Blogs from Gorée Island, Cape Verde Peninsula, Senegal, Africa

28 février De retour à Dakar, j'organise mon départ pour aller, cette fois, passer deux nuits sur l'île de Gorée, baignant dans l'océan tout au sud de la ville. (l'île de N'Gor était, elle, située tout au nord). C'est Abdoulaye le taximan qui me déposera au port de Dakar. De là, un traversier plein à fendre m'amènera sur Gorée, l'incontournable lieu touristique du Sénégal. La majeure partie des visiteurs s'y rendent pour la journée seulement, pour ensuite retourner à Dakar le soir venu. Pour ma part, je prévois y passer deux nuits, question de palper l'ambiance de l'île après le départ du dernier traversier. Sans surprise, je pose pied sur Gorée accompagné d'une vague de vacanciers majoritairement sénégalais ou français. De curieux voyageurs blancs habillés d'un beige safari ou vêtus de toges à l'africaines brillent dans ... read more

Well, we survived our last few days in Koungheul, a few horribly long days in Kaolack with no electricity, no water, nowhere to go and nothing to do , and we're now back in lovely Dakar. Things that once seemed so run-down, strange, and dirty to Mom now seem clean, in great condition, and highly advanced after two weeks out in smaller towns. It's all about perspective. We drove back to Dakar in a taxi in the middle of a ridiculous downpour. I was worried our taxi driver just wouldn't show up to drive us due to the awful weather, but he was just late because the guy who gives out authorization to leave the city overslept. Oh, Senegal. Driving between Kaolack and Dakar is a bit like a video game. You need to dodge the ... read more

Ils Du Goree ıs located just off the coast of Dakar, though ıt feels lıke a mıllıon miles away from the cıty. It´s peaceful and quıte, fresh and surrounded by clean crystal water. The colonıal strustures that have been destroyed around the maınland stıll stand on Goree and make for beautıful scenery. The ısland ıs unfortuntaly famous for ıt´s connectıon wıth the slave trade. It´s true hıstory ıs a lıttle merky, and the actual extent of the the ıslands ınvolvment ıs unclear, but ın any case ıt has 2 museums that clearly dısplay the gruesome detaıls of the slave trade and serves as a neccessary remınder of the events of the past. We stayed ın a hotel that felt more lıke a southern plantatıon than the stınky hostels we became accustomed too. There were huge wındows ... read more

I had been looking forward to going to Gorée Island since I first read about it in my guidebook. I knew it was an important port in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, but I did not know how fabulous the rest of the island was going to be. The day started off late. Of course. Senegal is so laid back that sometimes it seems like time stands still. We were supposed to be at school at 7:45am, which of course meant we left at 9, thereby missing the 9am ferry which left from the port on the other side of town. Once at the port, we were hearded like cattle through the gates to a ferry that was barely tethered to the dock. We had to leap across to the boat and then fight for a seat ... read more