Sénégal ： Du désert aux forêts tropicales ： un voyage aux confins de l’Afrique ｜ Documentaire AMP

At the far west of the African continent, Senegal offers a true mosaic of landscapes and populations. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, it is deserted in the north and tropical in the south. Land of the Wallofs, the Pastor Peuls, the Diolas, the Sereres and many others, this country is discovered by the rivers that flow through its territory, shape its landscapes and rhythm the life of the villages that border them. Senegal has made its diversity an asset, without sinking into the conflicts that have mined many of its neighbors. It offers visitors a multitude of faces as varied as its regions and will not end up captivated by the richness of its landscapes and traditions. The royal way to enter Senegal is without a doubt Saint Louis and its unique setting of a former colonial capital founded by the French in 1659. It is in this pleasant city that the history of the country began. If Saint Louis was born as an island at the mouth of the sumptuous Senegal River, its most vibrant part is located on the Langue de Barbarie, this sandbar that runs between the waves of the river and those of the ocean. Here it is the territory of the fishermen and the port of Gétendard is their neighborhood. In the morning, at the arrival of the pirogues, some of which go fishing in Gambia, there is an uproar like nowhere else. It is one of the most important ports in West Africa. The activity is permanent until dawn. The porters constantly run to empty their crates in the refrigerated trucks, ready to leave for Dakar. They are paid in units. More than 25,000 people live on this tiny piece of land. On the sea side, the coast suffers from the repeated storms and the rising of the waters. Two years ago, the sea destroyed schools and houses. I think it is clearly the rising of the waters. Every year it advances. Before, we played football there, all the way to the bottom. And every year it advances a little more. The main artery of this village of fishermen has already been flooded. A warning that may force the authorities to move thousands of people. Here, the houses are often too small. The galloping demography has made the population explode. So all life has moved in the street. We wash, we cook and we eat on the sidewalk. Even the sheep try to find something to eat before finishing themselves at the bottom of the marmite. Related to the continent by the emblematic pomfret d'herbe, the island of Saint Louis is its historical center. Its colonial architecture constitutes a historical heritage so unique on the continent that the city is one of the six African cities classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a calm harbor that will seduce the visitor with its charming residences. Saint Louis was an important step in the heroic time of the post office. And the post office where Mermoz descended recalls the exploits of these pioneers of commercial aviation who took off from here for South America. First city built by the French colonizers in West Africa in the 17th century, Saint Louis occupied a central place in the history of the country. Its cathedral, built in 1827, is the oldest in West Africa. At its peak, Saint Louis was the capital of Senegal, but also of French Western Africa. A region as vast as the European Union, and which included, among others, Sudan, which became Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast. In the streets, artists and creators have invested in certain historical residences, such as Ramadio, a fashion designer very popular. She gives a contemporary expression to fabrics and colors deeply rooted in the country's culture. Saint Louis is my city, which is known as the capital of elegance, the traditions of Saint Louis, the art of dressing up. But I don't just stick to the traditions. I work with the colored fabrics that have been passed down to us, but in the era of time, in the modern. So you see the very modern dresses that everyone can wear, both Europeans and Senegalese and Africans. It looks so good, honestly. I also work with the wax, the colored fabrics, as I said, that my mother wore, my grandmother, and also the traditional weaving. So yes, my base is there, it's my culture. But I want to be open to the whole world. In Saint Louis, the musical scene is very rich, and each year the city goes with the rhythm of its jazz festival. An international meeting, essential for the enthusiasts who meet in bars and clubs, as here with the group Takeifa. The heart of the event is the big stage in the city center, where we find every year great names of jazz. The lands between the Senegal River and the Atlantic Ocean stretch for several dozen kilometers. They will probably be brought to disappear in the years to come, because of the rising waters. Towards the village of Endiben, we continue to exploit the salt as a family and in an artisanal way. In the past, the Bou El Mokdad transported men and goods on the Senegal River, from Saint Louis to the north of the country, to the border of Mali or Mauritania. It is a mythical ship which, despite the absence of rails and roads, is therefore vital for the population. The wear of time was due to what was affectionately called the end. But for a few years, the Bou El Mokdad has been reviving thanks to the passion of Jacques Bancal, for the greatest happiness of tourists. Its familiar silhouette flows again the waters