So we just got in the water, and we are floating about 30 feet from the rock where we went in, and I say to Rick:
"Before I go looking for abs, I want to take the video camera down first, just to see if I can get some decent video of the bottom."That is the video you see here. It is complete crap, and you won't be able to make anything out of it unless I explain what is going on, which is why you see all this text on top of the video. I am going to explain everything.
The camera is a Canon Optura 60 in an Ikelite underwater housing.
This is what you see: In the first part of the video, I am holding the camera out of the water, and the auto focus on the Canon has decided to focus on a droplet of water on the housing rather than the far more interesting stuff in the background. I don't notice this because I an floating in 52 degree water and getting pushed around by waves and preoccupied with breathing and the notion of staying alive. In the next part of the video all that can be seen is a featureless greenish color. Here I am in my pre-dive drill, where I just float on the surface, breath through the snorkel and try to relax and get my heart rate down below tachycardia levels. The camera is just hanging below my arms pointing down, and you are seeing what I am seeing in the 12 inch visibility - which is to say - green nothingness. At some point I take a few deep breaths and kip dive to the bottom with the camera extended in front of me. Its not that deep, maybe eight or ten feet. Here you see the camera going through grass and kelp and then the bottom. Of course, it is still out of focus, because the camera is apparently still looking for the droplet on the housing case. The interesting thing, is the brown smudge that is visible when the camera clumps onto the bottom. the brown smudge is an abalone. So with my first breath and first dive, there is an abalone. This never happens for me. And I don't have an ab iron with me because I have this worthless camera.
So here is the picture: I am upside down in water, the camera strapped to my left wrist and pushed on to the bottom, so I can grab some grass and rock for leverage, and hope the camera is pointing at the abalone, then - with my right hand - I grabbed the ab and popped it off the rock. Out of breath, with the ab in one hand and the camera in the other, I pop back to the surface.
One breath, one dive, one ab.
If the video had turned out it would have been great.
The first light view that greeted us from our new "room with a view" at the Sofitel Dakar. Better than the Sheraton Heathrow, but less than we expected.
Zooming in to the shack in the corner of the vacant lot. I could not figure out what this guy was doing. I think he was cleaning rugs from the hotel. This must be his business. He was at it most of the day. Very hard working.
The view from the other side of the hotel looking at the hotel pool and the Atlantic. This was the view we were expecting. Sigrid has begun a a campaign to get our room moved. French hotel, French attitude, it is going to be tough. I'm betting on Sigrid.
This is Kamu, one of the many, many entrepreneurs ready and willing to help tourists emerging from the hotel. Many many many. We went for a walk to explore the area near the hotel. Kamu kept walking with us and offering to tell us about what we were seeing and suggesting directions. We kept telling him that we did not need a guide, we were just going to get some lunch. He just kept walking with us, smiling and offering suggestions and tips. Net net - we spent two hours with him exploring the neighborhood, a large African market, and paying him for his service. First rule of sales - "The selling starts when the client says no.". I think the Senegalese invented that rule.
This was his suggestion for a good local restaurant offering inexpensive Senegalese food.
Our first real Senegalese meal it is [INSERT FRENCH FOR FISH WITH RICE HERE], Sigrid ordered the [INSERT FRENCH FOR CHICKEN WITH RICE HERE]. Delicious. No ill effects as of this post.
