Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau
Cacheu has sat on the meandering courses of the river of the same name for hundreds of years. Many consider it to be one of the earliest European settlements in West Africa; once prized for its prime location on the edge of the great waterway that leads up and into the continental highlands and the turns of the Canjambari River.
That all made the town a slaving center from the 1600s onwards, and today many of the ageing relics here stand as testimony to that dark history, like the soot-smothered fort that was first raised by the Portuguese in the 16th century.
There’s also an enthralling local craft market, and sweeping vistas of mangrove swamps to explore.
Epic Guinea Bissue Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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