of the river. The boat was built in the 1950s in the Netherlands, but specially designed to sail on the Senegal River. It was ordered and designed to sail on the Senegal River. It is a flat bottom and in case of problem, we can always plage it. The main difficulty here is that it does not always respond to the logic of a curve of a river. Normally, it is outside a bend, which is generally deep. Here, in 80% of cases, it is inside. Former colonial administrative center, Richartol is a traditional step of the Bou El Mokdad. There is the madness of Baron Roger, a remnant of a revolutionary era. A derivative canal of the Senegal River allowed to irrigate large areas to cultivate sugarcane, which remains one of the important resources of the region. The Peul tribes are located further north, in these semi-desert lands, where they live in clans. Here, in Galodjina, the chief is Mamadouba. He is 61 years old and has three wives. Half of his family has already left for the south, anticipating the rainy season that is coming. The Peul women practice the tattoo of the lips and gums to the indigo, just like that of the palms of the hands and feet. Mamadouba waits for the temperature to drop and for the sun to set to start her herd. At the end of April, the temperatures exceed 40 degrees. Since 2007, the life of these families has changed thanks to the dairy of the shepherd, who collects twice a day. It is the only Senegalese company to transform fresh milk. Before, the surplus of the milk was thrown into the sand. Souleymane Ba was one of his breeders. He manages the collection throughout the region. The village chief has a very large herd. He has more than 500 heads, but today he has left a few for the dairy, so that we have milk. And then his children go to school. Thanks to the dairy, everything has really changed. Returning to the south, about forty kilometers from Dakar, the pink lake intrigues. It owes in large part to its world renown at the Paris-Dakar car rally, where it was about to arrive. At first glance, it looks like a shallow lagoon surrounded by dunes. But if you look closer, the lights of day and night transform the color of these waters, which then pass through all the shades of pink and mauve. What we know less, is that the lake makes more than 2,000 people live, thanks to the salt exploited by more than 800 pirogues. Men, in the water up to the chest, and the body coated with butter of charity to protect their skin from salinity, cast with a pickaxe the crust of salt from the bottom of the lake, before picking it up with a shovel to fill their pirogues. Women will unload them and pile the salt on the banks so that they dry and whiten in the sun, before being taken away. Dakar, the capital of the country, is a feverish city, overflowing with life and creativity. If she could, she would no doubt turn her beaches to take up land on the sea, and extend her cacophonic procession of throbbing markets, noisy traffic, exuberant nightlife, but its limits are unimaginable. A sandy coast to the west, and a narrow strait to the east, connecting the Presqu'île du Cap-Vert to the mainland. It is this long gorge that goes around it. If there are some buildings and monuments of interesting history in Dakar, it is in the streets, the shops, the shops, the art galleries, and especially the markets, that one really feels the pulse of the city. The Kermel market mixes the two, a historical place dating from 1860, animated by an incessant activity. The Place de l'Indépendance in the center is another symbolic place. It is here that in 1958, General de Gaulle implanted in a famous speech the independence of the country and of French-speaking Africa. The artisan market is a place of artistic expression, where musicians, sculptors, and painters meet. Abdulaziz works the teak, a precious wood whose fibers lend themselves well to the sculpture of small figurines. Just next door, El Hadj Diri works on a much more complicated material, the famous ebony wood. Yes, it's the best wood we have. It's a kind of ivory. Yes, you see? You see how the wood is made? So this is an ivory, and this is a small log. For painters, the scenes of agricultural life are deliberately reproduced. So this is the return of the fields, with the dominant colors, beige and brown. People are working. The women here sell milk. They too. Here are men. These are shepherds. There are sheep in the rice fields. The women there prepare food for the children. This painting is a little different because I added wedding scenes. There are also in Dakar a few harbors of peace where it is good to resource yourself, like Angor, which is above all a fishing village. Early in the morning, the crews get together to embark for a day at sea. On the continent, the beach regularly turns into a training site You come there alone or in a group to do gymnastics, run or learn to swim. The days end invariably with energetic football matches, one of the country's king sports where no one forgets the exploits of the national team in the 2002 World Cup against the French title champions. In the northern district of Yoffe, this colorful house called the Sphinx is the last home where Ousmane Sault lived. Died in December 2016, this sculptor, one of the first members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Paris, has exhibited his giant works His children have just made a museum out of the ordinary, gathering these colossi hand-shaped in jute mixed with earth, pigments