Senegal's capital is the city of Dakar, with a population close to 2 million. When you are touring this city, it is impossible not to notice the influence of French colonists on this place.
We head out from Dakar by ferryboat to Goree Island, which was formerly a processing site for slaves before they were shipped off to the Americas, though historians have found that only a few hundred slaves were actually transported from this location. There are many Western tourists with us on the ferryboat as we head for the island, which lies three kilometers off the coast of Dakar. We can't help thinking about how some of the tourists' ancestors might have been here hundreds of years ago, and that now, so many generations later, these tourists are back, but to visit and tour the island. Senegal is historically one of the first African countries involved in the large wave of the slave trade that spread over so much of the continent.
Setting foot on the island, we see a statue depicting slavery, with a man in chains. This was the journey with no return. Slaves were kept chained to one another in this prison, whose back doors opened straight out onto the ocean. When the time came, they were placed on ships heading for America, Europe or the Caribbean, only to be sold once there. This island, which once functioned mainly as a shipping port for products such as peanut oil, is now purely a tourism stop. In fact, this is probably the most promoted tourism stop in all of Senegal, though there are points on the mainland which were much more important in the slave trade. This particular island was used first by the Portuguese, next by the Dutch and last of all by the French for the slave trade, which lasted approximately 300 years.
Back in Dakar, local African furniture styles are displayed all along the sides of the roads. Production and sales of this kind of furniture happen at the same place. You can see many people working through the day at these furniture sale/production points.
In the meantime, the colorful minibuses here carry the many passengers, all for different prices according to the quality of the minibus itself. These minibuses are called "car rapide" by the locals. And the word "Alhamdulillah" appears to be written on the front of almost every single one.
You understand that you are in a Muslim country when you first see the uniquely styled mosques. Actually, a full 94 percent of Senegal is Muslim. People are open and willing to talk about their faith here.
There is almost no one here who doesn't know about the Pink Lake, which is a salt lake, and though it is not always pink colored, it is called this because at certain times in the year, it is pinkish in tone. The bubbles around the edges of the lake are a sign of just how high the salt level is in this body of water.
The famous baobab trees of the Senegalese savannahs are visible up and down the roads. With their wide trunks and thick branches, baobab trees have few leaves. These trees provide the perfect place for birds to build their nests, as they have the sturdy, thick branches suited for this job.
Senegal is a mysterious country that shelters so many interesting dimensions. We head off down the road, looking to find all sorts of other worlds here. The national parks here are perfect for people who want to do a safari, but actually, we are looking for signs of an older tradition that was once an important part of local tribes. One thing we discover is that it used to be that the baobab trees were used by animist tribes as places in which to bury their dead. In fact, we see a tree whose carved-out trunk is filled with skulls and bones. These trunks are so wide that they can fit up to 40 skulls and bones at one time.
We come upon a private high school in the shade of some palm trees. We immediately identified the Turkish teachers, who, though foreign, are completely comfortable with their students. These young teachers from Anatolia have formed friendships with the students. It is as though, at this school, this mix of teachers and students is succeeding at something that so many large European countries were never able to do on this continent.
The Yavuz Selim School (Koleji) opened in 1997. This school, which also includes a primary school, has a total of 400 students. In Senegal, the official language is French. The languages of instruction at school are French and English. In addition, students learn Turkish as a foreign language. The young female students who sung for us songs in Turkish made us feel the breezes from Turkey blowing all the way over here, on the west coast of Africa.
[TRAVEL TIPS]
Visa: Senegal requires visas of Turkish citizens. You can pick up your visa from the honorary consulate in Istanbul. The cost is 50 euros. If you are an American, Canadian, a citizen of an EU country, a citizen of an ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) country, Japanese, Israeli, Norwegian or South African, then you don't need a visa -- but if you are from any other nation, you do.
How to go: Turkish Airlines goes to Fez, where you can transfer with Royal Air Moroc to Casablanca, and then from there to Dakar.
Royal Air Maroc: 849 euros + tax
Flight leaves from İstanbul only on Thursdays, passing through Casablanca.
Departs İstanbul: 15:35 Arrive in Dakar: 22:55
Cuisine: You need to make sure you find clean restaurants. Try to stay away from open-air food sellers. But of course, the buffet food at hotels is one option that is always safe.
Where to stay: You should have no problem finding suitable hotels in Dakar, though services may not always be on par with European standards.
Health precautions: Don't drink tap water; stick only with bottled water and not the popular bagged water that you find in many African countries. Before going to Senegal, make sure you have Hepatitis A and B vaccinations, as well as a yellow fever vaccination. And you need to take precautions against malaria, too.
Best time to go: The time between December and March is the dry season, and the weather really is generally better at these times. Between March and May, the weather is particularly hot, and if you are along the coastline, you can expect serious levels of humidity in this heat. Senegal's rainy season occurs between June and November.
[QUICK FACTS]
Capital: Dakar
Official language: French
Government: Republic
President: Abdoulaye Wade
Prime Minister: Cheikh Hadjibou Soumare
Area: 196,190 square kilometers
Population: 12,853,259*
GDP (PPP): $21.02 billion**
Religions: Islam (94 percent), Christianity (5 percent), indigenous beliefs (1 percent)
* July 2008 estimate **2007 estimate
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