Notes from Hades

ell, this last month has seen me travel to what is arguably my most exotic destination: Senegal. The meeting took place at a resort south of Dakar near a town called Saly. The resort itself was very nice, and the food was quite good – mostly French inspired since Senegal was a former French colony. Since I was staying at the same resort at which the meetings were being held, there was very little reason for me to leave the resort, and in fact I didn't. However, on the Friday afternoon, and on the following Saturday, the organizers had arranged some side trips, which I did avail myself of. The Friday trip was to the Bandia Game Reserve, a small wild animal reserve near Saly. We went at dusk since most of the animals are most active at that time. The reserve included several animals that are not native to Senegal, but that are native to Africa in general, such as giraffe, rhinoceros, and impala. The park was also studded with baobob trees – something of a national symbol of Senegal. These are towering, twisted looking trees with large, hollow trunks that produce thigh-sized fruit. Overall, it was probably my favorite part of the trip.

The next day, we took a boat to Goree Island. This is an island off the coat of Dakar, which was a major center of the slave trade during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It was also one of locations in which the movie The Guns of Navarone was filmed, a fact of which the locals seemed quite proud. We toured the island, including an old slave house (quite chilling, seeing the condition that the people were kept in), and the fortress at the top of the island.

We got back to Dakar at about 3:30 that afternoon. However, our flight was not leaving until 2:10 the next morning, so one of our colleagues who was staying an extra day offered to let us park our luggage at his hotel, and we walked around the city for a while. We saw the presidential palace, and a number of market places around the city. A local appointed himself our unofficial tour guide, and of course, eventually directed us to his shop. All through the afternoon, we were intermittently mobbed by street vendors. In fact, toward the end, one vendor was trying to sell us a guitar-like instrument. He followed us for about two miles, barganing himself down from 300,000 CFA (about $600), to 10,000 CFA (about $20) before one of our party who spoke French explained to him that we really didn't want to buy anything and that we weren't just bargaining with him.

Overall, it was an interesting trip. It makes me glad that my job affords me the opportunity to travel to places like this, but it also makes me appreciate what I have here at home.

The next deadline is Tuesday, January 13 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Please do not call or fax orders after 10:00 p.m. Pacific time. My wife and I tend to retire early. Also, if you want to fax in orders, call first. We hang up on unannounced faxes.

Frontier Dog. Gunslinger .Scenario to be determined. Have Paul Bolduc, Chris Geggus, Mike Scott, and Andy Lewis, will take up to 3 more.

Pateel. Kremlin. Will start after Flea Collar ends. Have Ward Narhi, Mike Scott, Bill Scharf, Bob Robles, Pasquale Giovine, and Gina Teh. This game is full.

Hunter. Silverton. Will start after Terrier ends. Have Dave Partridge, Michael Longdin, Ward Narhi, Cary Nichols, Bill Scharf, and Dave Hooton. This game is full.

Procyon. Merchant of Venus. Have Dave Partridge, Bob Robles, Chris Geggus, Gina Teh, Dennis Cain, and Andy Lewis. This game is full.

Robover. Robo Rally. Have Dave Partridge, Bill Scharf, Chris Geggus, Dave Hooton, Gina Teh, Ward Narhi, Michael Longdin, and Chris Geggus. This game is full. Starts this issue!

Husky. Power Grid. Have Andy York, Michael Longdin, Dave Partridge, Dave Hooton, and Brad Martin, will take up to 1 more.

Dogbreath. History of the World. Have Chris Geggus, Dave Partridge, Gina Teh, and Andy Lewis, will take up to 3 more.

Basset. Outpost. Will start after Hound ends. Have Andy York, Cary Nighols, Dave Partridge, Dave Hooton, Eric Brosius, Andy Lewis, and Michael Lowrey, will take up to 3 more.

Bolognese. Machiavelli. Gunboat. This game will start after the next Machiavelli game ends. Have 5, will take up to 3 more.

Industrial Waste. Have Andy York and Dave Partridge, will take up to 2 more.

Machiavelli. This game will start after the second Machiavelli game ends. Have Ward Narhi, Bob Robles, Pasquale Giovine, and Dave Partridge, will take up to 4 more.

New World. This will use the exploration variant, plus the Non-Player Nations variant in the event I get less than 6 players. Have Andy York, Andy Lewis, and Dave Partridge, will take up to 3 more.

In general, game ownership is recommended, but not required.

Note that a subscription to S.O.B. is not required to play in a game run by flier, but that a game fee will be charged to non-subbers.

S.O.B. is a zine of unusual postal games, and anything else I feel like including. Your publisher is:

Chris Hassler a.k.a. Cerberus

2000 S. Armour Court

La Habra, CA 90631

Phone: (562) 690-7827

Fax: (562) 690-7827

chassler@roadrunner.com

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