Goree island belies its human trafficking legacy
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THE ferry journey is a short one yet as the harbour in the Senegalese capital Dakar in western Africa falls away and the tiny island of Goree comes into view visitors feel as if they are stepping back in time.
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The clocks appeared to have simply stopped on this flat island of just 1,300 inhabitants where many artists have chosen to set up their studios.
Located just 3km from the western bulge of the African mainland, the territory can be easily covered on foot in the space of two hours.
The leisurely African atmosphere is a notch more relaxed on Goree although the island does not shun the trappings of the 21st century.
The antennae mast for the mobile phone network – disguised as a palm tree – stands on the edge of the defiant fortress and there is even an internet hotspot under the shade of a Banyan tree on the square in front of the town hall.
Disembarking tourists are greeted by the only Goree residents to display any semblance of hectic activity as they peddle souvenirs or proffer their services as local guides.
It is easy to forego the latter since this is not a place where visitors are likely to lose their way. The old quarter of the only town on the island has been designated a Unesco world heritage site and it is easy to explore. Among the yellow, red and ochre-coloured houses, the atmosphere is tranquil and Mediterranean.
The first landmark is a fort with stairs leading to a brightly-lit courtyard. This is the Slave House with a museum which documents the fate of the countless slaves who passed through this post on their way from Africa to the Americas and Europe. For centuries, the trade in human cargo for the distant plantations was a lucrative source of income on Goree.
Many Afro-American visitors regard a trip to the island as a pilgrimage to the shrine of their forefathers. Time was when most of them carried a copy of Arthur Haley’s novel Roots in their luggage but these days, a corner of Dreams of my Father by US President Barack Obama is more likely to be seen protruding from pockets.
Both Pope John Paul II and South Africa’s liberty legend Nelson Mandela have inspected the narrow, dingy rooms where countless human beings were kept in chains before the long voyage.
They stared out through the “gate of no return” – the door of a slave warehouse looking out onto the Atlantic.
A poster on the wall proclaims that millions of African slaves came through here, seemingly unaware of more modern research which indicates that the number must have been much smaller.
It seems improbable that 20 million people passed through the cramped confines of this fort on an island where fresh water has always been in short supply. Looking after tens of thousands of in-transit slaves would have been impossible.
“There are now doubts about whether the slaves really boarded the ships via the ‘door of no return’,” says a museum guide and points to the heavy swell of the Atlantic on the other side of the fort.
“There are riffs out there and it is not far from here to the landing stage. It is more likely that the slaves were taken down to the harbour.”
For Shawna Washington, who is laying flowers at the notorious doorway, the authenticity of the surroundings are of secondary importance. “The important thing to me is to be in a place where I feel close to my African heritage,” she says.
Most of the people who come here stay only during the day, strolling the streets after a visit to the museum. Some walk up to the fort with its thick walls and cannon. There is plenty of local art to see too since Goree has since been conquered by a colony of painters and sculptors.
Dakar, which grew from a fishing village called Ngor, has plenty to offer visitor too with a thriving music scene, lively markets with a blend of French and African flair and a good beach.
Most tourists head for the old French colonial capital of St Louis. This lagoon city between the Atlantic and the Senegal river was founded in 1659 as the very first French settlement in Africa. Today, its old quarter architecture has been recognised by Unesco too and the streets are full of souvenir shops with handcrafted silver and wooden wares.
It is as well to haggle over the price of these items while paying little attention to the vendors who offer supposedly genuine carved Dogon doors from Nigeria or ritual masks from Mali. Awkward to pack into a suitcase but typical for West Africa are the carved folding chairs on sale everywhere.
In the area around the 19th century Hotel de la Poste, one of the oldest hostelries, many of the colonial houses have been given a new coat of paint and bushes of bright Bougainvillaea sprout from the walls.
In the less-frequented reaches of the city restoration work continues at a more measured pace although the faded beauty of these neglected streets has much more charm than those parts made pretty for the tourists.
