The wall of shame of Cap Skirring

Casamance is the pearl of Senegal, and Cap Skirring is the pearl of Casamance. The ultimate tourist destination at a pristine beach. Palm trees everywhere, sea waves putting you to sleep and the mooing of cows on the beach waking you up - all this contributes to the idyllic image.

We quickly make friends and are invited to an evening by Afia, one of the local Baye Fall. In Senegal, it is impossible to not notice the Baye Fall, the Muslim brotherhoods, who walk barefoot, give away Cafe Touba, and sing their prayers. They are very friendly and peaceful. I am also fascinated by their polyphonic songs.

The evening starts slow. The Baye Fall cook on the fire outside on the street. They don’t rush with this. We sit and talk. Then the singing starts. The songs are prayers, often with very simple words, repeated many times, with some similarities to mantras. I sit and listen and ask for the meaning. I am invited to join in. No one is worried about my religious background. It is about praising the God, as simple as this. “You must sing with us. If you sing, it will change your life” says one of the Yaye Fall (the women).

But the party is right next to the wall. “What’s behind the wall?”I finally ask. “That’s Club Med. And we hope the current government will change this, inshallah”.

Only the next day I realize the full scale and the meaning of the wall for the Cap Skirring residents.

The Club Med, the French (recently sold to Chinese) holiday maker resort occupies 90% of the town. The Cap Skirring town center is literally reduced to one road, squeezed between the Club Med resort, Club Med golf club, and the former Club Med airport. The resort is surrounded by an ugly concrete wall with barbed wire.

To get to the beach, the fishermen walk every day 500 meters along the barbed wire. There is no other way, unless you are the Club Med guest.

The Baye Fall’s Cafe Touba stand is next to the wall (read more on Cafe Touba). The seafood restaurant is facing the wall. The street second-hand clothing seller hangs their merchandise on the wall.

The wall is too visible and too conspicuous, cutting the town in three disjoint, dysfunctional pieces. If that wasn’t enough, it is topped with barbed wire, with known historical connotations. For the locals, the wall dominates the landscape and the life. The European guests don't seem to notice. You won't see any mention of the wall in the Cap Skirring Trip Advisor reviews.

Image above: the town center of Cap Skirring. Red: Club Med wall. Yellow: the airport wall. The town is squeezed in between the two.

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