and synthetic straw. It was revealed very late to the general public, but as long as I remember, I have always seen it sculpted. We lived in Paris, so the sculptures were the size of the apartment we had. I don't know if you can imagine, but it was difficult to put a man of 2.70 meters in 50 square meters. What motivated him above all was the fact of sculpting people who were on the verge of disappearance. I don't think it was a sculptor who was inspired by everyday life. I see a scene of life, and I say, no, that's not what motivates me. In the room of the great men, next to Nelson Mandela and General de Gaulle, the father of Ousmane Sou occupies an important place. It is for his daughter the work of reference. Undoubtedly, it is that of her father, who was the man who was his guide throughout his life, who sculpted him and who today is part of the series of great men in the main room which will bear the name of his father. It tells his story, it tells his childhood, it tells the links that united them, which were extremely strong links. It was quite surprising to see this 80-year-old man talk about his father with so much emotion. Still in the north of the city, the fish market of Yof-Tangor is a spectacle in itself, depending on the time of day. There is a real ballet of pirogues. Barely on the sand, fishermen are attacked by women who buy the contents of the nets and resell them immediately. It is the most popular market in the whole city. It only lasts two hours a day, but offers a magnificent variety of products. The port of Dakar is the third in the region. But beyond its activity, it is from here that we embark to go to the island of Gorée. Located a few 30-minute ferry off the capital, the island of Gorée bathes in an almost disturbing stillness, probably because history was not always quiet there. This commercial counter was a turning point of slavery during the Treaty. This idyllic island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, remains marked by this stain, and the dark hideouts of the house of slaves recall the weight of history. Historical studies show that the house of slaves, built around 1780, played only a minor role in the slave trade. With these hideouts, where between 15 and 20 people could be crammed before their departure for the Americas, it remains one of the strong symbols of this infamy. The island was occupied by the English from 1804 to 1817, then returned to France. The abolition of slavery was not final in France until 1848. Further south, after Hembourg, the coast of the Petite Côte is cut off by the Saloum gorge. It is a river, 250 km long, which spills into the Atlantic Ocean after forming a delta with the Siné. Joal marks the beginning of the Siné-Saloum, with at the end of the city the island of Fadiout, also known as the Island of Shells, and one of the most beautiful in the country. It is accessed by a pedestrian bridge, which gives it an unequalled tranquility. In the main street, Tennington sells Lalo, a baobab leaf powder that is used in sauces. Sometimes I climb on it to get the leaves, or I use a stick with a hook. I collect the leaves that I dry and peel. On a protected corner of the mangrove, villagers used to store their seeds in these small silos on piloti in the shape of huts. Today they are replaced by plastic bags in a corner of the house. The other singularity of Fadiout is its cemetery, located on another island. Due to lack of space, the cemetery is common to Christians and Muslims. Some baobabs virtually separate the two parties. In the vicinity, Fadial is one of the highest places in the country, since it houses the largest baobab in Senegal, one of its emblems. It is 850 years old and is 32 meters in circumference. The baobab used to be a place of burial for the griots, the tam-tam tappers, who were mummified and then transferred inside the trunk. An abandoned practice since the 1960s. Forty kilometers from Fadiout, in the delta, Mar Lodge is one of the largest islands. The cart is the most convenient mode of transport to travel between villages. The church was built by a Swiss missionary who had dedicated his life to the place, Father René Talman. The most emblematic place is this sacred wood, with an imposing cheesemaker, a reindeer and a caïl cedra that intertwine their trunk. Symbols, the wise say, of the agreement between the three religions practiced on the island, Islam, Christianity and animism. Before the arrival of the mobile phone, communication was made between the villages with this tam-tam. Even if it is no longer used, the demonstration remains discreet to avoid alerting the population. Life here remains rudimentary. We grow millet, peanuts. Fishing also brings a complement of resources. On another part of the island, tourism is slowly appearing. In Nanga Kompoma, the women of the village organized among themselves to improve their living conditions. Today they prepare together the couscous of millet, called tiré, and make jam. Several times sifted, the couscous will then be used to accompany fish or meat. Ami, on her side, finishes the mango jam. It's mango jam. You make it for your family and also to sell to those who cannot make it. At the end of the day, we take out the calabash for a little moment of relaxation. At nightfall, it is time to head to the village of Coeur d'Eden for a Senegalese wrestling tournament. We no longer know which of wrestling or football is the most popular sport in the country. What