Photo: Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, (African Renaissance Monument), Dakar, Senegal
Africa is currently made up of about 54 countries. I say “about” because there are still colonial debates about who has the right to control some African “territories” and “dependencies”. This is unfortunate, but Africa is coming of age and coming into its own, in spite of the intervention of outside forces.
My wife and I have a secret that allows us to travel around the world inexpensively. If I tell you what it is, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. So, I’m going to tell you about my trip to Africa, but I’m not going to tell you my secret … maybe.
When we were planning for our trip to Senegal, we started by doing a lot of research. Who are the people? What is their culture? What are their languages? What do they eat? How do they live? Where should we go? How do we get around?
Just about every country on Earth is pretty big. Maybe not as big as the United States, but I challenge you to walk across any country. Well, the Vatican (been there) is pretty small. But it would take about eight days to walk across Senegal.
That means you can’t realistically hope to see and do everything in a nation that big in one short visit. But you can (and we did)see some of the most iconic and important places.
Dakar is a city of over a million people, with a metropolitan area of close to 4 million. They are pressed into a land area less than one tenth the size of San Diego, California, which has 1.3 million people (32.05 square miles versus 374.2 square miles).
Senegal is known for “teraanga”. BBC Travel says, “Characterized by generosity, hospitality and warmth, teraanga is everywhere in Senegal, and has helped shape the nation’s identity.”
All the people we met lived up to this description with the warmth, love and care the people of Senegal showed us. From the young lady who checked us in, to the folks who helped us get around town to the tour guides who took us to the Bandia Reserve and Goree Island.
The best part of the trip was our new best friendCheik Amar. He is a sophisticated and savvy Senegalese entrepreneur who lives with his American wife in Atlanta. We met Amar on the plane, when my wife accidentally sat in his seat.
He was very gracious. Our correct seats were right in front of him, and when we got off the plane, it was evident that we were “gringos” and didn’t have a real good grip on what we were doing in Senegal.
We’ve been to more than 30 countries, so we know how to get our bearings and find our way around. But Amar was having none of it. The teraanga kicked in, and before we knew it, he had made arrangements for a taxi to get us to our hotel, paid and tipped the driver, given us his WhatsApp number and insisted that we call him so he could take us to dinner later in the week. Southern hospitality and African hospitality all rolled up in one. Amazing!
One of the largest monuments in Africa is the “Monument de la Renaissance Africaine” (African Renaissance Monument) located in the Capital City of Senegal, Dakar. It stands 52 meters (171 feet) tall, making it taller than a 15-story building.
It is an amazing and imposing structure, shaped in the stature of a man, carrying his small child on his shoulder and pulling his woman alongside him as they move into the future.
This monumental 49-metre-high bronze statue in the capital Dakar was meant to symbolize the triumph of African liberation and rival the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower as a tourist destination.(Africa News, The story behind Senegal’s African Renaissance Monument -2/27/2020.)
The monument has a garden surrounding it and severalmuseums inside. There is an observation deck at the top with a panoramic view of the city and the Atlantic Ocean. The monument was designed by the Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby.
The monument has different entry fees for folks from different places. If we had spoken French or Wolof or any of the other indigenous languages, we might have passed for Senegalese. Alas, we do not speak any of those languages well enough to pass. But when the wonderful young brother at the ticket gate asked us where we were from, he told us, “You are Africans who are just returning home” and he gave us the African discounted price for entry. The visit was well worth any price.
A testament to teraanga was the young lady from Senegal, who lives in the Netherlands, who was back in Senegal to visit family. She translated the entire tour inside the monument from French to English for us (There is no tour in English.). Through three or four different levels, each with its own unique museum, the young lady walked with us and helped us understand the depth of importance and historical significance of what we were experiencing while the tour guide ran it all down in French.
As Karma would have it, because she was translating for us, the tour guide allowed her to ride with us in the elevator to the top of the monument, even though she didn’t have a ticket. Everyone treats everyone else like family, which, after all, we are.
Senegal hosts the Museum of Black Civilizations. As with any museum, it is filled with more important historical and cultural artifacts than can be discussed in a short discourse. Suffice it to say that they are frank about their history.
Importantly, at least for me, was the display paying homage to all the women in Africa who before and now play important roles in African government. More than 20 women have served as heads of state in Africa. The United States has yet to have a female head of state. What are we waiting for?
There is also too much to say about Goree Island, the end of the line port on the western-most point on the African continent. Here untold numbers of Africans were held and herded onto slave ships bound for the Americas.
Our guide on Goree, Abou Sall, told us that when there is a mixed crowd of Blacks and whites listening to the Goree “griot” tell the history of the Goree slave trade. At the end, virtually all of the white people clap, and virtually all of the Black people cry.
No matter when or where we went in Dakar, we never felt threatened or ill at ease. There was constant hustle and bustle. People were going about their business, taking care of business. Needless to say, it was amazing to be Black in a country where nearly everyone was Black. Everywhere we looked, we saw people who looked like people we know. Like being around family and friends.
The climax of our trip was when Amar picked us up from in front of the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine and drove us to one of his favorite local places to eat. It was an open-air restaurant right on the beach. We arrived as the sun was setting; it was warm, and there was a perfect breeze.
The place was full. Two of Amar’s sisters met us there, and we shared a large plate of five different kinds of fresh-caught fish, prepared in the traditional “yassa” fashion with rice, potatoes and vegetables. The word yassa is derived from the Wolof word yaxa, which means “to cook in a sauce of onions.” It’s delicious. (we had food yassa style several times while in Senegal.)
Near the end of the meal, there was a sudden strong breeze and, as if on cue, in an instant, everyone was up and moving quickly forcover. It was the rainy season, and that breeze meant rain. In a matter of minutes, it was pouring down rain! We ran under a canopy outside one of the stores nearby while Amar got the car, and he took us safely back to our hotel.
Our first trip to west Africa (we’ve been to Egypt)was a wonderful cultural and spiritual renewal and has solidified my desire to see more of the land of my family’s origin and the origin of all of humanity .We are planning trips to Benin and Nigeria next year. Start saving now and come with us. Help us write the story of the Africans who have come home. And share the love and teraanga. Peace.
