What is interesting here is that there is both the ocean and the Sassandra river. A must when visiting Sassandra is a trip down the Sassandra river in a pirogue, which is what we are doing in this picture. It is a very scenic trip. Peaceful at some points, like when you begin at 7 in the morning, but there are some rough spots as well. This is a mangrove tree seen from our trip down the Sassandra river.
Mangroves are very interesting plants.
They are fascinating in their ability to actually create land. The roots grow deep into the water and then new mangroves are fertilized. As the mangroves move farther out into the water, the old ones eventually die off and actually make fertile soil for new plants to grow. These can be found throughout the coast of West Africa. According to the Lonely Planet West Africa guide, the best place to see them is in The Gambia, but I think this was a pretty good up-close shot.