Slave trade sites

The memorial arch of Door of No Return stands at the beach four kilometres from the old slave town of Ouidah. According to some sources, millions of people from other tribes were captured by the Ouidah troops and sold off to the Arabs and later Europeans. The slaves was marched from Ouidah town to the waiting slave ships anchored off the beach. Here the slaves first have to survive the horrendous sea journey before they reached their equal horrible destiny somewhere in the colonised New World. Today, there are several other monuments along the sandy road from Ouidah to the beach, but nothing as big as the Door of No Return.

Like other West African countries, the Gambia wasn't exempt from the centuries of slave trading by Europeans. The country's primary site of memorial is Kunta Kinteh Island (formerly St. James Island) located mid-river at the mouth of the Gambia River. Here, Fort James defended the interests of the British, French, Dutch and Latvian ships participating in the trade of gold, ivory and, of course, slaves. The island is just a small pirogue hop from the north bank of the Gambia River, and it's easy to arrange in the twin village of Albadarr/Jufureh. Here is also a small museum, mapping out the crimes of the slave trade and providing an informative introduction to this dark corner of human history. Fort James got to redeem itself in the 19th century when it became part of the British efforts to quell the slave trade.

It was the Portuguese, who first established a trading post in Cape Coast in the early 17th century. Later both Swedish, Danish and Dutch hold the post, but it was the British in late 17th century, who expanded the post to the fort you see today. It played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade and thousands of slaves have been sold here and shipped off to the Americas. There is a fine little exhibition explaining the history of the fort, slavery, and Ghana culture in general. As you explore the fort, you get amazing views over Cape Coast, particularly the two beaches and the small fishing community below. Here high up you can take in life below, a sight that almost rival the one of the fort itself. Together with the other fortified buildings along the Ghanaian coast, they're enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Most visitors to Ghana visit the Castles in Elmina and Cape Coast. But the Ghanaian coast is dotted with gold and slave trade era forts, which together are enlisted as one joint UNESCO World Heritage site. No less than two-thirds of all Western forts built in West Africa are constructed in what is today Ghana. Built by the British, Dutch, Danes, Swedes and Portuguese, the forts ended up in the hands of the former three after power struggles during the 17th century. Most interesting of the 29 forts that are standing today are Fort Metal Cross (in Dixcove), Fort Leydsaemheyt (Apam), Fort Amsterdam (Abanze), Fort William (Anomabo) and Fort Prinzenstein (Keta). Fort Amsterdam doubles as a basic guesthouse.

Not as big as the neighbouring slave fort in Cape Coast, but with an equal grim history. Already in the late 15th century, the Portuguese set up a trading post here to get their hands on the West African gold production. The post eventually turned into to a full-blown slave fort with cannons and dungeons for slaves waiting to be shipped. The Dutch managed to conquer Elmina fort in the mid 17th century, before they sold it off to the British in late 19th century. It's estimated between 12 and 20 millions slaves were shipped from the Gold Coast in West Africa, a five-week journey under so grim conditions that it wasn't unusual that half of the human cargo have died in passage. Walking around the fort not only gives you idea of the past, but it also offers panoramic views over Elmina town and the sea. Elmina is of course a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Cape Coast slave fort.

Not many travellers make it all the way to Keta, though it's a favoured weekend hideout for locals, who are happy to have the town's resorts all to themselves. Beside the peace and quiet, and the long sandy beach, most foreign visitors come out here to visit Keta Lagoon and Fort Prinzenstein. Prinzenstein is the only Danish fort still standing on the Ghanaian coast – though the sea has tried its best to swallow it. The Danes were the third major player (along with the British and the Dutch) during 400 years of gold and slave trade. Until Christiansborg Castle in Accra opens to the public, Prinzenstein is the only Danish-built fortification it's possible to visit. Around the fort is a small colonial town, and further down the coast is an awkward-looking stilt lighthouse that's climbable.

Gara Medouar is a horseshoe-shaped mountain, which rises vertically 50 m above the desert floor. Though the shape resemble of an extinct volcano, it's not. The off-road trail runs straight in the middle and goes all the way to the top, passing an old defensive wall. The wall dates back to the times, when the mountain was used as a slave trading post for the Portuguese.
Fossils can be found in the limestone slabs at the top.
Such a unique and spectacular natural phenomenon has of course featured in several movies, like "The mummy" and "James Bond, Spectre", and promo videos for KTM, Yamaha and Land Rover.
Today, Gara Medouar is popular with off-road motorcycle riders and overlanders in 4x4.

Mozambique Island is the cradle of African colonialism and so soaked in history that it's deserved a UNESCO site. First came Arabian traders, and later the Portuguese. It became one of the central ports for the slave trade and was for a long time the capital of Portuguese East Africa, leaving the island with a density of colonial buildings not matched by many other places in Africa. What makes Mozambique Island further unique today, is that people are living in and among these decayed mansions, giving the island an almost squatter feel. Most of the historical sites are at the northern end, where the once cobbled streets are now sandy and potholed and the crumbling once-grand buildings stand neglected among bushes and shady trees. The southern end of the island is a densely populated shack town with easy going people. There are also several beaches around Mozambique Island, but they are mostly used by playing children and fishermen fixing their boats, but local guys will be happy to do boat tours to nearby islands. However, Mozambique Island's charm is the old houses and laid back atmosphere.

The House of Slaves is the lone survivor of 28 slave houses that used to operate out of Gorée. It is popular with American visitors and Dakar school classes alike. Visitors come to experience the dark chambers, the isolation cells under the staircases, and the "Door of No Return". All mark they the grim realities of Europe's first exploitation of the African continent. And while academics discuss how many slaves that did spend their last days on the African continent here, the Maison symbolic value remains undeniable. Most unbelievable are the thin planks that made up both the slaves ceiling and the slave traders living room floor. How it was possible to live directly on top of such misery is baffling.

Mostly famed for being the country were British ships-of-war would make landfall to release "recaptured" slaves after the British Parliament outlawed the slave trade, the area today known as Sierra Leone was also a site of the human trade before the British change of hearts. 30 km up the Sierra Leone River from Freetown, on Bunce Island, lies the country's only significant slave trading site. The ruins here can be underwhelming, but are one of the few locations, where captives are know to have been brought to North America and not Brazil or the Caribbean. Today, many families South Carolina and Georgia can trace their roots to this island.