UNSCRIPTED: SA-LA-GA

Ever heard of Salaga? what comes into mind when you hear of Salaga. Is it the slave trade market? On 26th of June, 2015 i rushed at dawn to the metro mass station after i realized i was 30 mins late to getting a ticket. Fortunately for me the bus was delayed for two hours for reasons my inquiry proved futile. We set off at 8:40am and arrived exactly 3 hours later. 

 KNOWING SALAGA 

 One hundred and twenty kilometres to the southwest of Tamale is Salaga, the capital of the Gonja East District which used to be the biggest slave-trading center in Northern Ghana.

The original slave market was moved south from Salaga to a settlement called Kafaba. Unfortunately, much of Kafaba is now under the Volta Lake. The present road from Tamale to Salaga is rough terrain. Salaga has a pond called “Wonkan bawa” (a Huasa word meaning “the bathing place of slave”) and a young Baobab tree in what used to be the Slave Market.

This existing Baobab is a replacement for an original tree to which slaves were chained and displayed as wares for sale. Merchants from farther north and the forest regions of the south would come and barter salt, cola nuts, cowries, gold, and Europeans drinks for slaves. This historical market presently doubles as a public transportation terminal.

 MY TRIP:
So i visited some volunteers on my trip to salaga. Volunteers Ghana is currently undertaking an outreach project in the Gonja East district. These volunteers shared their experiences with me and after several hours of interview i had a ride from the base camp of the leadership of Volunteers Ghana. Check out my amateur video.


Comments

Unknown said…
Taking trips they say "opens the eyes" to the realities that surrounds us, of which we know nothing about. I would have loved to be there with u. But, not loosing hope, I will that place sooner. I have the ambition of visiting all the historical cites of Ghana that I've learnt about. One thing I am curious about is why they named the river in Hausa language and not in Gonna.
Good article anyway.
2 July 2015 at 21:34
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