Today we visited another country that wasn’t on our bucket list- Senegal.

Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi) and has a population of around 19 million.

The name, Senegal, is believed to come from the Wolof phrase sunuu gaal, meaning "our canoe".

French is the official language, but it is understood by only a small minority of the population. Over 30 languages are spoken in Senegal. Wolof is the most widely spoken, with 80% of the population speaking it as a first or second language.

Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal and is the westernmost city on the African mainland. The department of Dakar has a population of 1.5 million or so, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is about 5 million.

Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula.  Cap-Vert was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 15th century. The Portuguese established a presence on the island of Gorée off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the Atlantic slave trade. France took over the island in 1677.  Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the French colonial empire. In 1902, Dakar replaced Saint-Louis as the capital of French West Africa. From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived Mali Federation. In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic of Senegal.

Today we visited Île de Gorée, which is located 3 km from Dakar and is a former slave island.   Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which preserves the colonial era architecture and facilities.  

House of Slaves, which is a museum dedicated to the Atlantic slave trade, was our main stop.  It is one of 20 or so such slave homes that existed on the island.

The House of Slaves was built in 1776. 

We learned about the history from when the house operated as a detention prison before slaves were shipped off to the Americas-

• Conditions in the building were harrowing, with many of the imprisoned perishing before they reached the ships. Captured enslaved people "were imprisoned in dark, airless cells", and "spent days shackled to the floor, their backs against the walls, unable to move."  Families were separated both at the House, with men, women, and children being held in separate quarters, as well as after boarding the ships, since most of them were not sent to the same locations. Young girls were held separately from the rest of the imprisoned, being "paraded in the courtyard so that the traders and enslavers could choose them for sex"; if they became pregnant, they were allowed to remain on the island until they gave birth. 

There are various opinions on how many slaves were exported from the island.  Some say 26,000, some 180,000, some say less.  The significance however is not lost either way.  The conditions were terrible and the lack of humanity even more so. 

It is estimated that between 1500 and 1866 somewhere between 12 and 13 million enslaved Africans were shipped from Africa to the Americas.  

Here we investigated the cells, and the famous “Door of No Return”.  We also visited the upper floor where the family lived while they kept people prisoners below.   This was unimaginable to our way of thinking.

Others that have come before us include Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and Barack Obama.  

We visited the Saint Charles Borromeo Parish which was originally built in 1830.  It struck us hard that this pretty church, situated so close to the slave homes, practiced Catholicism while at the same time the same people were practicing enslaving other humans in unmentionable conditions.  

Today most people in Sengel are Muslim (95%) in more than 20 ethnic groups and tribes (most belong to just 4).  Due to the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid there were several sheep baaing away around the island.    They will be slaughtered and shared with the family and friends.  

Our guide was proud of how everyone lives in harmony in Senegal, that they have a democratic government, and that they have never had a coup.  

The guides were very good, and spoke with deep, proud, booming voices.  They emphasized several times about acknowledging the past but moving forward in reconciliation and harmony.

However, the tour was disorganized.  The private hire ferry was 20 minutes late meeting us at the pier for our departure and 30 minutes late picking us up from the island for our return. On the return the locals were not aware that the ship had been chartered and clamoured to get on board. It was quite a bun fight to get through the crowd to reach the ferry.

Thinking about it since our return I recognize again how badly humans treat other humans and the travesties of our history.  For me personally, I felt the moments could have been more impactful with thoughtful design and displays to more dramatically impart to visitors the horror of the slave experiences.   Also, there were too many people in our tour which affected the ability of the guide to transmit the stories effectively.  Nonetheless, we will not forget Goree Island nor the people that have been wronged.  

PS. There was a significant amount of trash in the water in the harbour and the sky was very hazy.