Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Dakar, Senegal, December 4, 2018

Coffee anyone?  Mobile stands are on many street corners with instant coffee for sale-


Walking to the ferry to go to Gorée Island, we passed the onion shops.  There were many with stacks and stacks of bags-


Approaching Gorée Island-



La Statue de la Liberation de l'Esclavage was erected in 2002 and was a gift from Guadeloupe.  It stands along the street to the Slave House-



The Slave House-


was run by Anne Pepin who was one of the best known signares.  Signares are mixed race women who ran large households and engaged in trade, including the selling of human beings for shipment to the Americas.  They were also known for their beautiful clothing and distinguished by their distinctive peaked headdresses-


It is estimated that 33,000 slaves were transported to the Americas through the slave houses.  The one we visited wasn't the only one on the island.  In this particular one, 100 - 200 people were held captive at one time.  The family lived on the top floor and the slaves in small cachots on the main floor.

The Door of No Return-


dropped out into the ocean-


The first public sale of African slaves was in 1444 in Lagos Portugal, the first direct ship to the Americas was in 1518 and the last country to abolish slavery was Brazil in 1888.  Slaves were taken to the Americas and sold, tobacco, sugar and cotton were purchased and taken back to Europe-


Slave routes to Central and South America-


  Handcuffs used on the slaves-


A neck cuff-


And cuffs for the ankles-


Whipping was permitted and regulated by the Code Noir which said a slave could only be whipped 29 times.  Anyone could be whipped, including pregnant women.  Holes were dug in the sand to accommodate their bellies.

In 2017, it was estimated by the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery that today, there are over 40 million people still enslaved world wide for  forced labour, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.  71% are women and young girls.


After my visit to the Slave House, I wandered around the island.  There are no cars so it is very peaceful-




 inspite of all the hawkers.  Monkey fruit hangs waiting to be picked-


This bush has thick, glossy leaves-


On my way to the lookout, I walked up a hill which was lined with beautiful paintings.  I was tempted but didn't-



There are huge cannons up on top-


Looking down on Gorée-


Looking back to Dakar-


We took the 2 pm ferry back to Dakar, walked to the hotel and waited while Richard went to the Sierra Leone Embassy to pick up our passports.  It was a short 1h10 minute taxi ride back to the campsite.  We were lucky because it took a group 4 hours to go in this morning.  

Lac Rose is so named because it's supposed to be pink.  It's also the end of the Paris to Dakar Rally-



If you look hard you can see some pink!

This lovely woman tried her best to sell me something-


The lake is surrounded by piles of salt-



Looking forward to Palmarin to a beach campsite!

P.S.



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