I plan to write about the overwhelming emotions when I first arrived in Dakar, Senegal for the beginning of my 3 years in the Gambia – all the people, expectations, and challenges that were clouded by cultural and language differences that I was unsure I could navigate.
Then I will tell about those many meeting in Dakar and the “Grand Central Station” Guest House plus the drives or flights between Banjul and Dakar. It did play a big part in my total Gambia Adventure!
Eventually many stories will be added here. 🙂
But for now, I have only a very few photos (most were lost/destroyed). I did make a few in the 2009 visit, like the featured photo above:
La Porte du Troisième Millénaire (the Door of the Third Millennium), which gives clues to its significance (opening the doors of Africa to the new millennium) and inauguration date (2001). The monument features three doors of increasing size, with a statue of a woman sitting on the second door playing a horn to symbolise unity and courage. Like ‘the Monument’, la Porte was designed by architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, the brains behind many of Dakar’s imposing buildings, including the two completed Seven Wonders of Dakar. It has also faced its fair share of criticism, mainly regarding cost, but also placement, as some fear the doors may eventually fall into the sea due to coastal erosion.
~https://theculturetrip.com/africa/senegal/articles/dakars-most-striking-monuments/
Photo by Charlie Doggett
Senegal MENU
- Introduction & Maps – YOU ARE HERE
- Senegal Photo Galleries 99-09 *
- About Senegal * (Wikipedia)
- Stories Are Coming Here! Like encountering rebels in the bush of Casamance.
- The Miracle Leaf Story in The Gambia on a Prayer Walk has me ending in Sedhiou, Senegal for a night where I pick up Beth Heyer after her prayer walk there and we drive back to Banjul.
- My 2005 Africa Portfolio of photos was then in book form for a Nashville gallery.
- And in 2020 my new Africa Portfolio titled: Magical AFRICA. It is a 100 page 7X7inches photo book available in both softcover and hardcover.
In Dakar, the Monument de la Renaissance is simply known as ‘the Monument’ and for good reason: the 49-metre-high (161-foot-high) bronze statue is the tallest monument in Africa and looms over the Dakar skyline from its hilltop perch in the west of the city. It’s also the country’s most controversial tribute. Built by the North Koreans at a cost of $27 million in 2010, it has been criticised for being expensive, unnecessary, macho, religiously insensitive and for bearing a resemblance to former Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, who commissioned it (and still retains 35 percent of the Monument’s profits). However, scaling the 198 steps to the base of the Monument will not add to Wade’s coffers (it’s free), and on a clear day it offers unbeatable views across Dakar.
~https://theculturetrip.com/africa/senegal/articles/dakars-most-striking-monuments/
Photo by Charlie Doggett
MAPS
¡Senegal!