I had realized that I had probably had a good fill of Saint Louis. Were I to have done it over I would have taken Wednesday and Thursday and gone to Podor, recommended by our guide with AJWS which was a several hour drive beyond Saint Louis. Podor is the northernmost town in Senegal, Africa, lying on Morfil Island between the Sénégal River and Doué River. It is home to a ruined French fort, built in 1854 as a centre for gold trading, However, I did not do that, so I had asked Yves what would be a good way to spend the day. He had identified two places for me to go and arranged for a driver to come get me after breakfast. I wasn't quite sure where I was going, but took my chances.

So I enjoyed my wonderful breakfast with Yves, gathered my belongings and connected with my driver. We drove northwest out of town and arrived at a place called Makhana. The car stopped in front of a building missing a roof across the road from the river. Fortunately there was actually an explanatory sign in front of the building explaining that this was the colonial waterworks. So I learned that 7 months of the year when the Senegal River receded, Ile Saint Louis is surrounded by salt water. Until the middle of the 19th century, fresh water was brought in by a tanker boat. In 1859, Governor Faidherbe developed the project to transform the backwater of the Kassak Region, northeast of Saint Louis. The first plant was built at Makhana at the edge of the Kassak region, northeast of Saint Louis. The plant was equipped with two machines, each with a steam engine and pump. The machines were built in 1882 and began operations in 1885. The freshwater of the backwater was transported to Saint Louis through a conduit of 17 km.

I walked around the waterworks buildings and then decided to walk up into the adjacent village and see what was there. The village was very clean and there was one house that was attractive with what may have been a rooftop terrace with a wrought iron fence around it. There were very few people in the village, but I saw some women and children. There was a little boy who appeared to be an albino running around with a few other children. I just walked up and down the small streets and took some photos. A woman approached me and indicated I should follow her. She took me over to a little fenced in area next to one of the houses and inside was a giant tortoise. I went back toward the river where the car was parked and saw some women doing the laundry in the river and a man in a small boat fishing.

Then back into the car to the next mystery destination. The only thing I really knew was that cheese was made where we were going and that this was the place where Yves would go to buy cheese. We drove on a road and then turned off onto an unpaved road which was apparently a short cut. We were driving through a sandy area with scattered trees and brush. We were about to pass a small village when the car decided it did not want to move. It got stuck in the sand. A man and young boy came from the village and across the road a man with some sheep was watching us. I was in luck because my driver/guide seemed to know exactly what to do. I got out of the car and he let the air out of the tires to make them softer. I got back in the care and, amazingly, off we went. We passed a school and came to a regular road that we turned on. A town was a couple of miles down the road with a tire store. We stopped there and the tires got re-inflated and off we went.

We continued some miles down the main road (the main road between Dakar and Saint Louis) (22 km from Saint Louis) and then turned off and started driving through the brush again. About two miles in from the road we came upon a whole community called Guelakh. Much of what I learned about the infrastructure I learned after leaving Guelakh, but will share here.

Plan is an NGO "promoting child rights to end child poverty." Founded over 75 years ago, Plan is one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world. Work is done in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty. In 2013, Plan worked with 78 million children in 90,229 communities. Plan aims to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of deprived children in developing countries, through a process that unites people across cultures and adds meaning and value to their lives, by:

· enabling deprived children, their families and their communities to meet their basic needs and to increase their ability to participate in and benefit from their societies

· building relationships to increase understanding and unity among peoples of different cultures and countries

· promoting the rights and interests of the world's children.

The programs benefits 37,000 children in 600 communities across Senegal. The objective of the village is a community development, it shares resources for smaller surrounding villages (total population of about 1,000 people, including 150 children). The "Young Farmers of Guelakh" organized to improve their community and combat the exodus of young people from the area. The village has a re-school and primary school and a four year breeders' training program for young persons 12-20 years. A craft technical education center in welding, masonry and gardening, and a workshop (dyeing, batik, sewing) were created. A breeding activity (sheep, goats, zebu) stabling was made possible by the construction of stables, allowing the production of milk and cheese. Fish activity is planned. Agricultural activities represent a significant share of income of the village. Products from agricultural production of the farm in the village used for local consumption, some is also sold on the market Rao located ten kilometers, as well as hotels and restaurants in St. Louis.

So I was given a tour of Guelakh by a young man who works in the village. I saw the school and play yard, the health center, the place where cheese is manufactured and the small shop where cheese and jam is sold, the chicken coop, the pens for goats and sheep, the garden, the area where fabrics are hand-dyed and hand stamped before being made into clothes, the furniture factory, and the jewelry shop. The health center had many public health posters addressing malaria prevention, pre-natal care, and childhood immunizations. It was quite an impressive village and I am so glad I had the opportunity to become aware of it and to visit. I bought some jewelry and some jam.

After a wonderful visit, we left and drove back to Saint Louis.Once back in town, I decided one more visit to the fish market would be in order. So I walked over there and then walked a bit down the road past the fish market and then up to the beach on the ocean side. I found an area with many slatted wooden tables which appeared to be for drying fish. I continued walking and came upon an area with many encampments where it looked like the people there were doing something with waste products of the fish. I am not quite sure what was going on there, but these people looked incredibly poor. After walking by this area, I was on the far side of the cemetery, so I walked through the cemetery to the road back into Saint Louis and the fish market. It was late afternoon and it looked like this was a time when not only had boats come in that were being unloaded but that many boats were getting ready to go back out. There were long lines of people wading in the water with crates to carry the fish in. But many men were coming from the homes wearing olive green waterproof jackets and pants, some carrying large cans of gasoline, and a few actually carrying boat motors.

After my last visit to the fish market I walked past the market to see a bit more of Saint Louis and then back to Jamm. I had a lovely dinner at Jamm for my last night in Saint Louis. I spoke with Rosalie for a bit after dinner and said good-bye to her and thanked her for everything.