October 9, 2019
Senegal Day #5: Evening in Saint-Louis Wandering Through Guet N’Dar & the Historic Center
April 16, 2019
SAINT-LOUIS, Senegal – I’ve been to Africa five times before, but the sights I saw today in western Saint-Louis were still eye-popping: all the colorful fishing boats, carts drawn by horse and donkey, animals everywhere, horrendous piles of garbage, most streets that are all sand, and on and on.
It all amounts to a photographer’s paradise, with the itch to shoot every few seconds.
I began exploring Saint-Louis earlier today, then walked across the border into Mauritania to achieve my 129th nation visited.
At 5:47 p.m. I was getting close to the northwest edge of Saint-Louis after walking back along the beach from Mauritania.
Saint-Louis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Founded as a French colonial settlement in the 17th century, Saint-Louis was urbanized in the mid-19th century,” according to UNESCO. “It was the capital of Senegal from 1872 to 1957 and played an important cultural and economic role in the whole of West Africa. The location of the town on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River, its regular town plan, the system of quays, and the characteristic colonial architecture give Saint-Louis its distinctive appearance and identity.”
There’s a man jogging on the beach. What an amazing beach it is! This has to be 100 or more yards wide. It’s completely undeveloped and isolated even though there’s a city of 178,000 right next door.
It’s incredible how calm and serene it’s been walking along the beach with the waves crashing in, yet in a few minutes I would be strolling back into utter African urban chaos.
The first boats and other signs of civilization were coming up now. I walked past numerous colorful, pretty fishing boats.
There’s a horse-drawn cart in the water. I had to weave through an obstacle course of boats parked on the sand. Getting these small vessels in and out of the water is not an easy task; takes about 8 to 10 men. I passed a bunch of goats on the sand, then cut inland to get some video of the chaotic sandy streets of the Guet N’Dar neighborhood.
I walked amongst the urban chaos and poverty of northwestern Saint-Louis on the narrow spit of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Senegal River. Two horse-drawn carts passed me.
Next I was on an unpaved, sandy side street with animals grazing, building materials stacked, laundry hanging, kids playing, and ladies carrying buckets on their heads.
I moved to head southbound along the Senegal River back toward downtown Saint-Louis. More fishing boats lined up here on the riverside; also animals (and unfortunately a ton of trash).
Then I weaved back into the sandy side streets. Kids were running around. Several goats walked past me near laundry hung out to dry and piles of fishing nets. The kids were a lot more intrigued by my presence than the adults. I passed another big group of goats and some Muslims praying outside a small mosque. One car went by – a rarity on these sandy streets. Soccer was being played in a square.
At 6:27 p.m. I reached the bridge from the narrow (328 yards; 300 meters) sand spit (the Langue de Barbarie, which separates the Senegal River from the Atlantic Ocean) back to the city center.
“As the first French chartered company on the Atlantic coast of African in 1659, the Island of Saint-Louis became the hub for European traders travelling up the river year round in search of slaves but also gum arabic, gold, leather, and other products,” according to UNESCO. “The little oceanic city was the political capital of the colony and French West Africa (FWA) up until 1902, and capital of Senegal and Mauritania up until 1957, before falling into decline due to the transfer of the capital to Dakar.”
Saint-Louis exercised considerable influence in the parts of Africa under French dominion in terms of architecture, education, culture, craftsmanship, and services.
“The Island of Saint-Louis, a former capital of West Africa, is an outstanding example of a colonial city, characterized by its particular natural setting, and it illustrates the development of colonial government in this region,” according to UNESCO.
I crossed the bridge back to the island, where I explored some of the remaining colonial-era buildings, brilliantly glowing as sunset approached.
“The magnificent ‘balconied houses,’ the ‘gallery houses,’ and beautiful Signares as well as the rare Portuguese ‘maison basses’ give the city its aesthetic quality and identity,” according to UNESCO. “Thanks to its regular layout, its system of quays, and its high-quality colonial architecture, the Island of Saint-Louis comprises a remarkable example of a colonial city with stylistic unity and urban homogeneity based on typologies and town planning principles inherited from the colonial administration.”
Some of the historic buildings house art galleries and souvenir shops geared to tourists.
One of the more eye-catching offerings were traditional Senegalese baskets.
I returned to the Langue de Barbarie bridge at 7:06 to watch the sun set, a gorgeous glow descending on the Senegal River.
Captured the sun setting between buildings.
Returned to my hotel room at 7:17, posted some photos, watched “NCIS,” and ate some snacks. Then headed out to Chez Peggy for dinner: fish, rice, and vegetables (F6,900; $11.88).
Back to Hotel da la Poste at 10:45 to sort and post photos. Got ready for bed, posted more pics, watched another episode of “NCIS,” and fell asleep about 2:40 a.m.
Tomorrow afternoon I return to Dakar by bus.
