Christmas in Dakar

My mother flew from Southwest Florida to West Africa to spend Christmas and New Year’s with me in Senegal. We visited the enormous African Renaissance statue, whose $27 million price tag has caused controversy in a country that still lacks basic infrastructure. We drove outside of Dakar to visit the animal reserve at Bandia, where giraffes munched on leaves alongside our Jeep and water buffalo lounged in the shade of acacia trees. We saw rhinos and zebras and antelope. Oh, my. And, of course, we ate—boiled shrimp, grilled fish, chicken stewed in sauce. Dakar offers many edible delights, and we tried them all. We celebrated the New Year downtown, welcoming 2011 in a crowd of international and Senegalese friends.