is obvious is that even at the bottom of the Cine Saloum, wrestlers and spectators influence in numbers. The show begins well before the beginning of the meetings. The wrestlers, full of fetishes, gris-gris, potions of all kinds, start a ceremony led by marabouts. They hope to weaken their opponent and conjure bad luck. Some arrive with dozens of bottles filled with potions with which they drink copiously. Chants and tam-tams are essential. The exciting rhythm is part of the ceremony. The beginning of the fights presents similarities with the Japanese sumo. We watch for a long time. The first to topple his opponent on the back or make him fall on his four supports wins the game. The loser generally makes a big fuss about what happens to him. The Cine Saloum's delta is also a huge ornithological reserve whose richness and diversity of ecosystems make it a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. A few years ago, this natural heritage was dying, suffocated by overfishing. A vast marine park project was then implemented to preserve this formidable ecosystem associating the 14 villages of this territory. A long-term work that is starting to bear fruit. We also take care of the mangrove which has suffered a lot from deforestation. The paletuviae are massively used as fuel for the kitchen. The mangrove has been replanted in several places and is now forbidden to cut green wood. Pelicans, cranes and grits have made their territory a welcoming land for migratory birds. The delta, with its long bays and its canals bordered by mangroves, lives at the pace of the tides. Salt is one of the country's most important resources. The technique used is to dig large holes to let the water evaporate little by little. When the level has dropped enough, women come to pick up the salt, like here in Palmertif-Alcao. Yes, it irritates the legs. You have to be careful and rinse. For the water to appear full of salt, you have to count about a month. As the rainy season approaches, they will leave the village, all this area then becoming impractical to collect the salt. In the delta, it is said that it is an island in the island. The village lives largely in the collection of molluscs, shells, but especially oysters. It naturally multiplies at the foot of the paletuviers. We cook the oysters and then dry them. But we can also eat them simply cooked with a sauce. We sell a large part to merchants who come to buy them. The women of the village spend long hours preparing what the merchants will come to collect in pirogues at the end of the day. When the work is finished, a member of the family, who had left for several weeks in the city. A little further on the island of Janda, the collection of wood is now monitored. You can only bring dead wood and no question of using the machete. The village is famous for its naval site where these famous pirogues used by fishermen are built in sometimes very complicated conditions. The craftsmen have a look and everything is done with esteem. We are now at the southern end of Senegal in Casamance, Aziginchor. Separated from the rest of the country by the Gambia, Casamance has suffered from political troubles that have shaken it for several years. However, it remains one of the most beautiful regions of the country. Its dense and luxurious landscapes, its fertile lands, its multiple streams and its Diola culture, always intact, give this territory a special atmosphere. The beach of the fishermen is probably less lively than the big ports of the country, but every day their return is expected both by the women, ready to scale and sell the fish, and by the birds, aware of everything that could fall from the pirogues. Today, it is the loaches that have the star. In front of the quay, we find all the ingredients that will be able to accompany these fish, peppers, onions, vegetables. At the end of the beach, women open oysters in impressive quantities. Here, they are eaten most often in frying. The market, located in the center, is quite spectacular. The density of vegetable and fruit merchants increases as we approach the covered buildings. Outside, a little apart, these artisans work in peace. They make gris-gris according to the directives of the local government. We lock in these leather, feathers, shellfish, animal skins. At the edge of the meadow, under the first anacardias, the tree that, in addition to the nuts, gives cashew apples, Noëlle Newquay had the idea to take an interest in the apple under which is the famous and precious almond. In general, the exploiters neglect it, despite its sweet taste. She had the idea to pick them up to squeeze them and make juice. The juicer is all there is more artisanal, but it is very effective. A well-placed hydraulic jack, and these are liters of tasty juice that will flow all morning. With the fruit, we can make the juice you saw, we can make the wine, the juice 100% natural, like orange juice. After the juice, we can make wine, we can make other liquors with it. Instead of throwing, after squeezing, instead of throwing everything you see there, we take it, we make it dry, to make everything we can do with wheat flour, we can do it with cashew apple flour. Outside the cashew nuts and its juice, the workshop has other specialties like tamarind juice, ditac juice, banana chips. Its exploitation is regularly cited as an example in the country. The Casamance River generates a delta, just like the Saloon, with its boulders and mangroves that