Chinese in West Africa

Yesterday was my lucky day! I was going to take the over-50-hour bus from Dakar to Bamako in Mali. I was prepared to take this super crappy and crowded bus for a hellish journey. But then I met 2 Chinese businessmen at a fast food restaurant, and they happened to be going to Bamako this Sunday, and they have a 4WD. So I asked if I could tag along, they happily agreed, and it will only take about 20 hours in their car! Ha!

I've always known that in Africa I can always count on the help from local Chinese people, like a few years ago, I was sheltered and fed by a Chinese construction company in northern Ethiopia, they even made me dumplings and seafood!!

The next few days are going to be a breeze!!

This is so illegal!!!!!

Because I couldn't get a visa from the Senegalese embassy in Mauritania (my Chinese passport sucks!), my Mauritanian fixer smuggled me across the border (the Senegal River) and into Senegal in a dug-out canoe and a horse car.

I swear that I did not know I was actually going to be illegally smuggled into Senegal. I thought he had just bribed a Senegalese border guard who would let me sneak in. But now, I've become an illegal alien in Senegal, and I'm feeling nervous all the time. So I'll just try to get to Mali ASAP, and hope that there isn't going to be too much of a problem when I exit Senegal and when they don't see any entry stamp in my passport!