Saint Louis

Last weekend I went to St. Louis with some friends. It's the second biggest city in Senegal, so there was lots to see. The city has a lot of buildings boasting bright colors which you don't see as often here in Dakar. St. Louis has a different feel than anything I've seen in Senegal, and walking it's streets can be a real history lesson.

During French colonization, St. Louis was the country's capital. Back then, France played a pretty big role in the city's growth/construction and today, the city still wears its french influence on its sleeve. Since 1960, when Senegal won its independence, France did less and less for the former Senegalese capital. Today, you can see the vestiges of former French rule all over the city - wider streets, Christianity and crumbling french architecture - mixed with aspects of a Senegalese city, like mosques and goats.