Segou Ventures

Angrily, I made it back to Matakosi. I stopped to rest several times on the bike ride and begrudged every Senegalese person I had to talk to, but I made it back, finally. As I walked through the woods to my garden that evening, I let the woods heal my thoughts and my mood. I made a promise to myself that I would begin working on a major attitude adjustment. I know that you can't change people but you can change your attitude about people, so that's what I decided to do. I would build up my patience slowly, no matter how long it took. I'm still working on it, but I'm determined. I just completed a wonderful book on St. Francis of Assisi. This book takes on the perspective of St. Francis's closest disciple and follows the story of this saint as though we are there on the journey with him. It has helped me, in many ways, to put my life into perspective and has revived my interest in recapturing some sense of spirituality.

The following morning I went to go water my garden and when I returned there were a group of women painting a freshly built kitchen hut. This process involves mixing clay, manure, and snotty textured water mixed with palm tree sap (it's the sap that gives it the gross texture). They mix this concoction and then use their hands to lather this stinky stuff all over the walls. I decided to join in and as gross as it was, it was actually quite fun... except for the “gender” topics of conversation about how “men couldn't do this and women could never build the walls of the hut” because the roles are so gender specific... even though the actual process of each is almost identical. When I comment that men and women can do both jobs that laugh at me and look at me like I'm crazy and then gossip to the other people around, “oh!! so Kadjatu thinks that women can build walls” and then they all begin to laugh all over again. So SOSO SO irritating and at that point I knew I wasn't making any progress with patience building goal. I felt like my fuse was only getting shorter and less manageable.

Anyway, the next few days were unmemorable. I had to change my schedule three times for a tree planting training which ended up not even happening and I tried to view this, again, as a patience building activity. Meanwhile, I was preparing mentally and physically to bike out to visit a group of volunteers in another village called Segou. Segou is known around Peace Corps Senegal volunteers for its spectacular year round waterfall. The Segou waterfall is less on the radar among “tourists” than the more famous and nearby Dendefellow waterfall. Because of the limited foot traffic at the Segou waterfall, it is more pristine and it's rare to see non-Peace Corps volunteers there. Senegalese typically don't go to waterfalls, even when they live near them and most tourists simply haven't heard of the Segou falls. As volunteers who know the secret, we like the secret and the seclusion around this spectacular place.

After waking up at 5:15 to water my garden, load my bike, and eat breakfast, I was finally ready to begin my journey by 8:30. The path was a road through the woods that I had not taken before but I knew it was supposed to take 3-3.5 hours by bike and I had been given a list of all the villages I should pass on the way to keep myself on track. I biked out to my market town where the road to Segou technically begins. The friendly boutique owner set me on the right trail and my journey had officially begun. In just a short while I had passed through the first town, Sinchur and shortly after, Bayah. I was off to a great start and right on track as those were the first two villages on my list. The people directed me up ahead again to ensure I was heading the right way. I happened to pass countless jovial people all walking to various towns to vote in their respective polling stations. It was the day of the presidential “reelections”. This allowed me to meet new people, learn new places, and all the while make sure I was still on the right road to Segou.

The bike ride grew continually more beautiful as I headed South and got closer and closer to the mountains rising up in the background on the Guinea border. I finally arrived at the next village “Unduguure”. Even just the names of the villages are exciting enough to make me love the place. I was glad to have rested for a quick water break, to soak up the location of this perfectly placed, tiny little
village, nestled at the top of a small hill. The endless view of the Guinean mountains, which seemed so close and yet so far away, was completely pristine and unobstructed. Seeing it warmed my heart. One of the Unduguure villagers told me that their village is the crossroads for the road to Segou and the road to Ingly which has a spectacular waterfall that I have heard dries up after the rainy season ends. It happens that I am the closest volunteer to Ingly.

I continued through the beautiful tropical forest and it was about 11:15 when I finally arrived at the next village, Wuurijey. I was right on track an was getting close!! I refilled my water bottles at the well pump. There was one more village between Wuurijey and Segou and a woman happened to be heading that way so I walked with her for a little while until I felt confident to continue on my own. It was starting to get hot and I really didn't want to get lost. After I started biking again, I passed two men from Changey (the next village) and I felt confident that I was going the right way. I knew I would be arriving soon.

Continuing on again, I didn't pass anyone for quite a while and my body was ready for a break. It was already almost noon and the heat was getting to be unpleasant. I had just finished miserably pushing my bike up a hill. Finally a guy on a motorbike with his girlfriend behind him pulled up and stopped.
Expecting to hear some confirmation that Changey was just up ahead I asked how far I was. The response seemed to be just a blank stare. They said, “Changey is not up ahead. You are lost”. It took me a minute to process because I was already so hot and tired and suddenly my heart sank. Where did I get lost? I don't even remember any turnoffs that I could have missed. I was starting to realize my exhaustion. They said that a village called Bandafaasi was up ahead and Changey was in the other direction. They asked me if I was tired. OF COURSE I was tired! It was 105 degrees out and I had been biking for hours. They said I should go to Bandafaasi and rest there until evening. I asked if it was far to get to Changey and the woman gave my directions that my tired mind and body could not process. I asked how many kilometers it was to Bandafaasi vs. Changey to help me make a decision about what to do. The woman started answering my question and her boyfriend taped her on the leg, inturrupting her, tells her, “shut up. let's go” and drives off before she could tell me.

