Biked 100k to Kolda

En jaraama from Senegal :)
Today my good friend Alyson, my site mate Geoff, and I biked from Kounkane (mine and Geoff's village) all the way to Kolda, the city.  We woke up early, left by 7:00am, and set out on paved road.  It started off good. The weather was cool; I was actually a little chilly. We encountered our first hill probably 10 minutes into the ride, and I'm a terrible biker to start, so that was not very fun for me.  Before I came to Senegal, it had been like 4 years (or something crazy like that) since I've actually ridden a bike.  I was not prepared to bike through the bush paths of rural Senegal, which is typically the norm for me now.  Luckily this trip was on the route national, so it was "paved" but it had lots and lots of pot holes and what seemed like a million steep hills.  The last 15k is the worst because it has deep pot holes all over the road which we were trying to avoid, but at the same time all these cars were coming by, and they were trying to avoid them too.  The cars nearly run you off the road! But we got there safely, Grace a dieu! So it took me about 6.5 hours to get there on bicycle, and the distance is about 100 kilometers if not slightly more.  It was the longest bike ride I've ever done, and quite challenging if I say so myself. Look at the southern region of Kolda. (Kounkane to Kolda)

It looks small, but that's 100K!!!

I am so exhausted now, but I'm so glad I did it.  It feels like I've achieved something....I really think I may do that ride like 5-6 times a year depending on the season (definitely won't happen during dry and hot season).  I figured it would be a good way to lose my excess weight?? Inchallah? Another reason I decided to do the ride from Kounkane to Kolda is because on March 9th, 2011, I will be doing it again with a bunch of other volunteers, four of which will be doing the trek on donkey. Yes, Donkey. It's for a really good cause. If anyone is interested in donating or just inquiring about Kounkane's newest project, check out the attached link.  My site mates, Geoff and Shamis, and two other volunteers (Curtis and Mike) are the ones who will be doing the donkey ride to create awareness of malnutrition in the area and the importance of moringa use. :) Don't worry, I will have an amazing post for the Donkey race, so stay tuned!

http://www.youtube.com/user/KoldaDonkeyRally

 Off topic things that have happened since the last post: my camera crapped out--all the pictures come out completely white-washed like there is a thick layer of fog in front of the camera....no bueno.  Also, I'm in the process of searching out projects in my village (I will hopefully have something soon!), and now I'm currently in Kolda to go over the regions goals for 2011 :)
On a more random note: Mail from Senegal gets to the UK and Japan, but not the USA (Nobody got their Xmas letters from me back home) Bizarre! Hope everyone is having an amazing January!