Across Africa, sites once marked by pain, tragedy, and historical suffering are being transformed into destinations for remembrance and dark tourism.
These locations, which include former slave ports, genocide memorials, and war sites, are attracting visitors seeking to learn about the past, honor victims, and engage in reflective tourism experiences. According to Travel & Tour World, Africa is home to awe-inspiring landscapes and vibrant cultures, but hidden within its beauty are places that bear the scars of a painful past.
One such site is Bunce Island, located about 20 miles from Freetown in Sierra Leone. Once a major British slave trading post during the transatlantic slave trade, the island played a crucial role in sending tens of thousands of enslaved Africans—many skilled in rice farming—to plantations in the American South. Today, the island lies in ruins, overgrown and silent, yet it stands as one of Africa’s most significant reminders of slavery, drawing visitors seeking to confront and understand this dark chapter of history.
Africa captivates tourists with its stunning landscapes, but some places carry the weight of its painful history. One such place is Bunce Island, a somber reminder of the past. Situated approximately 20 miles up the Sierra Leone River from Freetown, Bunce Island was a pivotal site in the transatlantic slave trade. From 1670 to 1808, it served as a British slave trading post, sending tens of thousands of enslaved Africans to the Americas, primarily to the rice plantations of South Carolina and Georgia.
The Africans enslaved at Bunce Island were specifically selected for their knowledge of rice cultivation, a skill that played a vital role in shaping the American rice industry. This brutal trade established enduring connections between West Africa and the southern United States. Historians from Yale note that one of the island’s principal figures, Richard Oswald, had close ties with Henry Laurens, a wealthy South Carolina planter and slave trader who later became President of the Continental Congress. Laurens handled the sale of slaves brought from Bunce Island and sent the profits back to London.
Africa’s Bunce Island, off the coast of Sierra Leone, was once a major hub in the transatlantic slave trade. Today, its haunting ruins attract visitors seeking to explore one of the continent’s most powerful reminders of a dark past. Even during the American Revolutionary War, Bunce Island was a site of conflict. In 1779, the French, allied with the American colonists, attacked the island, envious of its prosperous trade. Though the site was damaged, the slave trade continued until Britain banned it in 1807. The island was eventually abandoned in the following decades.
Today, Bunce Island is a haunting ruin, overtaken by lush vegetation. Visitors can still observe remnants of the slave prison, factory house, watchtowers, cannons, and a graveyard. While only about 600 meters long, Bunce Island is recognized as one of Africa’s most significant slave trade sites. Efforts to preserve it are ongoing, and the site is now protected, according to Tourism Sierra Leone.
