Goree Island, Part 1

Last Saturday I spent the day on Goree Island.
Goree Island is just a 20 minute ferry ride from Dakar--but so peaceful, no cars, no bikes, it is kept clean. About 1000 people live on the island. It was the first European settlement in Africa, started by the Portuguese, then the Dutch took over, and then the French, and the English. Goree exchanged hands between the French and English 5 times. It is most famous for being the center of the slave trade. There is a "slave house", monument about the slave trade, and in the Catholic church there is a plaque commemorating a visit by the Pope with a quote apologizing for the church's role in starting the slave trade (it was a Portuguese priest who proposed it) and condoning slavery. The slave trade continued for 300 years and the numbers of dead horrendous.

The photos show the group of teachers on ferry with our guides, and approaching the island. This trip continues in next entry, Goree Island, part 2, because of needing to load the photos in reverse order. Maybe some can explain a better way to upload photos.