Jewel Tones and Paths to the Sea - Dakar's Gorée Island

It was love at first sight when I first glimpsed Gorée Island. I was sitting on the ferry from Dakar (the capital city of Senegal) with my father and sister, clutching two cameras in my freezing hands (the Harmattan heat of Lagos seemed incredibly far away this far up the West African coastline) as we chugged closer to this small patch of land sitting in the Atlantic Ocean. As our ferry pulled in and we jumped onto the wooden jetty, I was struck by an odd sensation - I felt as though I'd stepped into a whole other time period. Dakar is a bustling metropolis with street traders, traffic and shouting on every corner. Gorée, just 2 kilometres away from the main city, felt distinctly like a sleepy small town.

For one thing, it's tiny - it's only 300m by 900m (meaning that you can take a leisurely stroll around the island in 45 minutes or less). There are no cars on Gorée, meaning that instead of wide roads marked by zebra crossings there are dusty footpaths criss-crossing across the island. It's quiet, and there's an immediate sense of intimacy and mystery that draws you in and architectural surprises on every corner delight the eye.

A brief history: Gorée is a UNESCO site today, but a few hundred years ago it was one of the first places colonised by Europeans on the West African coast (first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, followed by the British and finally the French). La Maison de Esclaves (the Slave House) is one of its most famous landmarks and a reminder of Gorée's small but historically significant role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. It has a population of approximately 1000 people, and is home to incredibly talented artisans, a famous girls' secondary school and some of the city's best poisson yassa, according to my father.

The vibrant colours, picturesque views and unique construction details on Gorée were this amateur photographer's dream come true (PLEASE ask permission if you would like to use any of these photographs):