Getting Lost in a City? Oh, Well, It Comes with the Territory

A view of Dakar from the lighthouse of Mamelles

I remember in my second post saying that I was going to have to get used to getting around in a city where people don’t use street names and I don’t know the address to my house. It’s five months later and let me tell you that some things never change. I bought a map in late January even while knowing that no one uses it here. It wasn’t for anyone else but for my own peace of mind. It has definitely served its purpose! Back in March when we were going to a friend’s party, they had name of the place but no landmark to guide the cab driver. We pulled over and luckily, the other cab driver was able to figure out where we needed to go. Last week, I had to visit an NGO for my research and I used Google maps to see where I was headed. I wrote down the number of the villa, the landmarks nearby like the mosque and which street numbers meant that I had gone too far. The cab driver dropped me off in the general area and with the help of my earlier research; I found the organization without too much trouble.

Now, let me tell you what happens when I don’t combine my American methods with the Senegalese way of giving directions to get around. About two weeks ago, I had to visit another NGO and I thought that I had written down everything I needed. I had the name of the restaurant where the taxi would drop me off. I thought I knew where I was going since the place was near the beach and I figured that it was hard to lose the ocean. Everything was going fine until I got into the neighborhood and these streets didn’t have numbers on them or I hadn’t written them down. I started asking people for directions using the name of the organization and the villa number. Everyone I approached was very nice and they really tried to help me. We tried to understand my American directions and the Senegalese notes that I had gathered, but both weren’t enough. After a good amount of time wondering how someone gets lost in a neighborhood or what I was doing in a country where I couldn’t do something as simple as navigate the streets, I finally found someone who knew what I was looking for. While I shouldn’t be getting annoyed about knowing where I am going all the time, I miss street names. I miss them because they allow me to be confident that I am headed in the right direction and using a map reassures me that I am not getting lost or if I am, I can easily get back on track. Here, I am at the mercy of whatever directions I can get ahead of time, the cab driver and how well he knows Dakar and what I can see out my window on the public transportation.