Salaga

Salaga grew in the nineteenth century as the southern terminus of trans-Saharan routes reaching down from Hausaland and beyond, a market where kola nuts, cloth, salt and captives were exchanged, and it was for a period one of the largest trading centres in the West African interior. Sites in and around the town record that history directly: the old slave market ground, wells said to have been used to wash captives before sale, and a cemetery. Local heritage organisations have marked and interpreted them, and visitors from the diaspora come as part of routes linking the northern trade with the coastal forts. The present town is a working market centre of the Savannah Region and the sites sit within it rather than in an enclosure.

What you actually see

• The old market ground - the site of the nineteenth-century trading square.
• The wells - the water points associated with the trade.
• The cemetery - the burial ground linked to the period.
• The working market - the present-day town market around the sites.

When to go

November to March in the dry season; the roads east of Tamale are difficult in the rains. Mornings are cooler. Local guides should be arranged in town rather than assumed.

Honest expectations

The sites are dispersed within a working town and need a local guide to find and understand. Interpretation and signage are limited. Facilities and accommodation in Salaga are basic. Roads in the region are rough.

Nearby

Tamale lies west; the Volta lake is east.