Saint-Louis, France’s first settlement on the African continent, was founded on an island in the mouth of the Senegal River in 1638.
Senegal’s first capital and a trading centre for slaves, gold and ivory, it inspired our curiosity due to its prominent role in pioneer aviation routes across the Atlantic to South America. At the Hotel de la Poste, we were allocated the Mermoz room.
Vivid African textiles now decorate the walls, but otherwise it was the very room used by Jean Mermoz, the dashing French pilot who carried the first sacks of mail – 130 kilos of it – to South America.
He and his crew took off from Saint-Louis on 12th May 1930 in a single–engine Laté 28 on floats. They landed in Natal, north-eastern Brazil, 21 hours later. Now, that was courage!
We kicked off our shoes and lay on Mermoz’ bed, imbibing the spirit of the illustrious aviator who had often slept there before his epic flights. Our total crossing time of 17 hours, broken at Noronha and Cape Verde, paled into pathos.
Mermoz flew the route many times before being lost at sea in the Croix du Sud, a Laté 300, in 1936.
From the book Freedom of the Skies
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Glimpses of the journey:
- Around the world
- Crossing the Atlantic
- Saint Louis, Senegal
- Bubaque, Guinea-Bissau
- Timbuktu, Mali
- Cottar’s Camp, Kenya
- Virungas National Park, Congo
- Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
- Sossusvlei, Namibia
- Lumbo, Mozambique
- Antananarivo Madagascar
- Adis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Misfat, Oman
- Jaipur, India
- Himalayas, Nepal
- Mae Hong Son, Thailand
- Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Borobodur, Java, Indonesia
- Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya
- Gimbat, Australia
- Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands
- Hurricane in Apia, Western Samoa
- Anaa, Tuamotu, Polynesia
- Easter Island, Chile
- Crossing the Andes, Chile-Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
