After landing in Barra and departing the ferry, we drove to the village of Juffureh (which has several different spellings) on the north bank of the Gambia River. Juffureh seems to adjoin the village of Albreda and I was not clear on when I was in which village. Juffureh is the ancestral home of Kunta Kinteh, according to Alex Haley in his 1976 novel, "Roots: The Saga of an American Family." It was no accident in that Juffureh was one of the major centers of the Transatlantic slave trade with probably millions of slaves exported from here. A family here claims to be related to Kunta Kinteh. Following the publication of Roots, Juffureh became a tourist destination and remains so today. We were told that this has lead to economic improvements to the town and area though I could not distinguish that.

I will first just input a few photos to give you some idea of what the Juffureh area looks like today.

Our main visit in Juffureh was the Museum of Slavery. It showcased the slave trade in Gambia. The main theme that I absorbed was that the Africans started slavery and maintained slavery, but the Europeans made slavery much more cruel through starvation, torture, whippings, and killings.

The museum was small and crowded. I went through it all but spent more time outside in the surrounding area, like below, under a Cashew tree.

After our museum visit, it was on to the river for a small boat ride out to Kunta Kinteh Island. I was a little surprised when I got to the Gambia River.

Oh well, it was into the boats and out into the river.