St Louis

16 november 2022

There is so much to discover in Saint Louis by just wandering around this port town perched on the sand islands in the middle of the Senegal River.

It was the first settlement of the French in West Africa and still has much of the mixed crumbling colonial architecture making it a UNESCO World Heritage Centre since 2000.

The island is reached by the 500m long Pont Faidherbe - a feat of 19 century engineering and used by numerous school children to cross from the mainland to their schools built on the islands.

The architecture always fascinates me; there are incredible villa like buildings in various states of repair along the criss-crossed streets. Scattered throughout the town are art and photographic galleries, clothing stalls and restaurant / bars. All low key and selling locally produced materials and food. I loved the simple fish and rice cooked to order by the lady who owns the place on the norther tip of the island.

The old Hotel de la Poste located at the bridge and opposite the Poste centre, is an amazing preserved piece of history. Once the over night stay for the aviation fleet responsible for flying the aircraft which connected Europe, Africa and Asia between 1918 and 1930. It was fascinating to see the black and white photos of this service around the hotel and take in the ambience of this colonial masterpiece.