Hades, as in 'Hotter than...'

Kedougou, Senegal

Average High for past 7 days: 110°F
Average Low for past 7 days: 78°F

It is 2:30pm and I raise my head to check the thermometer as the immortal words of Janis Joplin drift from my iPod, I'm gonna try just a little bit harder. The mercury is bubbling under 106°F and I drop back into my sprawled pose. Words like these come to mind as the heat passes over my body and reduces me to a puddle. Hot winds from the Sahara blow through town, whipping up dust devils so hot it feels like standing down wind from an inferno. Days are spent like collapsing dominoes, sweating in the shade, soaking my clothes with water only to evaporate within minutes, drifting in and out of sleep. The water shortage has begun again. Water dries up after 8 am, not available again until night. Each day, a half of a bucket to wash, a half of a bucket to drink. I have been finding solace floating down the Gambia River in a life vest. Sure there are crocodiles and schistosomiasis, but it seems like a reasonable risk to take for a moment of relief. Children gather on the shoreline to watch us swim as women beat laundry on the soap splattered rocks. I have abandoned and boycotted the pool in town at the French resort. Too much colonialist snobbery, I prefer the river and the locals. Laying on my flotation device calling Pulaar greetings to those on the river banks sends laughter to echo as the sun turns my skin a sweet caramel brown.