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carsten, andy and i arranged some last things in dakar and then we finally left the city. we drove out about 30 km to join thomas, tim and robert at the ´hyppo camping´. it was great to meet the guys again, but it meant also saying goodbye to thomas, who was leaving tonight. there was not enough time to tell him how much i had appreciated travelling together with him.
there are certain places where, already upon entering, you can feel a strange kind of atmosphere. there is nothing obviously strange about the ´hyppo camping´, which is run by a couple from southern germany. the place is clean and tidy and the people are nice (maybe a bit too nice, or too unnaturally nice), but something is in the air, like a spell that haunts you.
then i heard the the funny story about the 13 middleaged germans who also stay on the campsite. the had each paid 5000 german mark for a three week holliday, which they had booked with hans, the owner of ´hyppo camping´. the price includes the flights, the stay at the campsite, and two weeks through senegal and the mauritanian desert. actually not bad, i thought... until i saw the vehicle: an old repainted swiss army truck with a couple of unstable benches on the back! for a couple of teenagers on a cheap tramping holliday this truck would be perfectly fine. but considering the price and the age of the people on it, the whole thing is quite a ripoff! for us at least it gave reasons for many jokes. it was in fact quite funny to watch the travel group. they all semed a bit unsure about what was going to happen and i´m sure some of them are going to complain...
diner at the campsite was not overwhelming: watery soup with vegetables and the odd piece of meat for an increadible price, i was not impressed...