Monday, May 13th, 2002 - Île de Gorée, Senegal

Another day, another breakfast in a café – life is difficult. Well, actually it was since it I had a bit of a problem finding a waiter to take my order – two croissants, bread and orange juice. This time a café opposite the one yesterday with a number of tables in an outside patio.

I headed off to see if the museum would be open today, but no luck again though there was yet another Dakart exhibit on the first (second) floor that I wandered through with some interesting looking pictures made of metal sheets stapled together. To get to the exhibit I had to pass through the main floor which was the museum but the museum itself was “roped off”. I found out later than Ben & Kate just ignored the ropes and wandered into the museum anyway. From what I could see the museum looks quite good with lots of big dioramas.

After checking out of the hotel I read and waited around to see who was out and about before heading off to the ferry terminal – on the other side of town. It was much busier on the street now that it is past the weekend. Reaching the terminal for the ferry to Gorée, I picked up a ticket and then entered the waiting room and found the upstairs bar and restaurant where I was able to get a drink and look out a bit over the harbour before the boat arrived. I was essentially alone but they did not seem to mind that I took my time over my Coke.

At about 12:20 I headed down to meet up with a number of my friends. We had decided last week that a trip to Gorée would be a good idea for a few days so we all met up for the boat trip. The crowd was quite considerable now with a lot of tourists around from only about 45 minutes ago when I first arrived. We managed to get onto the smaller passenger boat and (those of us that wanted them) actually got seats on the main deck. Ben & Kate had picked up a number of statues that they were now moving along with their luggage and Usha was heading over with us as she had been to the island earlier in the week and bought some African chairs. These chairs are two pieces of carved wood that form a “X” when put together. Quite nice, a bit heavy and bulky for a vacation…

We headed out of the harbour, passing by the oil rig we had seen the other day and travelled the short distance to île de Gorée. It very much reminded me of what the islands must look like in the Mediterranean. Very dry looking and covered with buildings painted in various pastel colours. At the one end of the island, which we passed around coming from Dakar, is the Fort d'Estrées (now the home of the IFAN Historical Museum) which is a round stone fort. At the other end we could make out Le Castel which is now little more than a high rocky area on the island but was once a more formidable, I am sure, fortification.

We came to dock at the jetty near the beach (there is only one, really) which has a number of buildings housing small cafés and small shops. Everyone got off the boat before it had really docked, no one being patient enough to wait as we jumped the short gap to the dock. In search of the hotel Ben, Kate and I had booked, we were met by the owner waiting near the dock. Ben & Kate had actually pre-booked while I was just hoping to be able to also get a room on the spur-of-the-moment. The Auberge Keur Beer is a small guesthouse which you enter from a small cobble side alley. They have a small shop selling local goods, books and the like but once you pass through that you enter a small courtyard with a staircase leading to the upstairs rooms and there are a few rooms on the main floor as well. Evidently breakfast is served in this courtyard and there are a few tables setup for that purpose. There are tall walls enclosing the area which also has a number of plants and sculptures from various different world cultures (including Egyptian and Roman!).

My room is on the upper floor and has three beds and a few of the alley through two windows complete with wooden shutters. It also has (thankfully) an en-suite shower and toilet (and bidet, yes). Very comfortable. Of course, there are no cars on the island so it should be quite quiet at night.

Keur Beer is not the only place to stay on the island. Steve & Chris are staying on the other side of the beach at the Hostellerie du Chevalier de Boufflers which also serves good meals (in addition to the 3-4 rooms on offer).

A bit later I visited the post office (yes, very small) and then Ben, Kate and I met at Boufflers for lunch with Usha. This is her favourite place to eat on the island (after dark when the tourists have all left, this is the ONLY place). The food was very good and served in a very leisurely way. I started with an avacado with vinaigrette dressing followed by fish skewers. We decided to try the fixed price menu so this meal also included a dessert and, due to a bit of a mix-up, I ended up with a banana. Oh well. Ben, at least, had a half pineapple that would have been a bit nicer…We sat and chatted for a time and watched as the ferry arrived and departed, taking many of the tourists with it. Boufflers overlooks the beach and the ferry jetty.

Ferry Jetty Area on Goree

After lunch Usha went off to pick up her chairs from her local artists while the rest of us wandered around some of the back alleys near the hotels. It was quite strange with the buildings all in quite good repair with people selling local handicrafts in many different places in the alleys. We also found a few places with Dakart exhibits which, of course, we visited. Ben & Kate saw a few more pieces that they were considering…One of the artists we visited had a Dakart exhibition – if it could be called that – that basically was a series of (unmarked) pieces in his overgrown, enclosed, yard. We made our way through a number of trees and bushes looking at the various pieces.

It is very quiet here and the people are very friendly. We also managed to visit the small tourist market where they were a bit more desperate for a sale. It is just a series of small stalls all side-by- side in an enclosed compound close to the ferry dock and beach.

We continued to the other side of the island, passing by our hotel and the local church (quite impressive stone church). We stopped at a number of stalls and talked to the local people which was quite interesting as we made our way up Le Castel. At the top we found very little in terms of a castel – a strange looking monument in the shape of a ships sail about 60 feet high – two rusting World War 2 guns – a series of concrete bunkers that now house some of the local artists. Of course, even here, people were selling paintings and a few sculptures as well. The view was fantastic of the rest of the island with Dakar in the distance and, on the far side, of the rock cliffs below and the sea.

Le Castel Cliffs

We made our way back down the cobble path to return to the hotel before heading out a bit later for dinner at Boufflers again, this time inside as it was a bit cool outside. We met Steve & Chris and had another wonderful meal – this time I had an octopus with fennel starter and a scewer of massive prawns for my main course. We chatted for a while before heading back to the hotel.

The island is very different at night. The locals are the only ones (other than a few rather conspicuous tourists – ourselves) around and it is very quiet and much more tranquil. An early evening. A hot shower. Nice.

⇒ Continue to Tuesday, May 14th, 2002 - Île de Gorée, Senegal