Day 10 There's no place like home

Ugh! Searched three times! I guess the last indication I was leaving a poor country was the fact that because they don't have X-ray equipment, they have to physically go through everything you own. This involved taking apart my very carefully packed backpack, booting up my computer to prove it was really a computer, turning on my shortwave radio to prove it is a radio, trying to explain in French to the Surete Nationale officer, what a camera tripod is. "Are you a journalist?" "GASP! NO!" Saying yes can you get you into trouble in some countries. I had to go through this at three different checkpoints. It made for a long night.

I got into Kennedy on time under overcast skies with a moderate rain/snow/ice mix falling. What a contrast from sunny, hot Sénégal! Again, I haven't slept in over 24 hours and need some time to unwind and unpack.

You wouldn't generally put "smooth trip" and "west Africa" together in the same sentence but it went off without a hitch.

Funny enough, the immigration officer asked the same question that has echoed throughout this trip: "Why would you go to Sénégal?"

I didn't have time to share my photos.