't sure if it was the right one but at least it was a village where they could rest and get lunch. They arrived in this village that sadly did not turn out to be the right one but they were told that the right one was only 10 km away. That was easy peasy after what they'd just done. Tegan asked if there was a place to get rice for lunch. The girls were told there was no where to buy lunch but there was a baptism going on and they were welcome to go eat lunch there. Katie looked down at their clothes that they had been wearing for three days and hoped they could find another option. Luckily, a house took them in. They gave the girls a room to rest in, lunch, and water. They were very kind. Never the less, the girls had to get going again. Only 10km! So they started and got into a rhythm. Soon enough Katie spotted another antenna!! They had reached the goal. They were bombarded by children that followed them through town and even when they got on their bikes at the beautiful gravel road, they kids would hang on to the back of the bikes. The girls quickly got out of reach of the children. They had made it through the bush! They thought they could make it to Koupentoum by sun down, where a fellow volunteer lived. The other volunteer told the girls it was about 20km to the big village, Kouthibia, in between and then about 30 km to koupentoum. So 50 km total. After getting 50 km done through the bush in the morning they totally thought they could do it. But once again false information was given to them. It was much farther than 20 km to Kouthibia. They were all doing great but then it started to get dark on them and there were no signs of life, no fields, antennas, cows, sheep, pulaars, nothing. But they decided that they had to at least make it to Kouthibia because it wasn't a great idea to spend the night in the bush. so they were riding with their headlamps and flashlights. And eventually somehow they made it there. They village chief was nice enough to give them water for a shower finally and then they were out. Glad to be sleeping.Day 4: Great day for biking! They knew that they could finally get back to the paved road today! They started off and had no problems all the way to Koupentoum where they finally saw the beautiful black paved road and their lovely friends who were taking a car to Kedegou. They got some omelet breakfast sandwiches at the garage.
Tegan started not to feel very good, so she laid down for a few minutes. Then they went back out to the bikes and were chatting with everyone when all of a sudden Tegan throws up out of nowhere with no sound. So graceful. At that point the other girls were suggesting Tegan just take a car the rest of the way because it was right there and Amy was also taking the car so they could ride together. They sat down for a minute and Tegan began to feel better and thought she could continue so they stood up to grab their bikes and go. Tegan quickly realized it was in her best interest to take the car. So one down, two to go. Bonnie and Katie now started out on the paved road together. The first half of the day went beautifully. They were flying along and thinking they would have plenty of time to get to Tamba, the destination of the day. For lunch they laid down under a tree and took a nap. When they woke up they had some gatorade, a little something to eat, then got up and Katie wasn't feeling the greatest when she stood up. But they both got back on their bikes and hit the road. After that point, it was slow going. They eventually made it to a little village with a gas station that they stopped at to get cold water and they shared a sprite. Katie thought that would help but it was even slower after that. She would see a km marker and think oh that has to be like 2 or 3 km past the last one she just saw. False! She had only gone 1km. Rough riding. and eventually they both realized they were not making it to Tamba that night. They tried to hail down a car but no one was stopping but the next village was only 4 Km ahead. They made it there and there was a mini car that was headed to Tamba sitting there. They thought thank goodness and put their bikes on the car and sat down to wait for it to leave. The car was crazy packed, probably more baggage than people. But they safely made it to Tamba where they could take real showers, grab something to eat, see how Tegan was doing, and go to bed. In the middle of the night Katie woke up and realized she needed to throw up right than. So she was down for the next day. two down, one to go. Day 5: They all woke up the next day for a rest day. Katie was still feeling off, Tegan was better, and Bonnie got worse throughout the day. Mid afternoon she had a fever and the chills. 3 down, none to go. They decided it was in everybody's best interest to take a car with everyone else the following day. It was a hard decision to make but they thought that they wanted to get there and be alive for the fourth of July rather than trying to recover from the crazy adventure. Great decision. The bus ride down was so much fun and it was beautiful. And they saw monkeys in the national park.
They all decided that the hills would have killed them because it starts to become foothills in the south. They got to Kedegou ready to celebrate a great fourth and have some fun in rivers and waterfalls.