I've posted many photos of boats while in Senegal. Fishing is a huge part of the culture in the Northern Senegalese city of St. Louis. Fish is "Jen" in Woloff, the most common tribal language here----and many Senegalese subscribe to the idea that "fish is life". The area itself is experiencing declining fish stocks due to pollution. you will notice photos with plastic trash in them---I do not focus on this but the scale of plastic trash is beyond comprehension. There are groups beginning to work on this----such as the organization led by our hotel owner(a Signare....more on this later).
Anyway, to be a fisherman in St. Louis it is said you must be born into the profession. They are reasonably wealthy by Senegalese standards. Most have 3-4 wives, each ideally with 4-5 children. They leave in their boats---huge wooden behemouths(apparently they used to be rowed!) with large outboards, early in the morning around 3-4am. They take all day to reach their "spot", fish all night, and return the following morning.
Wives sometimes get their own home, but it is more common for them to live together in a multi-roomed compound. It is common for a new bride to ask for her own huge television set and their are a multitude of satellite dishes. Fishermen and their families live in a raucous, teeming town across a bridge from the old French quarter. It is dusty, garish, noisy, and the stench of fish is overwhelming. the whole place revolves around fish. Hundreds of trucks arrive every day, pack tons of catch in shaved ice, and is promptly delivered all over the country. The streets are filled with dudes carrying trays of ice or trays of fish. The odor of exhaust is ubiquitous. Mixed with the fish smell this can be quite a funky perfume.
Everyone eats fish here---the whole country it seems. All the time. In the states if you eat in a West African restaurant, order 'Thieboujenne" and you'll get the idea. Bones are part of the deal. The Senegalese I know crave it, yet it is eaten daily.
The boats themselves cost on average about 10 million Central African francs. One dollar is about 570 CFAs. Do the math. Incidentally, people tell me goats here are worth about 65,000 CFAs.
Some of my photos show swamped boats and one is perplexed as to why they are there. This is done intentionally every few years for some reason to treat the wood and then they are repainted. Photos to follow.
Anyway, to be a fisherman in St. Louis it is said you must be born into the profession. They are reasonably wealthy by Senegalese standards. Most have 3-4 wives, each ideally with 4-5 children. They leave in their boats---huge wooden behemouths(apparently they used to be rowed!) with large outboards, early in the morning around 3-4am. They take all day to reach their "spot", fish all night, and return the following morning.
Wives sometimes get their own home, but it is more common for them to live together in a multi-roomed compound. It is common for a new bride to ask for her own huge television set and their are a multitude of satellite dishes. Fishermen and their families live in a raucous, teeming town across a bridge from the old French quarter. It is dusty, garish, noisy, and the stench of fish is overwhelming. the whole place revolves around fish. Hundreds of trucks arrive every day, pack tons of catch in shaved ice, and is promptly delivered all over the country. The streets are filled with dudes carrying trays of ice or trays of fish. The odor of exhaust is ubiquitous. Mixed with the fish smell this can be quite a funky perfume.
Everyone eats fish here---the whole country it seems. All the time. In the states if you eat in a West African restaurant, order 'Thieboujenne" and you'll get the idea. Bones are part of the deal. The Senegalese I know crave it, yet it is eaten daily.
The boats themselves cost on average about 10 million Central African francs. One dollar is about 570 CFAs. Do the math. Incidentally, people tell me goats here are worth about 65,000 CFAs.
Some of my photos show swamped boats and one is perplexed as to why they are there. This is done intentionally every few years for some reason to treat the wood and then they are repainted. Photos to follow.
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