The most memorable sight on the first day of our tour, October 21, 2023, was the "slave castle" on Goree Island, near Dakar. Slaves were gathered from throughout West Africa into forty prisons along the Atlantic Coast. Ships from many Western nations--Portugal, Britain, Spain, America--collected the slaves, chained them into the holds of ships, and transported them across the Atlantic to Brazil, the Caribbean, or the United States. Some 50% of the human beings captured as slaves died before reaching their new home.
The slaves were separated by age and sex and stored in dank, basement prisons until the slave ships arrived, daily at some slave castles and every few weeks or longer at others.
We looked through the "Door of No Return," through which slaves walked onto waiting boats to transport them to the slave ships. Leaders of many nations have visited this spot--Presidents Obama, Clinton, Macron, and others.
The view across the vast Atlantic from the slave castle.
The slave processors lived in luxury right above the slaves.
We came to Goree Island by ferry from Dakar.
"These pastel houses look like the Caribbean!" I exclaimed. Our guide was quick to point out that the Caribbean, where slaves were sent, looks like Africa, rather than vice versa.
Senegal became a French colony in the 1700s.Although Senegal is predominantly Muslim, there are beautiful Catholic churches in the cities, and French is the national language of Senegal.
Our local guide came from Casamance, in southern Senegal, but now lives in Dakar. We later visited his parents' home in Casamance.
We walked to the hill at the top of Goree Island along a path lined with baobab trees, the iconic African tree of the Sahel (the savannah lands bordering the Sahara Desert).
Goree Island now has an artist's colony, and there were sculptures along our path.
An artist sold sand paintings under a tree near the hilltop.
Guns from World War II still guarded the island, at the entrance to the Dakar harbor. The Germans were a threat not only to Europe, but to Africa. Some of the heaviest fighting of the war was along the coast of North Africa.
Earlier in the day, we visited the Dakar Cathedral. African cities have some stunningly beautiful architecture, along with some stunning poverty.
I love stained glass windows, and the ones in the cathedral were modern and magnificent.
We passed the railroad station, where trains transported produce from inland Africa to Dakar to be shipped abroad. Communications between West African countries have been hampered because of colonialism's imprint--the national languages vary from French to English to Portuguese, and the colonial administrators did not cooperate in building transnational roads and railways.
After leaving Goree Islan, we visited the Musee des Africains Noires, which included both traditional and modern African art, as well as displays on African history and modern development.
Colonialism and slavery were common themes of modern African art.
The traditional displays included this beautifully carved casket. The carvings depicted the deceased's position and achievements.
Our guide, Claude, has led tours through West Africa more than twenty times. He also speaks fluent French, since he is French-Canadian. Claude was excellent--well-organized, knowledgeable, shrewd in navigating through complicated situations. He carried a money belt of cash which he doled out to our local guides for bribes as we moved through customs. "This is Africa," he said again and again, as the buses we were assigned were nothing like the ones ordered, came without air conditioning, or broke down.
Claude also arranged special treats for us, such as this dance performance in a local park. The dancers were dressed in the colors of the Senegalese flag.
The highlight of West African dances, we found, was when the monsters appear. They are always masked and are often covered with shaggy hair, which they swing about as they dance.
This creature even turned cartwheels!
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