Historical places in Africa

As the location for the first European settlement on the West African coast in 1659 and the capital of French West Africa until 1902 the island of Saint-Louis is synonymous with colonial history. Today, life between the island's colourful colonial buildings barely moves faster than it did back in the island's prime. Many of the quaint buildings have been restored, adding to the small island's relaxed and somewhat artsy atmosphere. A stroll through the sandy streets, in the shade of charming balconies, reveals many more workshops and galleries than the island's small size should justify. Such a stroll can justifiably last for days here. The colonial tranquillity appears as in a time warp compared to the bustling neighbourhoods of modern Saint-Louis surrounding it. The island is connected to these more lively parts of town by no less than three bridges, the most famous one been Pont Faidherbe, allegedly build by a certain Mr Eiffel. If you are around in May, be sure not to miss the city's world famous Jazz Festival

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.

Sierra Leone's civil war in the late 90's was one of the bloodiest. Images of child soldiers, blood diamonds, ritual killings and cannibalism, have sadly been seen as common in African conflicts ever since. Criminally underfunded, a Peace Museum has now been opened in the old UN Special Court, which completed its mandate of prosecuting serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the war. The Museum includes an exhibition on the conflict and the court proceedings, as well as a memorial garden and a small room of gifts from the Mongolian peacekeepers who protected the court. For scholars and those with a keen interest, all the court's documents are also kept by the Museum and it's possible to go through some of the thousands of witness accounts to get a better understanding of the atrocities. Entry is per much-needed donation.

Robben Island is infamous for being the prison island where Nelson Mandela served 18 of 27 years of imprisonment. The island had functioned as a prison for the native enemies of the colonial powers (first the Dutch, then the English) since the late seventeenth century. Later the prison was used for mostly political enemies of the apartheid regime of South Africa. Nelson Mandela was in the high security section doing hard labour along with other political leaders. In 1990 Nelson Mandela was released and the prison was closed in 1991. In 1999 it became a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Robben Island is located about 10 km from Cape Town and can only be visited on a tour by Robben Island Museum. The guides for the prison section are former political prisoners. It might come as a surprise, but there are about 200 people living in the island's village today, which was originally constructed for the prison employees.

Togoville was the town where the treaty was agreed that the German colonial authority eventually used claim all of present-day Togo and parts of Ghana. It's a tiny community, but since it was here the first treaty was signed, it eventually named the entire country. The Germans build a large Catholic Cathedral, lovely situated overlooking Lake Togo. Pope Jean Paul II visited the site back in 1985 after the Virgin Mary was allegedly seen walking on the lake. This miracle is still celebrated every November 7th with a large festival. For the rest of the year, Togoville is a quiet place, where the few tourists will receive a lot of attention. While you might not be able to walk on the lake, it's still a good place for a relaxing boat tour; any local captain will be happy to assist.

Even centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, countless architectural symbols of it's magnificence still scatter the Mediterranean coastline. While everyone knows about the Colosseum in the centre of Rome, not so many know of the UNESCO listed Amphitheatre of El Jem. Built in the 3rd century for up to 60,000 spectators, the amphitheatre is the 3rd largest of it's kind in the world. Even today, the amphitheatre is the centre of town life. Surprisingly, the area is not a touristic as you might expect for such an great site. And being so big, it's easy to escape any of the few tour groups that make it here.

In the flat region of Eastern Uganda, some oddities happen, like very circumscribed areas where giant boulders and other rocks seem to have landed there, as if they had fallen from the sky. In one of such areas, Nyero, even odder oddities can be seen. It appears an ancient civilisation (it is still unclear who and when) had taken refuge in this area and left a mark on some of the rocks. Three main sites can be visited easily (but there are more), very poetically named Nyero 1, 2, and 3. If you know anything about primitive art, you will be able to rave about the painters' skill and ingenuity, but even if you're just the average uncultured traveller, you will no doubt appreciate the great geometrical forms of the paintings and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. And next time you see a 1000 Ugandan shillings bill, you'll be able to boast: I have seen the original.