Getting out of the city of Dakar is a joke.
It doesn't matter whether you want to drive north or south on the coast, everyone has to essentially travel on the same one road to get out of town. Depending on the traffic, it can take as little as 50 minutes or as long as 2+ hours just to get to the junction where you continue straight for the northern road or take a right to head down south.
Anyway, there's one place on the road out of town that I call the bridge. It is where 3-4 lanes (depending on the number of lanes drivers make that day) merge into one and continue over something that looks like a two lane bridge to me. At this spot, you're guaranteed to sit in traffic awhile as you inch your way forward. Walking vendors take advantage of the fact that your car is stopped/you're a captive audience, and they walk by with various wares for sale (fruit themed shower curtains, mini fire extinguishers, nuts, fruit, underwear, sunglasses, soccer balls, matches, religious posters, cookies, etc.). Being a toubab, I usually get to peruse all the goods.
And, I'm usually so bored of the traffic that I eventually buy a few things!
