Dakar Department

I am wanting another sea day but here we are in Senegal.

After a quick breakfast, Bob and I headed to the Star Theatre.

Our excursion today is the Bandia Animal Reserve.

We made our way to the bus and were greeted by a guide who speaks very good English. Come to find out, our guide is from Florida and has been living in Senegal since 1999. She raised her three children in Senegal. They have subsequently all moved back to the United States.

Our guide spoke highly of Senegal. She indicated that Senegal is slated to host the next Youth Olympics because Senegal already has facilities built such as basketball and soccer stadiums.

She went on to say that the buildings that look like they are falling down are actually being renovated so they can be rented for people coming to the Youth Olympics. In my opinion, she is trying to find an excuse for the poor conditions of housing because we passed mile after mile of partially completely building. Many buildings look like they have been in an uncompleted state for so long that they have started to fall down.

We were also told that the country was very clean. I guess that we should not believe our lying eyes as we saw trash everywhere. Albeit there was less trash here than in many of the other countries we have visited.

The guide also indicated that there was no drugs or gangs in Senegal.

We found it hard to believe everything thing our guide said because she came across as very biased.

We had the experience on the 2019 WC where one couple was taken by a " private guide" to a store and were held in the back room until they made "purchases".

In addition, a couple of female crew members were also taken and held until money was paid.

We doubt that major culture improvement has happened in 5 short years. Maybe we are biased.

After about an hour of listening to our guide's propaganda, we arrived at the Bandia Game Reserve. We were happy that the weather was beautifully cooler. We had a great time seeing God's creation.

The Bandia Game Reserve does not have lions or elephants. We saw many animals and had a very pleasant game drive.

We got back to the ship at 1:45 PM just in time to have lunch before the World Cafe closed.

After lunch, we showered because Senegal is very dry and dusty.

Next, it was time for a nap as my Lyme symptoms have been troublesome today.

We attended the church service. The service consisted of singing worship songs.

We had dinner with Dale and Jenni at the Chef's Table. We talked about our impressions of Senegal. Dale did see a filthy, smelly market with very aggressive peddlers which was juxtaposed to wealthy enclaves and an impressive "white house" that he also saw.

Our impressions of Senegal is that it is a country working to become a developed nation but it has a long way to go.

I welcome any research on these animals.

Oliver Emerson, can you assist in confirming that I have labeled animals correctly?もっと詳しく

This was the saddest day of our entire trip. We visited the Island of Gorée. Neither Stacy nor I could sleep afterward as it was just heart wrenching to stand in the very spot where millions of Africans were sold into slavery. And, to realize that the masters quarters were located directly overhead of the slave’s prison was despicable. While difficult, we felt it was important to see and to remember.

Goree Island is a small 45-acre island located off the coast of Senegal. It was developed as a center of the expanding European slave trade of Black African people.

The first record of slave trading there dates back to 1536 and was conducted by the Portuguese, the first Europeans to set foot on the Island in 1444. The house of slaves was built in 1776. Built by the Dutch, it is the last slave house still in Goree and now serves as a museum. The island is considered a memorial to the Black Diaspora.

An estimated 20 million Africans passed through the Island between the mid-1500s and the mid-1800s. During the African slave trade, Goree Island was a slave-holding warehouse, an absolute center for the trade of African men, women, and children. Millions of West Africans were taken against their will. These Africans were brought to Goree Island, sold into slavery, and held in the holding warehouse on the island until they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. They were sold in South America, the Caribbean, and North America to create a new world. The living conditions of the slaves on Goree Island were atrocious.

Human beings were chained and shackled. As many as 30 men would sit in an 8-square-foot cell with only a small slit of the window facing outward. Once a day, they were fed and allowed to attend to their needs, but still, the house was overrun with the disease. They were naked except for a piece of cloth around their waists. They were put in a long narrow cell to lie on the floor, one against the other. The children were separated from their mothers. Their mothers were across the courtyard, likely unable to hear their children cry. The rebellious Africans were locked up in an oppressive, small cubicle under the stairs; while seawater was sipped through the holes to ease dehydration.

Above their heads, in the dealer's apartments, balls and festivities were going on. But even more, poignant and heart-wrenching than the cells and the chains was the small "door of no return" through which every man, woman, and child walked to the slave boat, catching a last glimpse of their homeland.

When the French abolished slavery in 1848, 6000 persons and 5000 former captives lived on the island. Designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to be a World Heritage Site, Goree Island in the 21st century retains and preserves all the traces of its terrible past.

The main Slaves' House built in 1777 remains intact with cells and shackles; the Historical Museum, the Maritime Museum, residential homes, and forts are also standing. The Island today has about 1000 residents.もっと詳しく