This is a “now” page a la Derek Sivers. It serves to share what I am up to right now. For more about me, see the about page.
Last updated on September 12th 2026
Summer is over! Oh la la. We visited the states in July and returned to a hot and humid Senegal in August. Good friends came for a few weeks and we had our little commune back up and running. Following their departure, I headed over to Mali for a week of triage at the Sleeping Camel. It was great to be in Bamako, but there were one too many things to sort out and I left feeling like I had not accomplished much at all. Mali is… très compliqué these days. Now it’s a couple of months of continued financial precarity, trying to push forward the Sleeping Camel v 3.0 while getting ready for our Scoot West Africa season that starts in November. The kids are back in school and something of a routine is settling in after a wonderful and chaotic zig zagging summer that we really navigated — financially — by the skin of our teeth.
Time to get a few things done and put off getting a real job for another year. Inshallah.
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This page is not supposed to have a history of previous updates but I am keeping the original entry here until I find a place to stash the bird report from Djoudj.
February 20th, 2025
I just got back from Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary up near the Mauritanian border. I was able to kill two snakes with one stone, managing to do some research for the Bradt Guide to Senegal, which I am updating, while undertaking an ambitious family holiday. Djoudj was of course the star of the show, but I also really enjoyed Saint-Louis.
In my hopes and dreams post for 2025, I talked about sending 100 postcards this year and seeing 36 new bird species. Well. I’ve sent 61 postcards so far, and in Djoudj, we saw over 60 species of birds, including multiple lifers for me (first sightings of a species): squacco heron, african spoonbill, knob billed duck, african stonechat, black shouldered/winged kite, marsh harrier, yellow wagtail, gargany, african pygmy goose, african sacred ibis, pied avocet. I’m nearly half-way to my goal after a single two-day visit to Djoudj.
Have you ever seen a squacco heron?
Look at him!!!
In a few days I will be heading out on a two week trip with Scoot West Africa clients to carnival in Guinea-Bissau. More to come!