In May 2004, After the United Nations International conference on population and development (ICPD+10) meeting in Dakar Senegal, which I attended alongside many other delegates from the UN, intentional civil societies representatives, Women and African young people, I decided to pay a visit to the famous Goree Island.
Having had a good background on slave history from Badagry, I was very anxious to see what the island has to offer in terms of slave monuments, relics and history. I set out for the journey alongside other youth colleagues some delegates to explore the island. We got to the ticketing desk and have to wait queue for almost 30 minutes before we could get the ticket due to the multitude of tourists that storms the island on a daily basis. Because its an island, it took the ship another 15 minutes to take us from Dakar to the famous island.
Goree is a sight to behold! Very historical from its outlook and I realized that it would be fetching the government a lot of money as it is well tapped unlike our own Badagry in Nigeria. Goree played an important role in the history of slavery and Africa as a whole as it served as the transit point for most slaves leaving West Africa during the slave era.
The island offers many great attractions among which are the Slave house (Maison des Esclaves) which was built by the Dutch in 1776, the house has been preserved in its original state even up till now, the castle (Saint Michel), the church, a University (Universite des Mutants) founded by the Leopold Senghor, former Senegalese president to unite best brains and minds of Africa. Other attractions include the historic museum, the Strickland House which was the site of the first American consulate in West Africa, there are also good restaurants and hotels on the island and nice beach for people who cant resist the urge to swim.
If you are a tourist that wants to learn more on the slave history or you want to explore the African heritage, the Goree Island is a must for you to see. I am already planning for another visit to the island later this year…see you there!!!!!
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