R. Doug Wicker — Author

The French Compagnie du Sénégal (Company of the Senegal) used Gorée Island as a hub for the Atlantic slave trade beginning in 1677, and various entities using that same name continued to do so until France outlawed the trade in 1848. Over that period, it is estimated that 20 million Africans passed through Gorée on their way to North, Central, and South America. As such, there remain many reminders here of that horrific time.

You’ll even find documentation of that trade in the House of Slaves, as well as other locations here. For instance, here are images for the logbook of the 232-ton slave ship Mary:

As the slave trade was of vital economic importance, it warranted military protection. For more on this ugly chapter, see: Goree Island, ‘The Door of No Return,’ a story.

So, now you know why the sign greeting you to Gorée thanks you for your pilgrimage, as many descended from slaves make the journey here to remember. I would show you the House of Slaves, but photography of the exhibits is frowned upon. What’s not frowned upon are the other sights, including many interesting buildings dating back hundreds of years:

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NCL Dawn departed Côte d’Ivoire on 21 March 2025, and three days later we found ourselves in Dakar, the largest city in Senegal, as well as its capital. The city itself is home to nearly 1.3 million, but the populatoin of the metropolitan area is around four million. In other words, this is a major city. The capital is situated on the Cap-Vert, or Cape Verde, peninsula, which makes this the westernmost point of the entire African continent. And, while Abidan, Côte d’Ivoire was our least favorite cruise destination, Ursula and I both rated Dakar our second favorite after Cape Town. It’s just a wonderful, exciting destination. We had a full day ahead of us, and our tour guide rushed us to the ferry terminal for our first sight — Île de Gorée (Gorée Island)

The crowd lining up for the ferry was massive, and our guides had to do some real finagling to get us all aboard. If any of us missed this one, we’d be stuck for hours awaiting the next. Fortunately, bunched together and jostled by the throngs, we all made it. And so we set sail for Gorée:

As we approached this small island the first prominent feature we saw was Fort d’Estrées, which houses the Historical Museum of Senegal in Gorée. This fort was built by the French in the 1850s, and it still looks imposing today:

Other views taken from the ferry as we approached Gorée Island:

Finally making port, we disembarked from the ferry for a tour of this historic island.

Here’s a glimpse of the first sights to great us on Gorée Island:

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