Gobble gOBBLE Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Senegal, but we as Peace Corps volunteers do our best to make thanksgiving just like home. My friends Erin, Maggie, her boyfriend Cory and I went down to Kedougou. Erin, another friend Hayes and I made the trip to the waterfalls a few days before thanksgiving. This is not your average waterfall trip, it’s a pretty intense 57+ km trip by bike over rolling hills the first half and on gravely, rocky trails the second half. The scenery in Kedougou is so unlike the rest of Senegal. It has beautiful, rolling hills, somewhat mountainous terrain, and of course the reason we were going: waterfalls. I am not that big of a biker because I have been unhealthy and around my site its much sandier and harder to bike as often as I would like. So, I was prepared to be in for a butt kicking and in some senses that’s what I got. My friends were very patient and encouraging but I was definitely struggling huffing up those hills and crossing small rivers. It was absolutely beautiful and we finally reached the falls after about 4/1/2 hours of biking! I will say that trying to bike those trails and crossing rivers in the rainy season would be very painful, very hard, but a huge accomplishment with beautiful sights!
We camped out when we got to the falls, fixed some delicious camping food, swam in some really really cold water, hiked, and enjoyed the peace and quiet! I will try and attach some of the photos I took and you can see some of the beauty there. I am happy to say though that this trip has been known to make or break a peace corps volunteer and I hope upon looking back that my trip was made.
Now I am at the kedougou house, enjoying a thanksgiving dinner, football, games, and other toubabs company! I wish you all a fabulous thanksgiving wherever you are hoping you are able to celebrate with delicious food and family! Happy Thanksgiving and more blogs to come!!