Africa At Last: Our First Day in Senegal

April 2026

Almost three years ago, Parker completed his mission to Accra, Ghana. Brian and I thought it would be pretty cool to pick him up afterwards, meet some of the people he taught, and see where he served. Parker wanted to have the experience of traveling home with fellow missionaries and going back to Ghana at a future date.

Well, between weddings, vacation time, school schedules, and finances, I wasn't sure a trip to Africa would happen another time, but it did. 

Looking back, I am so glad we waited because we were able to visit both Paker's former mission (Ghana) and Chris and Angelique in part of their mission (Senegal). 

What followed was two weeks of family time, new friends, new foods, bumpy roads, unexpected adventures, tender mercies, and memories we'll never forget.

My neck pillow. Parker said I looked like a terrorist.

Parker was a trooper traveling with the 50 and older crowd. 

Brian and I had no shame. We were prepped and overpacked with everything we might need: expensive neck pillows, compression socks, hydration packets, chargers, back up chargers, mini fans, printed itenaries, sunscreen, mosquito repellant, trip insurance,  and more. 

Bri did pull down his cool compression socks eventually. I was wearing pants mine weren't so overt.

About a month before we left, I read something on Reddit that I tucked away for later: Enjoy the adventure. Delays, wrong turns, and unexpected challenges aren't interruptions to the trip—they're part of the trip.

I was grateful for that advice. Most of our trip did flow really smoothly, but when a couple of bigger issues occurred (VRBO scam, forgotten Yellow Fever card, canceled flight etc.), I tried to lean into the "enjoy the adventure" advice.

We didn't have much of an itinerary going for our two week trip...which seemed CRAZY and reckless. We fluffed it up along the way though and we had a great time.

After a twenty hour flight, we arrived in Senegal on Sunday April 5th, Easter morning. It was wonderful to see Chris and Ang on the other side of customs. We eventually made it through and were able to give each other big hugs. 

It just seemed unbelievable that we were reunited in AFRICA. I shared some of the history between Chris, Ang and I in this blog post. What a blessing to be able to visit them on their mission.

The first apartment I reserved for our group was not legitimate...so starting off strong!  Luckily, we were reimbursed and found a really nice three bedroom AirBnb rent. 

Chris and Ang had food and snacks ready, and we enjoyed conference together. It was a wonderful way to spend a good part of the day.

We also went to the Rising Africa monument. I was a little concerned because of my knee, but it held up through 27 flights of stairs-definitely a tender mercy. It felt so good to remember the blessing I had received the week before when my knee was so swollen. I knew I might need to go more slowly, but because of the blessing, I knew it would be okay to at least try join in activities like this.

This monument celebrates Africa's strength, unity and cultural heritage. Inside the statue is a three story museum with artwork that shares African culture throughout many years.  You can also take a very small and somewhat rickety elevator to the top of the  head of the man to look out over the city of Dakar and the Atlantic Ocean. 

The group tour was in French and so Chris quietly translated for us. Our guide was very thurough and informative.

When we got back to our place, I utilized our frozen veggies to keep my knee swelling down.

Chris and Ang prepared a delicious Easter dinner. 

Out of our apartment balcony, we could see this hill with a lighthouse on it. This is the place were Elder Bednar, in 2017, dedicated the country of Senegal for the preaching of the gospel.

After dinner, we wanted to go on a walk to the ocean. We could tell from Google Maps it was really close, but we couldn't really figure out how to get there. Chris was staying back to read and respond to missionary emails, and so it was all up to Angelique. I was so impressed as she used her French to ask people on the streets for directions. She began learning French shortly before they were called to serve as mission leaders in Cote d'Ivoire.

We went down this steep and narrow path that led to the beach....and my knee held up.🩷

There were lots of young men and a few young women exercising on the beach. They were in groups dancing, or sprinting, or doing pushups. 

Mosquito born illnesses such as Malaria and Yellow Fever are concerns in West Africa, and they were out in full force so we didn't stay long. 

Our walk to the ocean was a nice way to end our first day in Senegal.