Djoudj and Lutting

        For our first day-excursion, we went to the National Bird Sanctuary in Djoudj, which is about 45 minutes from campus, and according to our guide is one of the largest bird sanctuaries in the world. Although we saw mostly birds, we also got to see some warthogs, crocodiles, and pythons.

                                                        On the way there

                                                           Baby crocodile

     
        Lutting is a hugely popular sport in Senegal, which is sort of like wrestling except with a spiritual factor added in. Lutters wear special gris-gris and do rituals before matches, which are given to them by marabouts. The more good energy you have on your side, the more likely you are to win. This is why it's common before matches to see the men pouring different liquids over their heads and things like that. The other week we went to a photo exhibit on lutting at the French Institute.