Barra

Barra sits directly across the river mouth from the capital and exists because of the ferry that connects them, which unloads lorries, traders and passengers onto a single crowded jetty. A squat stone fort stands above the landing, built to stop slave ships leaving the river and now part of a world heritage listing that takes in several sites along the water. The market beside the ferry terminal exists to serve that traffic. Beyond it the road runs north into Senegal within a short drive. Almost everybody standing here is on the way to somewhere else.