Photos: Kunta Kinteh Island

Jessica Fryman / April 1, 2015 / 2 Comments / Blog, The Gambia Files

Here are some photos from the tour Nora and I took of Kunta Kinteh Island. It is an important site in the history of West African slave trade. Captives were kept on the island, formerly known as James Island, for up to 15 days before boarding the ships to the Americas. Alex Haley, author of Roots, tracked his ancestry back to The Gambia where his relative Kunta Kinteh was sold into slavery from this post. The dismal history is set against the beautiful backdrop of The Gambia River, making the tour enjoyable despite the heavy topic.

–JDF

Tags: Africa, blog, James Island, Jessica Fryman, Kunta Kinteh, Kunta Kinteh Island, Nora Westcott, Peace Corps, Peace Corps blog, Peace Corps The Gambia, Peace Corps The Gambia blog, Roots, The Gambia, West Africa

2 Responses

David Glovsky / 4-2-2015 / ·

Hi Jessica!

This may be out of the blue, but I’m a RPCV from Senegal who’s looking to do research for my PhD in Gambia this summer. I am going to be based in/around Banjul for the summer, but will be looking to make contacts to do interviews near Basse and south of Janjanbureh. I was hoping to get in touch with PCVs in Gambia both in eastern Gambia and around Banjul but wasn’t sure how to do it, so a blog seemed like the best bet! Any help would be much appreciated! Like a good RPCV, I will pay you back in Julbrew and bean sandwiches!

Dave
Jessica Fryman / 4-3-2015 / ·

Dave,

I can definitely help connect you to people who live in those areas! I’ll send you an email and we can chat more then meet up when you get in town.

Jess

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My name is Jessica Danielle Fryman, but I also answer to Fatoumata Camara.

I know three languages, the third being a tribal tongue less than one percent of the world speaks. I like to run even though I’m not that good at it. I read a lot. And I once published a book I wrote, setting all the type by hand on an old-fashioned printing press. I’m an avid traveler and amateur photographer. I’m also a master spider-killer and possess the ability to stalk my prey without the squeamish screams of my former urban life.

I’m originally from Las Vegas, a city with more people than the entire country where I currently live. I now reside in a two-room concrete house with a tin roof and a ceiling made of rice bags. I eat with my hand out of a shared food bowl. I walk down a dirt road to fetch my water and carry it home in a bucket on my head. And yes, I even poop in a hole in the ground.

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