My Visit to Urban & Rural Senegal- Including Something Tourists NEVER Get to See

Some video footage of a couple of parts of my trip to Senegal. The first is of the Sandaga Market in Dakar. I show the heart of the traditional market that is more common in smaller towns. The second video is of my visit to a small village that tourists never go to, and I got invited to go to a traditional event that is common in rural Senegal, but generally off limits to tourists.

0:00 Intro
0:35 Backstory to village footage
6:51 Sandaga Market, Dakar
9:34 Small Village Wrestling Competition (no tourists- I was invited by locals)
12:48 Outro

[MikeP]

It might not be optimal for getting polished video, but the *quality* of real, honest to goodness, slice of life, man-on-the-street content you're able to film under these much more natural conditions is well worth it.
I enjoy the heck outta seeing what the lives of folks around the world look like. This was very enjoyable.

[JackyVSO]

What a great adventure! I totally get this desire to go where no one expects you. I did the same once in China - went to a remote town and just started walking out of the town and into the countryside. I didn't find quite as great a spectacle as you did but ended up visiting a picnic/barbecue spot and got invited home for lunch by the owner's brother. They said they'd never had a foreign visitor before. It just feels more real when you know no one there has a plan for you.

[holdenackerman]

Kyle - I’m truly glad you got to go on this trip. I called Senegal home for two years and it was the best experience of my life, the people are the kindest and most hospitable I’ve ever known. Such a cool experience you got to have - soccer is the most popular sport by participation but wrestling is the national sport with strong historic significance.
“Lutte” is its French-inspired moniker, “Laamb” is its name in Wolof, my host family was Pulaar and we called it “Cippirgol.” I got to practice it and it’s the most difficult martial art I’ve ever done - if anything other than your feet touch the ground, you’re out. Let’s just say, I was not very good, much to the amusement of my host village.
I never got definitive answers as to why the matches often start at night. The best answer I got was that the match days are contested on dates of significance and starting at sundown (the beginning of the day in Islam) brings good fortune. Every contest was an occasion - there was always significance to the date.
As for the tent wall they put up, the short answer is it keeps out women. I’m not sure if there’re ever cases in which women observe the contests, for instance they are very popular when aired on television. But I never saw a woman at a match, and I didn’t see any in your video. Senegalese culture does practice a good deal of social segregation based on sex, especially where a male rite of passage is concerned. Early in the matches, boys as young as twelve go out to practice and the people dress it out as a male-only space.
Look up Lutte online if you’ve never seen it. The rituals before a match are full of dancing, drumming, and pageantry enough to rival anything in the WWE.

[lemuret]

Fantastic! Thanks for taking us somewhere most of us won't get to visit,

[MackB]

Kyle, thanks so much for sharing. It’s great to see places that so many of us don’t get to see. I love seeing your enthusiasm and personal story of your experience. And the view against the light was awesome and imo provided more mystique in the wrestling. Great video! 👍

[justinlane]

What a treat to be invited to experience another culture like that. Very cool!

[RobOlgatree]

Hi Kyle, thank you for another great look into Africa

[bnthern]

in 1964 I was in the navy and we stopped to get mail in Gabon and the mail plane was late so we went to the main street to see a world different then we knew! Your photos recalled that time for me!!
thank you

[jazzcatjohn]

Very cool content! Thank you for sharing it!

[kevinahrens]

Wow very interesting video! Thanks for sharing the video and explaining your time in Senegal. Love your videos! Keep up the great work!

[josher-chsf]

Howdy Kyle! It's always a pleasure to see your new uploads

[markswishereatsstuff]

Slick content isn't what makes me come here. It's the knowledge, man!

[aidaallen]

Thank you for the authenticity! Always preferred! What an honor!

[christophejergales]

This channel is so damn awesome. Thanks for all the hard work. Wish you the best.

[leestamm]

Great stuff, Kyle. Thanks for putting it together.

[JimmyNasium]

Thanks for sharing, Kyle. Real treat.

[StamfordBridge]

What an amazing and cool experience you had! Thanks for sharing!

[route]

Trying to figure out if that was freestyle (Olympic), or if Senegal developed something similar. Either case as someone who did wrestling myself, that was incredible to watch. Thank you for showing us that.

[mobyjoe]

You're one of the bravest geography nerds going into the unknown the way you did.

[stuartrollings]

Very interesting! Thanks for the in-depth view of the area!