Sunday May 24, 2026
Hi Gang! Today we were docked in the port of Dakar, in the country of Senegal on the continent of Africa. This is actually our last day in a mainland African port. The next few ports are islands off the coast of Africa.
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, the westernmost city on the African continent and has a population of 4 million people. It was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 15th century. They established a presence on Goree Island off the coast and used it as a base for the Atlantic slave trade. France took over the island in 1677 and Senegal gained their independence in 1960. Dakar has come a long way and will host the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics!
We didn’t arrive until 11:30 AM so Regent had a Sail-In event at 10 AM in the Observation Lounge for just their “Top Tier” Guests (like us – well, Lah-Tee-Dah! Lol). It was nice to get the top deck view of sailing into Dakar but the true highlight was the entertainment they had which was our good friends Isma and Brennan who sang a medley of Billy Joel songs!
So today we did a tour starting at 2 PM called “Highlights of Dakar”. We first drove to the Kermel Market and shopped there. We then went to the Massalikun Jinaan Great Mosque as well as the Independence Obelisk for photo ops. Then on to the Monument of African Renaissance passing by the Niary Tally district.
After that we went to this cool Sand Painting Workshop where we watched them do sand painting. We then passed by the University of Dakar on our way to the Douta Seck Cultural Center where they greeted us with a traditional welcome ceremony.
After that we rode past the Millennium Door to the Cathedral of Dakar. On the way back to the pier we drove past the Presidential Palace and Independence Square. Whew… that was a lot! We weren’t back onboard until 6 PM so we just showered and ordered room service.
There was no evening show but they did have a “Latin Night” of music by the Arista Duo in the Horizon Lounge. So we went there and tried to shake our groove thing (but it didn’t work! Lol). We then called it a night. Tomorrow we have another sea day! Hope everyone had a great day!
PS: We saw sheep everywhere today! We learned that this Wednesday May 27th is the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. On this day, Muslims sacrifice a sheep, called Qurbani, and keep a third for themselves, give a third to family and friends, and donate a third to the poor. So all these poor sheep are just hanging around waiting for the inevitable. Ouch!
The Wandering Italian 