Today I saw a West African Manatee. Yes, a real live one, swimming in the Cassamance river. It is said that people explore the Cassamance and never leave. I can see why, the place has a romantic allure to it. Every day seems like a Sunday. The old French culture is still strong and bistros, restaurants and auberges are plentiful. People seem to sit and life seems to pass in permanent siesta. People have time to talk, time to relax. Beaches are beautiful and crowds are few, mangrove trees and birds are everywhere. Baracuda and Perch, crayfish and shrimp; the good life lives here, it’s easy to be seduced.
We drove along a spit of savanna in a sea of mangrove today, reaching the mudflats and sea grass beds. I had forgotten the magic of sea grasses. Vast space, mud, green and then there it was, a real life West African Manatee, breaching for air, then gone again. 400kg of underwater lawn mower moving along, doing what underwater lawnmowers do.
Now that’s not a bad sighting.
-Chris-
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