2828 SENEGAL - The happy people of Cap-Vert

Cap-Vert is a peninsula in Senegal, and the westernmost point of the continent of Africa and of the Old World mainland. Originally called Cabo Verde or "Green Cape" by Portuguese explorers, it is not to be confused with the Cape Verde islands. The indigenous inhabitants of the peninsula, the Lebou, lived as fishermen and farmers. Since about 1444, when the Portuguese first sighted the cape, it has been an entrepôt for African-European trade. The French later established the city of Dakar on the cape in 1857.

2474 SENEGAL - Saly Portudal

Located on the Petite Côte of Senegal, south of Dakar, on a sandy beach lined with coconut palm trees, Saly Portudal is in nowadays the top tourist destination in all of West Africa. It was originally a Portuguese trading post known as Porto de Ale, which became Portudal, and later Sali Portudal. The resort was created in 1984 on a previously unoccupied tract of land near the former trading post. Saly's economy relies almost entirely on tourism.

2429 SENEGAL - Pirogue men

 

Senegal, a country with 500km of coastline, has more than 21,000 handmade pirogues in their ports, from Saint Louis to Ziguinchor, principally engaged in the transport of people and goods between towns, but also used for tourism. Senegalese wooden pirogue, vividly painted, can be found both along the coast, as well as on the great rivers, especially in Siné-Saloum and Casamance. In some regions are even today the main means of transport.

2418 SENEGAL - Bassari (Aliyan) people

2418 Youg Bassari girls, granaries of millet and Flamboyant tree

The Bassari (A-liyan, Boin, Tenda Boeni) people are agro-pastoral Senegambian Tenda-speaking people of larger Niger-Congo language family living in West African countries of Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. Most of them are concentrated on either side of the Senegal-Guinea border southwest of Kedougou. Currently Bassari population is estimated to be about 38,000, with 16,000 people living in Senegal, 15,500 in Guinea, 500 in Guinea Bissau and some small numbers scattered in the Gambia and Mauritania.

2265 SENEGAL - Serer and Fula women in Saloum

Located north of the Gambia and south of the Petite Côte, Sine-Saloum is a region in which were for hundreds of years the kingdoms of Saloum and Sine, the last pre-colonial kingdoms of Senegambia that have survived up to the 20th century. Only in 1969, after the death of their kings, the two kingdoms were incorporated into the new Republic of Senegal, independent since 1960. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked, so it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum.

1495 SENEGAL - Flower-woman in front of Kermel Market in Dakar

As in most West African countries, Senegal has a wide variety of ethnic groups, so it's difficult (for me) to identify the one to which belongs the woman shown in the postcard. Anyway, she is a flower seller and stands in front of the Marché Kermel (Kermel Market) - the main entrance can be seen behind her. Located next to a brightly-coloured colonial-era building at the end of the Avénue Albert Sarraut, on the opposite side of the Place de l'Independance, Kermel Market is one of the Dakar's most important market. Before independence, it had been designated for use by Europeans. The original 1860 construction burnt down in 1994, but in 1997 it was reconstructed - closely modeled on the building's initial structure and decoration. Are sold there all kinds of merchandise, but it is most popular for foodstuffs.