multiply as we approach the sea. Between Zignchor and Ousouyé, the island of Eloubaline houses a rather original village. The houses are much larger than in the rest of the country and house 4 to 5 families. The other particularity of the houses is that they are rainboxes that collect rainwater in their centers. The fence is structured so that the entire central part ends in a cone that will allow a very precious liquid to be collected here, water. The fence will then be covered with rice straw. When the rain falls, water pours inside. This water is where we collect water to drink. In a retaining room, the rice straw is well protected from both the sun and the humidity in the rainy season. Its traditional pines are dyed with the bark of Basékété, a delta tree. The village has 40 houses and 600 inhabitants. Water is a daily concern, especially during the dry season. This large reservoir, initially designed to collect drinking water, has been watered by infiltrations and what is drained is used only for washing or laundry. The drinking water that comes from another reservoir is strictly regulated. There you have the capacity of a single person, 30 liters per mother and 30 liters per father. The village's dwellers are animists. This room at the entrance to the pirogues is a sacred place surrounded by fetishes. Here, an NGO has financed this machine that allows rice to be harvested and the time saved is considerable. The future of this village is largely dependent on the impact of climate change on rains and therefore on water supply. Approaching the Atlantic coast, we enter the Dousouyer kingdom, still in the country of Diola. Its current king, Sibiloumba Indiedou, was enthroned in 2001. He resides in the sacred wood at the entrance to the commune. Only initiates can access it, but he regularly goes out to meet visitors. I am also here waiting for people to come to pray here. I am here as a mediator. I am here to save the indigenous people who have nothing to eat and who come to see me. But we, Diola, don't give anyone anything to eat during the day. No. It's during the night so that the other doesn't know that the other has nothing to eat. Here, I make sacrifices to people. There are several fetishes. The broom is not to sweep the dirt. It's my weapon. But it's not a weapon to hurt someone. It's to separate stories. I meet two big guys who want to fight. They will move away because the little broom is sacred. One of his advisors describes the king as an intermediary with the divine, who receives the offerings, prays and intercedes with the spirits. These days are very busy. In Ediungu, a few hundred meters from the sacred wood, Evelyne Basenet uses the land of the surroundings to make kitchen utensils, pots of different sizes and crutches that the peasants bring to the fields to drink. She is part of the same family as the king. We will have about 72 hours of drying in the shade. In the middle of winter, we have to count three weeks because we have 80% humidity. We have to cook them. After cooking, there is the varnish. It's based on an edible fruit. It's called the apple of Caior. It has been macerated in water for three days. We put water in these crutches for the peasant work because the water stays fresh. So when we need to buy products that are too expensive and we don't have money, sometimes we trade. We give you a container that you have to fill two or three times with peanuts, rice or beans. On the coast, Elinkin is a fishing port a little special. It is mostly used by the Ghanaians who fish mainly for sharks, which the Senegalese refuse to do. They feed a business of screaming sharks that sells at a gold price in Asia. If Guinea-Bissau has banned shark fishing in its waters, it remains in Senegal, just like the Fino consumers, to be aware of this massacre. Cap Skiring is a village located at the end of the Casamance. It was in the 1960s a village of those who lived in Ziginchor, about 70 km away. Today, if tourism is redeveloping, fishing has never stopped. The waters are particularly rich and beyond the Barracudas, the red carps and other carangues, which already have respectable sizes, some catch of tarpon can reach 80 kg. We are still in the territory of Yola, a proud people that has always resisted foreign domination and it is illustrated by its fierce opposition to slavery. At the beginning of May, before the arrival of the first rains, the Gakinem festival is celebrated, the initiation ceremony of young boys. They are dressed in traditional clothes. The village of Essil, between Cap Skiring and Ziginchor, is lucky to still have beautiful forests. Each clan occupies a small part of it. Before access to the Great Circumcision, when they are older, there is a prior initiation which consists of a ceremony. All the members of the family gather with the children. The essential part of the ceremony consists of a sacrifice of chicken by the marabout of the village in front of the mothers and their children. On the other side of the village, we prepare and cook in large containers for a good hundred people. The dances will continue throughout the afternoon, each member of the family being invited to perform somewhere. It is on these festivities that this trip to Senegal ends which will have led us from surprise to surprise. Beautiful and proud, Senegal, if it is poor in resources, is rich in humanity and has been able to make its diversity and its history. As such, it is truly a sage of Africa.