St. Louis 8th Grade Field Trip

Today I arrived home from our 8th grade field trip to St. Louis (northern Senegal). It was a nice excursion. The hotel had cute little bungalows with warm water, a pool, and excellent beach access. However, I don't think the owners liked kids very much. Anyhow, Thursday we first went to an area called Guembeul Reserve where locals are trying to restore the area's natural habitat. My students and I were able to hold baby tortoises, see monkeys, some oryx, addax and gazelles. Then we headed for the Langue de Barbarie National Park for a pirogue ride on the delta. We saw many pelicans and other birds gathering to mate. We also stopped and played on the Grand Cote. Then we headed back to the hotel for some free time. After dinner, the students put on wonderfully funny skits based on African folk tales. Today we had breakfast and toured St. Louis on horse carriage and ate beef kabobs at small local restaurant. I enjoyed the trip and feel that the students got a lot out of it.