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| JOAL-FADIOUTH |
«
Joal !
I remember !
I remember the signares
there, in the green shade of the verandas
And the look in their eyes, beyond reality,
like moonlight on the shore.
I remember the splendours of sunset
Making Koumba N'Dofene yearn to have his royal
coat made in.
I remember the funeral feasts steaming hot
with the blood of slaughtered herds.
The noise of quarrels, the griots' rhapsodies.
I remember pagan voices giving rythm to the
Tantum Ego
Processions too and palms and triumphal arches...
"
Léopold
Sédar Senghor
Songs of Darkness |
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Joal is one of
the oldest settlements in Senegal, 115 kms
south of Dakar ; it is Léopold
Sédar Senghor's birth place ; it
was discovered in the XVth century by Portuguese
navigators.
Nowadays it is a small town with a population
of 5,000 inhabitants ; its main road is lined
with XIXth century colonial-styled houses.
Joal is a Catholic stronghold !
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The visitor can
either walk across the footbridge or board
a pirogue to reach Fadiouth, an artificial
island built on shells piled up on top of
each other.
The great majority of its 6,000 inhabitants
is Catholic.
Most of them are fishermen.
The island is well-known for its Catholic
and Moslem cemetery built with shells as well
as its granaries on piles. |
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Aerial views of Joal-Fadiouth |
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