in SENEGAL

I wondered how was like a “non-tourist” African destination and, taking advantage of some free days between two other places, we stayed some days in Senegal. There is a zone (in the south coast of the country) that is only for beach tourism, with its own airport for charter flights which, of course, we rejected to visit.

We were in Dakar, that is the capital of Senegal and in Saint Louis, that was the capital of the huge colony of French West Africa up to 1900.

Besides that in Senegal some important projects promoted by the government are being made, like the new airport with its express train, a new “model” city with a big convention center, etc., most of the population is very very poor. So much so, that I decided not to take photos in the rural and suburban places that we went through, for not making the people, who hardly have something to survive, feel uncomfortable.

Dakar is not a suitable place to be walked through. Not only for the dangers to which one is exposed as a foreigner, but also because all the cars are parked on the sidewalk, touching the buildings line, making the people walk on the streets and avenues, with the danger that this implies, as the luxury vans and the ramshackle taxies ignore the pedestrians.

There are many boulevards where still can be seen buildings of the “white” architecture from the 40s.

There are also new shopping malls and even a gigantic monument (but really gigantic) of an exuberant African couple, with their son (or daughter?) and made in North Korea, which is almost mandatory to visit, since it means the “rebirth of the African Entity”.

Gorée island, located in front of the coast in Dakar Bay, concentrated the administration and shipping of slaves of that zone of Africa to America between the years 1600 and 1800.

To reach Gorée island it is necessary to go to the Port of Dakar. From there departs the ship to the island. From morning to night there are six trips with a fixed timetable, so that one can schedule its stay. The most difficult thing in the pier is to avoid the insistence of the guides, that try to convince each tourist that they are necessary, even to be able to get off the boat in Gorée. We were aware of this situation and the guides practically ended thinking that we had already been to the island, so they left us in peace after a while, starting to hound other visitors. Afterward, on the island, we saw each one of the guides, walking with a group of resigned tourists, that had traveled on the same ship with us.

There are some good lodgings in the island to spend the night. The local population sells handicraft and objects to the tourists with exaggerated insistence.
The colors of the colonial architecture are harmonious and match well with the tropical vegetation. Everything is well preserved and there is nothing contemporary that interferes with the image of the whole. The sea is fantastically blue and makes you want to get into it. The most representative building is the enclosure where the slaves were confined previously to their boarding in the ship-prison, where they were taken (in deplorable conditions) to America. The other constructions of the island belonged to administrative buildings for slave traffic, military installations with its garrison, church, hospital for the colonial personnel and places for goods storage.
You can tour the island on foot in about four hours.
It is really very (but very) hot and there is no car traffic at all there.

We depart to Saint Louis from a brand new hotel, located near the new Dakar airport. The trip was going to take approx four hours and although the hotel was from an American chain, the trip had to be negotiated with the chief of the local taxi drivers mafia, who had total control of the transportation. His promises of having cars in perfect conditions where, of course, false and only after several hours of arguments, he offers us a car, with a reasonable driver, with whom we reached well our destination. Saint Louis has the title as “World Heritage” place by the UNESCO and the travel guide recommend this place as a “hidden gem” to visit. The location of the place is very special and in the map, it can be seen that particular shape that has the city. The continental part is full of markets, outdoor repair workshops, people and garbage everywhere. Everything is very chaotic and poor. That part is connected, by a beautiful metallic bridge (dated from the industrial revolution times) to a river island of 2km long x 0.5km width, where the former French colonial administration is settled.

In this river island, the streets are arranged in checkerboard and there are interesting (and deteriorated) French colonial buildings, that form a compact patrimonial set. Some of these buildings are being restored as hostels and shops for tourists. At the same time, the river island is connected, by a bridge made of concrete, to a long ground lug that works as an edge with the Atlantic Ocean. The inhabitants live there in incredible overcrowding, in a dreadfully humiliating environment.
The French aviators Jean Mermoz and the famous (and also writer) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, had a very important presence in Saint Louis. From both of them there are photos from 1930 when, with the “Aeropostale”, they worked in the precarious air traffic between France and South America. Saint Louis was the required stopover of “Aeropostale”, before the dangerous crossing of the South Atlantic. Their seaplanes landed in what was called “Hydrobase”, at the south of the city and the pilots spent the night in the “Hotel de la Poste”, near the metal bridge.