Blogs from Dakar, Cape Verde Peninsula, Senegal, Africa

http://www.heygo.com 2nd March - Gorée Island: UNESCO World Heritage Site - Dakar, Senegal The Island of Gorée, lying 3.5 KM off the coast of Dakar, was one of the first places in Africa Europeans occupied. It is well known as the former center of the European slave trade between the 15th and 19th centuries, and is now a pilgrimage destination for the African diaspora around the world. History tells the story that the island was a launching point to the "New World" for captured slaves from all over Africa. Gorée continued to be an important place post-slavery as a space for exchange between The West and Africa. Today it stands as a powerful symbol of history, reconciliation, forgiveness, and love. Alune was our guide and it was very moving listening how the house of slaves, now ... read more

Centre-ville - Place de l'indépendance... read more

A pink lake, which is not very pink, a colonial city, which lacks colonial buildings, and an old town, which is not so old Here comes the second blog entry from our Christmas/New Year vacation in the Gambia and Senegal. Since we spent much more time in Senegal than in the Gambia we also have more to write about from there. We will divide the Senegal part of the trip into four separate blog entries. This one will focus on three places: Lake Retba, Dakar and Saint-Louis. Lake Retba Lake Retba is a lake just north of Dakar which is a popular place to visit for people who travel in Senegal. There is a beach near the hotels/resorts and there are several activities you can do but the main attraction is the lake itself. Lake Retba ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Dakar, capital of Senegal, and home to around 3 million of Senegal’s population of around 14 million. It also happens to sit on the westernmost point of Africa, on a small triangular-shaped peninsular which juts out from the African mainland into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a beautifully sited city, and this was evident from the stunning views seen from the aeroplane as we came into land on Tuesday evening – a city lit up by countless street lights, surrounded by an ocean of darkness all around. A beautiful arrival into my first port-of-call on my West African journey this year. My prediction in my last blog entry was indeed correct – whilst Dakar is only a 4.5 hour flight from Europe, it could not be more different from comparative urban European ... read more

Pour la première fois je vais enfin sur l’ile de Ngor. Nous arrivons sur la côte en taxis, je fais la traversée à la nage. 700m me sépare de l’île, je fais l’aller-retour avec joie dans cette mer transparente et encore chaude pour la saison. Abi nous rejoint ensuite. Il s’agit d’une diplomate américaine qui travaille à l’ambassade. Elle est d’origine mexicaine. Ses oncles sont en prison, trafiquants et membres du Cartel qu’ils sont. Elle a dû en voir de toutes les couleurs dans son enfance, pourtant elle s’extasie facilement et c’est très agréable de pouvoir rire et discuter avec cette jeune fille de mon âge. C’est elle qui nous a lancé dans l’aventure du baptême de plongée. Elle ne s’est pas du tout écoutée dans cette histoire. Elle a vu la mer pour la première ... read more