Porte du Millénaire,ouvre toi:)

Hello out there, hope life is treating you well .

I was not feeling my best physically this weekend so I didn’t work out on Sunday ,it’s flue season here and my immune system was not at its best. I figured I would go for a walk and enjoy the sunset view by the Corniche Ouest downtown Dakar. I dont usually work out there but I felt like changing scenery today .I felt like feeling the pulse of the Corniche Ouest by sunset & also wanted to feel the vibe of the fitness enthusiasts there

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When I reached la Porte du Millénaire, there were crowds of people walking, buying fruit snacks, juice , water .Les maads sont de saison and several brave women entrepeneurs have set up tables on which they sell cups of maad jams, cups of slices of mangoes among other snacks. What I find interesting is that they all sell the same things sitting right next to each other. Some of the vendors also sell popcorns, there are also the forever Corniche Jambars :the coconuts vendors, these men are so brave pushing daily their carts of coconuts from one area to another.

Last year the city had prohibited street food sellers from doing business at the Corniche so I was surprised to see so many of them around.At the same time, this is how they feed their families and themselves. I walked around and went down by the beach, there were groups of young men playing beach soccer, others doing some cardio workout on the sand. I sat down for a little while, enjoyed the view .It’s definitely a different vibe from the Corniche Ouest by Sea Plaza, I like” my Corniche” maybe because I know it very well, it’s more spacious I feel or maybe I am biased lol

There used to be swings and I heard that people stole them…it’s a pity , kids used to have fun on them. The street photographers are still around, doing photoshoots for the young girls who want to have memories from their outing there.I remenbered that there were des colorful marches where people would work out and I figured I was feeling well enough to engage in a light workout session. When I reached the steps, there was a group lead by the voice of a woman, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that. I started my solo session, there was a little girl who was imitating my moves lol it was cute.

From afar I could see lightnings , rain was not too far I decided to order my Yango ride before it started. As I was waiting for it, I heard the loud voice of a woman street vendor… she was screaming , cursing and people were just watching her I guess she’s not new to the shouting game. Another woman was yelling back and no one was truly stepping in so I figured it’s street market business as always.

When my Yango driver reached , we engaged in an interesting conversation, he was driving an electrical car, I asked him why he chose that.He explained that he works in communication and out of curiosity decided to drive electric as a side hustle. He wanted to understand more of that industry and also shared that he does content for drivers. He explained that some of our drivers should be more professional in the way they drive and engage with their customers….interesting conversation:)

‘Till next time InshAllah:)

Yaye