 Mory, a cowherd who rides a motorcycle mounted with a cow s skull, and Anta, a university student, have met in Dakar, Senegal s capital. Alienated and disaffected with Senegal and Africa, they long to go to Paris and work up different con schemes to raise the money. Mory steals clothing and money from a wealthy gay man who had brought him home, and he and Anta book passage on a ship to France.