Saturday, March 25, 2011
Dakar, Senegal
We waited for the tours to leave the ship before rushing off to catch a ferry for a twenty minute ride to the Ile de Goree. It was an active hub in the slave trade for 350 years, until slavery was outlawed in Senegal. Future West African slaves were transferred to slave ships bound for America from Goree Island. The “slave house”, a typical colonial era structure still stands as a reminder to all. Human “cargo” was stored below and the merchant family lived in the upper floor. Up to 200 people were kept in the small cells.
You won’t find any pictures of Goree Island in this blog… as we were accosted immediately upon stepping off the gangway. We told one guy “NO” and he started screaming at me to not say no, and that we were all the same people, and that if we paid him he would protect us. We continued to walk to the port exit on our way to the ferry terminal and the guy got even closer and was actually grabbing Barney’s arm. At that point we just turned around and headed back into the port area. The guy grumbled something in a very aggressive manner and finally walked away. To distance ourselves from him, we stayed around the area that had been set up by vendors to “market” their wares to anyone who left the ship. These vendors, too, were very aggressive and made us both feel uncomfortable.
The ship had arranged a free shuttle bus to take any passengers/crew into town. We decided to ride it in but once we reached “Independence Square”, the drop-off location, we quickly decided to stay on the bus and people watch. What an experience! the hassling and hawking was worse than we have ever experienced. The official language is French, but everyone, including the children, had an English version of “dollar”, “buy now”, “help my baby”, and “I love you”. The passengers who did leave the bus were back on in seconds…….so much for a lovely trip to town.
Since we don’t plan on returning to this port, we will share a few facts for those students of geography following along with the journey. The country of Senegal is shaped like a human silhouette, the outline’s “mouth” is the Gambia, and Dakar is the tip of the “nose”. The highest point is only 1,000 feet above sea level. Dakar is a city of 1-2 million people. They say the “smell of roasting peanuts permeates the air” – well, we aren’t sure that we agree. People all over Senegal are said to be proud of their “teranga” or hospitality…someone should tell the local folk in Dakar. To be perfectly fair – Dakar is not a common place for cruise ships to dock so maybe they just need time to adjust. The old saying “make hay while the sun shines” is no doubt how they feel about capturing the heart and money of the tourists. For now, Dakar seems to be a place where you can be “taken for a ride” both literally and figuratively.
After this highly organized chaos, the two days at sea will be a welcome relief.
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