On my recent trip to Dakar we got to spend an afternoon at Goree Island. This was one of the landmarks that I had read about when I was researching on the tourist attractions in Dakar so I was vey happy when we were given a chance to go. We went on a sweltering hot Wednesday afternoon and spent about 2.5 hours on the island, this was enough to do a walkabout on the island and make it in time for the 16:30 ferry back. 

Waiting for board the ferry, I had to buy a hat from a vendor because it was super sunny and I wasn’t going to survive without one.

The ferry ride took about 25 minutes and this is the approach to the island

The water looked so refreshing, I wished that I could take a young dip.

We were taken to the House of Slaves, this is where men, women and children were kept before being put on a ship to be taken to the West. The rooms that they were kept in were so small, it was heartbreaking. We were also shown a ‘feeding’ room, where if men were underweight they were force fed until they reached 60kg.

This was the door at the point of no return, once they left through this door, it was over, there was no going back.

On the first floor of the House of Slaves was a museum – this map showed the slave trade route from Africa to the Americas

This was the view from the upstairs area – it’s was so serene

This statue on the island symbolised the end of the slave trade where the chains were broken free

We also came across a school on the island. This is a school for the academically best girl learners from all over Senegal. The girls are admitted here on a merit basis and on a full scholarship.

The streets on the island

There were also a few restaurants

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Goree Island, especially learning about the history even though it is very sad. I will be uploading a vlog of this visit on my YouTube channel, so look out for that!

*On another note: have you entered my birthday giveaway yet? It’s still running for the next 19 days!