Senegal - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 104

various sizes (the largest one was about 50 or so) crossed the road directly in front of me.
I just stopped cycling, straddled the bike and waited. When they all disappeared into the
forest on the other side of the road, I simply resumed my cycling.
I had one memorable encounter though. As I looked to my left, I noticed two mon-
keys who didn't retreat into the forest. They sat in the shade side-by-side looking at me
with a bored expression. One monkey had his chin resting on the back of its hand with his
other arm folded around its waist. Please keep in mind that up until that point, cycling was
quitestressfulforIhadtodealwiththeheat,negotiatingaroundnumerouspuddleswithout
falling,andslappingallthehorsefliesoffmyhands.However,whenIlookedatthosemon-
keys staring at me, I started to laugh uncontrollably and almost crashed. What were those
monkeys surmising about Homo sapiens ? There I was, stressing myself out and there they
were relaxing under a tree! Which was the smarter species? That was a welcomed stress
reliever to say the least.
In less than two kilometres, I arrived at the border crossing- a large, unkempt stone
markeronthesideoftheroad.MyplanwastotakemylunchbreakuponarrivalbutwhenI
checkedthetimeitwas4:15p.m.!Iatequicklyandrestedforonly30minutesorsobefore
moving on.
IfounditoddthatIdidn'tcomeacrossanyguards,roadcheckpointsorimmigration
officers on the Senegalese side of the marker until I vaguely recalled a man yelling at me