March 29, 2023
Today we took a boat trip to visit a sad time in history when people used to see other people as slaves. Kunta Kinte Island used to be called James Island. This very small island is where the captured people were kept until they were purchased by slave traders and taken on a ship across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. It is called Kunta Kinte Island after one of the men who was sold into slavery here when he was just a teenager. He was the ancestor of the author, Alex Haley, who researched his genealogy and wrote the book, Roots, about Kunta Kinte and his descendants.
We began our journey in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. The Gambia is a long, narrow country completely surrounded by Senegal (except where it opens to the Atlantic Ocean). Although the native peoples of Senegal and The Gambia are the same, the area was divided into two different countries by the British and the French. The British retained control over all the area along the banks of the Gambia river, while they agreed to let the French have the remainder of the disputed area. Even after gaining their independence from the British and the French, the people of The Gambia speak English and model their government and legal system after the British and the people of Senegal speak French and model their government and legal system after the French. So far they have continued as separate countries, but there has been talk of recombining into one country.
The boat we boarded to travel to Kunta Kinte and Juffureh Islands was an older wooden boat made in Gambia. It was challenging to board with a wooden ladder from the dock down to the boat, but nowhere to put your hands when first going down the ladder. Most of us did make it on though.
Once on board, there was coffee and tea available as well as some bread. We began the 4 hour boat ride to Kunta Kinte Island. As we left the harbor, we passed many older boats who had seen better days. Some of them were still in use though!
As we left the port area and headed down the river, we saw several other people out on boats enjoying the river.
We passed by a fisherman who had just caught a fish. We watched him reel it in and show it to us.
We saw some wildlife on the river - royal terns, cormorants, even a butterfly!
Inside the boat, an unusual insect landed on a fellow passenger's shirt. It's wings looked torn and ragged, but it was just part of its camouflage.
We weren't able to disembark at Kunta Kinte Island. The guide said it was because the island has been shrinking due to erosion and it wouldn't be safe for us to dock. We did sail around the island and saw the remains of the garrison and old slave trading station.
We then traveled to Juffureh Island to visit the village of Albreda where Kunta Kinte grew up before he was captured. Along the pier, there were fishermen with their nets and a cow on a sand bar in the water.
As we walked down the road from the dock to the slavery museum, groups of children gathered chanting and dancing. We were also trailed by people selling candy, t-shirts, hats, and other paraphernalia.
The museum had artifacts from the history of the slave trade such as manacles used to hold captured slaves. It focused on the capture of people and their transport into slavery. It also had a section on Alex Haley and Roots and the connection to Kunta Kinte. I don't have pictures, because it cost money to take pictures, and we needed to save the money for the tips for the guides.
The introduction to the chief's representative and the descendants of Kunta Kinte was very brief. There was not the ceremony or time for questions there had been on the visit to the village in Ghana. They did ask for donations for the descendants and we could purchase a certificate of our visit if we wished.
We had to walk quickly to return to the boat as we were running short on time. As we walked back, we were followed by women with babies asking for money for milk and children asking for candy or money.
On the boat ride back, we had a meal of rice, a shellfish dish and salad. We enjoyed the scenery on the long ride back, but were concerned by the passing time. We were glad to see the old ships that signaled our return to the harbor.
We got back to Zuiderdam quite a bit past the all aboard time. We were glad it was a ship-sponsored tour, so the ship was still there waiting for us!
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