Beaches Were Made for Relaxing

My first time living near the ocean was in Dakar and I had no complaints having access to different beaches. As someone who enjoys exploring a new city, I took advantage of my location to take walks and to relax once the weather got warmer. I would also take a book to read since I wasn't a big fan of going into the water. Once our program ended and I had more free time during the summer months, the beaches became great places to hang out with friends and to discuss our lives as student interns/researchers in Senegal.

Please enjoy the pictures below collected from field trips in my urban landscapes course and from my summer time adventures. While I didn't have a chance to visit all the beaches in Dakar, I learned that not all of them are created equal and only some are worthy of a second visit.

Plage de Mermoz. This beach was near our program site and very popular for hanging out during the semester. My first trip to the beach was here in January and I was sad for all the students at Trinity dealing with the cold weather. 

Plage de Yoff. Before this beach became the place I was attacked by little children, I remembered it as the place where goats were sitting on top and under the car during our field trip around Dakar. 

Plage de l'Anse Bernard. Some friends and I headed downtown to celebrate a friend’s birthday and ended up going to this beach. It was absolutely beautiful and a great place to take a nap after a tiring week!

Plage de Mamelles. If you didn’t know this beach existed, you would get lost. It was somewhat secluded and definitely had less people than the other beaches.

Plage de Yoff. Despite the incident here, it was cool to see the soccer games, the fish that was being sold as the pirogues came in, and the Island of Yoff.

Plage de Ngor. This beach seemed very popular with families and kids wanting to spend time with their friends. You could also take a pirogue out to the Island of Ngor, which you can see in the distance. 

After finishing a meeting at the local university, I decided to walk back home along the Corniche. I was truly amazed by the view that I saw! Even though mountains and foothills are what I am used to now, I wouldn’t mind living near the ocean again.

Another photo from my walk along the Corniche.

A view of downtown Dakar from Plage de l'Anse Bernard. It brought me back to the first time coming to Dakar in January and having this as my first view of the place I was going to spend the next four-six months.

A picture of the beach in Rufisque during our visit to the suburbs of Dakar.