After church we took a taxi to the port in Dakar to catch a ferry to Goree Island. During the slave trade thousands of Africans were taken from the island and sent to the Americas to be slaves. The ferry to Goree from Dakar was packed and vendors tried to sell their goods to the passengers. When we got to the island we got off the ferry and found a cute restaurant by the water where we could eat lunch. Just during lunch we were approached about 20 times by 6 or 7 different vendors trying to get us to buy something from them. But we didn’t cave in, even when one of them offered to fix the sole of my sandal that was beginning to fall apart! After lunch we walked around the island for about an hour. The buildings on the island were gorgeous! They were all built with Portuguese and French influences and painted with very bright colors! There were no motorized vehicles on the island, so all the “streets” were more like alleyways. If I get the chance to come back to Africa, I would love to stay in a hotel on Goree and explore more of the island. After we walked around the island we walked back to the restaurant/hotel where we ate lunch so we could use its “nice” restroom. When the 3 of us walked in the building, one of the waiters asked if I was Jonathan’s second wife…
One of the main tourist spots on Goree is the “door of no return.” Before slaves left Goree they were all housed in one building. The door of no return was the door through which the slaves left the building to be put on ships bound for the Americas. They never returned to Africa.
After a long, hot day we were so lucky to find that we had both water and power at the house! Taking advantage of the water, I decided to take my second shower of the day :)
The port/beach at Goree
One of the streets on Goree
This statue symbolizes the end of slavery
Standing in the "door of no return"
Some of the gorgeous, old buildings on the island
Excellent blogging... even if you did leave off the fawt that it was 104°!!
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