West African Cruise Day 2: Saturday – Visit Gorée Island and begin cruise to the Saloum River Delta
Our began with a trip to Gorée Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Dakar. Here, our local guide Omar toldus about the island’s slave trade history at the museum in Fort d’Estrées and the Maison des Esclaves, where captives were imprisoned before being shipped overseas. We paid our respects at the Mémorial Gorée Almadies, built by Guadalope to honour victims of the slave trade.
Afterwards, we strolled through the island’s alleys lined with pastel-coloured buildings now home to a thriving arts community. Then we stopped for lunch at an open-air restaurant called “Chez Thio”before taking the ferry back to Dakar.
At the port, we were immediately driven round to our cruise ship “Harmony V”. A safety drill by the Greek captain and lots of briefing by the Czech cruise leader settled us into the way of things. We started to meet the other passengers: there are 28 of us from a variety of countries.
After dinner on board, we sail south through the night along the coast Senegalese coast towards the Sine-Saloum River Delta.