Before the actual trip to Dakar, I went to the Dutch town Goedereede to make sound recordings. The town is located on Goeree, which was once a separate island but now part of the bigger island Goeree-Overflakkee due to centuries of continuous silting. Once a busy trading center, Goedereede is now a protected townscape, characterized by a huge tower (since 1512) and a windmill (since 1791). The tower was built as part of the church at first, but it mainly functioned as light house for ships at sea. From early 18th century onwards, the harbour of Goedereede became silted up and was moved several times(*). In the 19th century, the harbour was relocated two kilometres northeast of the city, where a new settlement arose, called Havenhoofd. This village still exists but does not function as harbour anymore, since the closure of the Haringvliet in 1971, as part of the Delta Works.

The recordings on Goeree made one aspect very clear: the rhythm of the place. It made me decide to focus on the rhythm of the Senegalese version of Goeree, Île de Gorée, as well.

On May the 3rd, the trip to Dakar finally started. Before I went to Île de Gorée to make sound recordings on that location, Negotiating Equity met with the Dutch journalist Bram Posthumus, who lives in Dakar and knows a lot about the social and political situation in Dakar, Senegal and the West-African region. He advised me to stay a night on Île de Gorée, if I really wanted to enjoy the rhythm of Île de Gorée. So I did, and indeed, after one day of recording the typical sounds of Beer – as the island is originally called and which is now the name of the ferry to Gorée – in the late afternoon the rhythm started and continued until late in the evening.

(*) M. Enderman et al, Licht boven de duinen, 2010