Crates of mangoes from Casamance and bananas from Guinea come off the trucks at the Syndicat market, and the aisles fill with buyers stocking up for half of Dakar. In season, the stalls turn orange with màdd, a sour wild fruit that arrives from as far as Burkina Faso.
Beyond the market, egrets gather in the Technopole wetland, fishermen mend their pirogues at Thiaroye-sur-Mer and wrestling crowds pack the Arène nationale. The climate is hot and semi-arid, with a short rainy season from July to October and long dry months after it. A Local Friend can read the menu, the map and the mood for you, from the stall worth trusting to the wrestling night worth the noise.