Alone, hot, tired, thirsty, unsure of how far I was from anywhere, and lost, I started crying and I weighed my options. I was supposed to be there an hour ago. Without any information to go on, I had to make a decision. I had enough water but the heat was becoming unbearable and my body was exhausted. With the leafless trees and the sun directly above my head, there was not even half an inch of shade in this supposed forest. I was noticing I had less control of my bike than I used to. I could risk backtracking for an indefinite period of time for some supposed turn off that I may or may not have missed with no idea of how far I was from Changey or Segou on a road I had never been on with the potential for getting lost again. There was almost no chance of me seeing someone again as it was the middle of the afternoon.

OR... I could continue on this somewhat bigger road to where Bandafaasi is. I was familiar with Bandafaasi as we have a volunteer there and I bike past it on the main road every time I go from my village to the regional house. I am also familiar with the road from Bandafaasi to Segou and was sure to not get lost that way... but just a few days before I had had a conversation with a volunteer who told me that Bandafaasi was at least 2 hours from Segou and I had no idea how far I was from Segou. On this rout, though, I was sure to encounter people who could direct me and I could perhaps find a shade structure and a place to refill my water bottles. I decided to take the surer but supposedly longer rout. I did not want to risk getting lost again.

A little further up the road I encountered another man who was chopping wood to make a fence. He said he was from a nearby Village called Natcha. He was friendly, showing genuine concern. He told me that the main road was only 2kilometers up ahead but Bandafaasi was an additional 7K after that. It was such a relief to just know where I was! It also meant that there was a chance that there would be a shorter rout, some more direct bike path or at the very least a forage and a shade structure to get a little relief from the scorching and merciless afternoon sun. I thanked the man and continued out to the road with a renewed energy and determination. I reached the main road and it was another ¼ mile until I reached the next village, which was in fact Bundukunding and NOT Bandafaasi. While there was no forage, there was a shade structure and it was a voting site so there were several people with whom I could interact.

It was not until I sat down that I realized how hot and tired I really was and it was still another minute or two before I processed how much farther I still had to go. My patience and motivation suddenly faded as I thought about biking for the next few hours. People were telling me that I was crazy and that I should wait until it was cooler to leave again. This lit a fire in my heart again, thinking about how badly I wanted to be there with my friends and how badly I didn't want to listen to the Senegalese just because I was feeling disagreeable. I wanted to be there 2 hours ago but I didn't have the words to explain this with the urgency I felt. They simply reply, “but the sun is hot”. This just irritated me more because the concept of keeping a time commitment is simply beyond their understanding but it definitely gave me the motivation to start going again. After talking with people, impatiently, I learned that there is in fact a direct path to Segou and they insisted that there were no turns and that I could not get lost. They told me to go to Natcha and get further directions there and they could point me to the right path. They said I should be in Segou in 2-3 hours and having rested and rehydrated I felt a new vigor again. I continued on.

Soon enough I arrived at Natcha. A teenage boy pointed me towards the right road and he reassured me that I couldn't get lost. My determination grew and I realized how disoriented and tired I really was. I began to realize that at this point, there was no turning back. There was no choice any more. I felt that I was moving the wrong direction but I trusted the kid who assured me over and over that I was going the right way. He was right. There were no turns and as I kept going, my orientation began to correct itself. Soon enough I started to recognize the unique shape of the mountains that surround this incredible valley. I started making up songs and singing to keep me going. I did not pass a single other person the entire rest of the way. My mind wandered and began to think of the over the top cheesey jokes that Americans can make about the Natcha road (just by changing that second a to an o... ie: “Natcho' road”). I let my delirious mind go there... I'm pretty sure that my excitement to see the other volunteers and my adrenaline were the only things keeping me going... well... that and the fact that I had no choice. I couldn't just stop in the middle of the shadeless woods in the middle of the blistering afternoon with still present but limited water. It just couldn't happen. The mountains, I knew consciously, were getting closer and closer but they felt like they were getting further and further away. It was like being trapped in the twilight zone. The path and the fields all looked the same with no distinct landmarks except the mountains up ahead.

The mountains, my destination, was taunting me. It was so close and yet so far. I had no idea how many more minutes I had left until my arrival; my legs had almost nothing left to keep me going. My mind was the only thing keeping me going repeating over and over, “You'll get there soon enough! You have no choice”. At this point it was mind over matter and I had already surpassed what I believed to be my physical limit. This was another motivating factor; the pride that I would feel after arriving, I knew would be immense. Suddenly, a water tower became visible and then houses began to appear! I had made it! The second I stopped my bike, I felt my body ache. I knew that my friends weren't far and I pushed my bike the rest of the way to the campemont where they were all waiting for me. Seven happy volunteers were all there waiting for me and despite my grossness from having been biking for 6.5 hours, they all came up to me and gave me giant, welcoming hugs!

I unwound, downed two liters of water and two granola bars and prepared myself for another hour of hiking! We all put on our bathing suits and sunscreen quickly and started our hike to the waterfalls. The woods here were different than where I had been biking. We were following a river through an incredible (and more importantly) shaded forest. The hike was invigorating. I was with friends and the weather had finally started to cool off. As we approached our first stop, we heard this strange barking which we learned was baboons talking to each other, spread across the valley. As the barking continued in the background we finally arrived at the swimming hole! We all anxiously jumped into the cold, refreshing, and therapeutic water. Still being gross from the bike ride, it was probably one of my favorite ever showers I've ever had. The water was able to clear my head and conscience. It was too late to get to the waterfall itself but the swimming hole was more than enough. Back at the campemont, we all had an incredible chicken and peanut sauce dish with freshly baked bread. I felt like I had received just the therapy I needed to begin working on my attitude adjustment.