West Africa Odyssey 2012 - Senegal

Senegal: Dakar and 2 Days At Sea

April 21 - 23, 2012

Aboard National Geographic Explorer

Saturday, April 21, began with the usual clearance procedures in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. We walked a short way down the dock to board a ferry and a 20-minute, 1.2-mile ride to Gorée Island. The 45-acre island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its historic role in the slave trade. There are debates about how many slaves were actually processed through Gorée Island.

The Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) is a popular tourist destination and place of pilgrimage for African Americans, especially after Alex Haley’s book Roots came out. It was restored in 1962 as a museum and houses a “Door of No Return.” There are many others elsewhere.

Fort Estrées on Gorée Island

We had time to stroll around the island where many areas were photogenic. The small population has maintained it well and it was nice to have no cars. The other optional tour for the morning was for shopping, but the island was much more interesting.

Viola Vaughn

After the ferry ride back to the dock, and lunch aboard we met in the lounge for two guest speakers. Viola Vaughn talked about the 10,000 Girls Project. She is an American who has lived in Senegal for many years. Her story is amazing. It started with a few girls asking her for help with their schoolwork and that evolved into an education and employment project for many young women from rural Senegal. You can listen to her story and learn about the project. We also had a talk from Brandy Whitthoft from the USAID: Agency for International Development.

The afternoon outing involved driving around the city of Dakar. The streets were modern, wide and paved and traffic seemed to be organized. There were many modern multistory buildings and more under construction. We drove through the heart of the business district and embassy areas before heading to the Marché Sandaga market; the busiest in Dakar. This was a small area with many shops and packed with people. I still can’t believe that we drove, very slowly, through the area giving those in the front seats a great view. Had the windows of the big bus been open, we could have reached out and touched some things.

We next stopped at the Sand Painting Center where we watched one artist at work. He first drew a picture using a brush and very thick glue. He then took pinches of various colors of sand and sprinkled them over the glue in a way he knew would produce the desired picture. It was amazing to watch and I could not resist buying one of his pieces.

A short way out of town were the twin hills. On one of them we saw the bronze African Renaissance Monument that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Designed by a Senegalese artist and built by a North Korean company, it is the tallest statue in Africa. It was completed and unveiled in 2010. Some in our group climbed up to the base of the statue while I photographed it from below.

The last stop of the day was Soumbédioune, a very picturesque and bustling fishing village. Boats were still coming in with the catch of the day and the market was lively with both sellers and buyers.

It was interesting to watch the men use large rollers to pull their boats onto the shore for the night. Our bus stopped to let us walk around through the area, which was a great experience. There was color everywhere. That was a great way to finish the afternoon.

Dinner that night was on shore at Just4U, a Senegalese nightclub. We packed the place and had three meal choices along with wine and other drinks. A local band played Mbalax music for us throughout the evening. This music is a combination of many forms of popular Western music combined with the traditional drumming and dance music of Senegal.

Musician playing a Kora

The band included a Balafon, which is like a marimba but with large, different sized Calbash (bottle gourds) under the bars. Besides various kinds of drums there was a fellow playing the Kora, which is a 21-string bridge-harp, that is unique to West Africa. Although the music was loud, it was interesting. By the time dinner was finished we decided to catch the first bus back to the ship. It had been a long day.

Sunday and Monday, April 22 – 23, we were at sea, sailing past Mauritania. The days were filled with lectures and lots of picture editing. There were also whales that came to check us out and interrupt whatever else was going on.

Our next stop on Tuesday was Western Sahara.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul