Dakar, Senegal

Today we were in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal. Senegal is a relatively small country of only 13 million people, but Dakar is a big city by any measures, with over 3 million people. The city itself is a combination of old and new, but still looks generally pretty dilapidated.

MICHAEL:

I signed up for all day tour and it was exhausting, although the weather was as perfect as it could be. We began with a brief bus ride over to the ferry terminal, and boarded a ferry for the 20 minute, 3 km ride over to Goree Island. 

Goree Island 

This place is infamous as it was the principal staging area and point of transportation for slaves to be sent all over the western world.  I have to say it was a pretty sobering experience. The island was originally colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th century, and ultimately was held by the French. The buildings are very old, but all in all, extremely picturesque. 

The High Point of the visit to Goree Island is the slave house.  You can see where the slaves were kept in horrible conditions on the first floor of what appeared to be a beautiful home, where the slave traders all lived upstairs in luxury. The slaves were segregated by sex and age, and those two thin to meet the requirements of the ultimate purchaser were literally fattened up here before the trip to the western world. Still intact was  the “door of no return,” through which all the slaves passed never to see Africa again in their lives. It was really sad.

Beautiful home on top

Slave quarters

Slave quarters 

The Door of no Return 

We also visited the Christian church, several monuments, the historical museum, all on the way to a delicious lunch at a very nice restaurant on the beach. The visit to the museum would’ve been much more enjoyable had not every description of every item been in French only. In fact, there was a man there giving a detailed description of everything we were seeing, but it too was in French. 

Catholic Church 

People who live on the island raise goats. They take them down to the sea, to bathe them.

Goats going for a bath 

We then boarded a very crowded ferry for the short trip back to the mainland and our waiting bus. It was now time for a brief tour of Dakar, the high point of which was the Monument to African Resistance.  This is an immense bronze statute over 171 feet high.  It is a striking image of a man and woman celebrating their freedom.  The project was not without controversy.  First of all, it cost $27 million which Senegal didn’t have. They ended up having to pay for it with 20 hectors of land that they desperately needed. Second, it was constructed by a North Korean company. Third, for some inexplicable reason, the sculpture decided to leave one of the woman’s boobs hanging out — go figure!

We drove by a beautiful mosque, almost all of the foreign embassies in the country, the presidential Palace, the supreme court, the Parliament house, and of course, a market where people could spend money. Finally, and I mean finally, it was time to get back to the ship and sit down for a while.

BEVERLY:

I had done this exact tour in April 2019 so I did not feel the need to do it again as I knew it was quite rugged.  I decided to save my strength for upcoming ports that I have never been to. I still have a lot of issues with walking and pain so I have to monitor my physical output. 

I spent a lazy morning reading the news, and then finally got dressed and sat on deck seven (the pool deck) and spent the rest of the morning knitting. I had the whole pool deck to myself. Had lunch at the Grill and then decided to go into the spa pool and soak for a little while. Showered and came back to the room and continued to knit. I am so close to finishing Michael’s sweater.