Dakar lies in one of the world's most strategic locations, being the most westerly point in Africa, making it the nearest point to Brazil in South America. You may ask why we will compare Dakar, Senegal, to Richmond, Virginia, where we lived for 25 years. Two major reasons: first, the city has incredibly beautiful sections and attractions while it also has areas that you would not want to go into after dark; and second, it is associated with the slave trade while Richmond was the Capital of the Confederacy that fought to continue slavery. Sara was involved in a slave walk as part of the Leadership Metro Richmond training program that reminded her of feelings of sorrow that she had when we saw the Gate of No Return on the Ile de Goree, the most impressive stop on our tour.
Before we took the ferry to the island, our guide gave us a city tour. We drove past the Presidential Palace, the Parliament and Independence Square, where the residents celebrate every holiday, including Easter that was yesterday. He told us that the lion was the emblem of Senegal. We visited the Catholic Cathedral, a large white church in art deco style, that offered magnificent stained glass windows and a painting of Christ's ascending to Heaven with people watching all around its interior dome. We passed the Great Mosque, built in Moroccan style, which is only open for prayers on Friday. Our guide informed us that the Muslims in Senegal are very liberal because men worship on one side while women worship on the other. In some Muslim countries, the women were not allowed in the mosques. When we were driving through Chinatown, our guide told us the Chinese were welcomed because they provided the residents with products from China to sell.
We learned we were visiting during the winter season so the temperature was in the 70s, coffee was made with pepper, malaria was a problem during the rainy season when too many mosquitoes appeared, voodoo from the West Coast of Africa was a popular religion and only 0.7 percent of the population has HIV-AIDs, a very low percentage. The unemployment rate was 38 percent, the crime rate was low, not many people smoke, and the country had virtually no problem with drugs. At the schools, which were on holiday on Easter Monday, all courses were taught in French. English was the second language with knowing English being a requirement for entrance to high school. We noticed a young girl, probably about 12, dancing on the porch of her home to what seemed to be a hip-hop beat. Her expression could have been seen anywhere in the world on a holiday from school or work.
We stopped at the Center Painting Gallery to discover the colorful Senegalese art of sand painting in which only natural colors of sand from different areas are used--24 different colors in all. That artist put glue on the section of the picture he wanted to cover and then drizzled the sand on by hand. The owner offered us four pictures for the price of three. When a fifth passenger inquired about a painting, we tried to convince him to give us a price break on five pictures, but he did not seem to understand our concept. We passed a statue that represents both World War I and World War II because all African troops debarked here for France.
We passed police officers exercising on the beach. Our guide commented, "Usually in Senegal, people are very thin but those are some fat policemen." Magic Land on the beach was a carnival environment that comes alive on Saturday night. Then we arrived at the port for the ferry to Ile de Goree, formerly known as Beer, where we were befriended by several women with small children who lived in Dakar but worked on the island. They made us promise we would come to their shops on the island after our tour.
The private guide we had on the island told us that 20 million blacks from all along the western coast of Africa left this island for the Americas while 6 million died there because of lack of medical treatment and dehydration. On the island was a statue of a man and woman who had been liberated that was donated by the government of Gaudalope where many of the slaves were transported. People from all the Americas come here as a pilgrimage to honor their ancestors.
The island had 28 slave houses, with the first having been built in 1536 and the last built by the Dutch in 1776, the one that we toured. Between 150 and 200 slaves lived in cells on the lower floor, separated by sex and age, for as long as three months before they were shipped to the Americas. These slaves were given a number, not a name, and often took or, rather, borrowed the name of their owners. The cell for the men was 2.6 by 2.6 meters where 15 to 20 men sat on the floor, chained to the walls. Men had to weigh at least 130 pounds or they were placed in a separate cell where they were fed to fatten them. The virgin girls, who were worth the most at a cost of four times more than married women, had a restroom facility inside the cell, while the other slaves were taken to the beach to relieve themselves. How could the masters define a virgin girl? She did not have sagging breasts. The Cellule des Recalcitrants for the slaves that misbehaved was where Nelson Mandela spent 20 minutes meditating when he visited the island after being elected the president of South Africa.
Sadness overcame us as we viewed the Doorway of No Return. The slaves were lined up one by one in the corridor awaiting the boat that would take them away from Africa forever. Some slaves tried to escape by jumping in the water but the guards who were there with guns shot them. The Holocaust lasted 12 years while slavery continued for more than 300 years. When Pope John Paul II visited the island, the residents told him, "We forgive but will never forget." How could the traders have lived upstairs with all the misery happening downstairs? The only explanation is that they truly believed that the blacks were people without a soul so they had to treat them as slaves and less than humans. It is so unimaginable that anyone could think that way.
Outside, our island guide pointed out the upside-down tree that is the symbol of Senegal. Because the inside is hollow, the residents buried the dead inside the tree, which only sprouts leaves during the rainy season. We also saw the cliffs where scenes from the movie The Guns of Navarone were filmed. Nearby was a Muslim mosque. We did not have to consider how to find the shops of the women whom we had met on the ferry because they found us and implored us to buy their necklaces and other items that they carried. When one woman on our tour purchased two necklaces, Sara stopped to help her fasten them around her neck. Our island guide reprimanded both women like they were naughty schoolgirls and shouted at the vendors to leave us alone. Two vendors approached Diana, one on each side, to tell her not to listen to our guide because he wanted to take us to a market where he would receive a commission. Probably true. It seemed as if everyone in Africa had their hand out for a bribe. There is actually a word for the greasing of the palm.
When we were getting ready to leave the island, the woman in the purple outfit whom Ken had talked to at the ferry terminal, ran after Sara with two necklaces she wanted her to buy. Sara, who usually bought items after determining what the lowest price the vendor would accept just to get the vendor to stop harassing her, did not want the necklaces so she said "No" very firmly. So Ken bought the two necklaces. Then the guide on the island approached each of us for a tip, sometimes several times.
After we took the ferry back to our van, our tour guide pointed out a large soccer stadium, which seats 60,000, that was a gift from the Chinese. And our country wonders why China has made such advances as a world power! We also were amazed by one of the most impressive statues we had ever seen, the Monument de la Renaissance Africane. The bronze statue, which was conceived by the president of Senegal, paid for by the government of the country and built by North Koreans, depicts one man, one woman and one child as the best number for a family. That way the man can provide for his family, the woman can have more freedom and the child can receive the best care.
We passed the Mosque of the Divinity, which was unique because it was built along the beach so the fishermen in their boats can come every Friday to pray. Our last stop was the handicraft market where the vendors seemed to hassle everyone but Bev, who actually purchased a beautiful beaded necklace. She told the rest of us that we need to learn to create a bubble around us so we did not have vendors harassing us. Bev also promised to take Ken shopping on our next port in Africa, Casablanca, to teach him how to do it.
Sara's new criteria for judging how much she enjoyed a port now involved whether we ended the tour without a policeman boarding our bus or van to drag off a passenger for taking illegal pictures. According to these standards, this port would receive a "good" rating. The sites that we saw and the information we learned earned it an "outstanding" rating.
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