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The Republic of Senegal is the westernmost country in continental Africa. It is classified as a “heavily indebted poor country.” Industries include agriculture, mining and tourism.
Senegal’s capital and largest city is Dakar. One of Dakar’s districts, the Île de Gorée (“Gorée Island), is infamous as a center of the historical Atlantic slave trade. The Door of No Return in the House of Slaves is said to be where enslaved people touched African soil for the last time before they were shipped across the ocean to a life of hell.
Gail always dreamed of visiting Senegal, one of those remote places she read about as a child. Unfortunately, today was not ideal. First, we were not assigned to escort any of the available excursions. Second, Gail threw her back out yesterday and awoke this morning in extreme pain.
So we had a slow and late morning, as Gail got herself in shape to go out. We took the complimentary shuttle bus to Independence Square. There, we were met by some very persistent locals who wanted to escort us to the market. (They said they were representatives of Viking, but it was obvious they were not.) They were friendly enough, and they walked us seven minutes to a market area of town. They deposited us into a particular shop they were obviously associated with. Gail was able to bargain a good price for a boubou, a type of African dress.
Our “escorts” wanted to guide us for the rest of the day, but we were not interested. We gave them a small tip (which they said was not enough) and went on our way. We joined the Viking Resident Historian and his companion at a local ice cream shop, where Gail finally got to enjoy fresh ice cream. (The ship has gelato and sorbet, but no ice cream.)
Walking around the area, we were constantly approached by locals who wanted to guide us or walk us to their shops. Some simply wanted money. Gail regarded them as “aggressive” but not “harassing.” Fortunately, we always felt safe.
After taking the shuttle bus back to the ship, we visited more merchants who were set up along the dock. Gail was able to bargain for a couple of gorgeous hand-made quilts. She plans to use them as bedspreads when we get back home.
We were shocked by the pervasive poverty in Dakar, and we were happy to contribute to the local economy. We would love to return here on a future adventure.
