Amsterdam Day 53: Senegal Day 2: Dakar City and Goree Island

We started the day off with meetings that took most of the day with the local sales team in the hotel where we were staying. 

Here is the view outside my hotel room complete with the infinity pool and the beach in the distance. We then left on our journey to Goree island with the highlight being the somber museum and memorial The House of Slaves. It memorializes the final exit point of slaves from Africa. Slaves were kept here in great numbers before their trip to the Americas. More than a million slaves were transported from here and dignitaries from all over the world have visited including Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, and the Pope John Paul II. There is a door at the back of the building called The Door of No Return through which millions of African slaves left the continent. 

It is a truly moving monument and a reminder of the autracities in our human past. There is a sacred feel to the house and the dungeons where the slaves were kept. 

As it turns out, the monument and House of Slaves actually had little historical value. People argue about its importance but very few slaves actually left from the island. It is more likely that there was a slave owner that owned the house and the fiction of the island as a exit point from Africa is largely a myth. It does not take away from the somber feelings and the fact that the stories of slaves leaving Africa is true, just not many here. 

We did walk up to the top of the island where these huge cannons were built by the French to protect the French colonies in the area. 

Another interesting monument in Dakar is the African Renaissance statute. It is a huge statue, much larger than the Statue of Liberty. If you look very closely you can see little people climbing the statue. This also has its fair share of controversy. 1) It cost a lot of money that Senegal does not really have to spend. It is cool, but very costly. 2) The woman is showing a lot of leg and a lot of cleavage. In a country that is 90% Muslim, this is controversial to many. 

When I thought about Senegal being a mostly Muslim country, I envisioned a conservative country by modesty standards, along the line of what I have seen in Istanbul or Dubai. I was surprised to see a variety of dress as seen by these two ladies walking by each other. 

Since Eid Tabaski is coming up next week, and it is tradition to have sheep for the celebration, there are sheep stalls set up all around the city, almost like Christmas Tree stands or fireworks stands in the States. Not only are there sheep everywhere for sale, there are grills also everywhere to cook up the sheep. It is tradition that everything should be new for Tabaski. A new grill and new clothes are a must and for those that can afford it, new everything else, including couches, tables, shoes, and the kitchen.