Idea #551 – Exploring the mangrove swamps of the bay of Sangareya and the Islands of Loos in Guinea
The islands of Loos (or Islands de los; Loose Island) is a group of islands them are situated off Conakry in Guinea. Their name is pulled from Portuguese, first explorers of the place: Ilhas back los Idolos, probably “Island of the Idols”. The archipelago which covers approximately 60 km² understands who three main islands (Tamara, Kassa and Room), as well as four uninhabited islands in his southern part (Coral, Blanche, Cabris and Poulet), forming a circle from 18 to 19 km diameter. The island of Tombo on which the historic center of Conakry was built was a member, formerly, of the archipelago.
Islands were frequented early enough by the Europeans and took of the commercial importance for their role in the slave trade, as several other counters of the African western coast. In 1460, the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra explores the coast of the Sierra Leone and his neighborhood, and lands on the coast of Sourigbé. In 1755, a trader, Miles Barber, of African Company of Liverpool”establishes a factory in the Kassa Island to employ workers qualified in the repair of boats and also pilots to navigate and trade with tribes by the local rivers. In 1818, Charles MacCarthy, governor of the Sierra Leone signs a treaty with Mangé Demba, local king, who gives up in the form of concession islands to the English people against the payment of an annual rent. This treaty ends the draft of the slaves on the islands of Loos.
Islands are given up in France on April 7th, 1904, during the series of French-British agreements which base the cordial Agreement between France and Great Britain. The Islands of Loos are put back in France in exchange for its last fishing rights in Newfoundland and in the Labrador (French Shore), then under British sovereignty. The islands of Loos are then incorporated into French Guinea, one of the constituent parts of French West Africa (AOF). Thanks to the activity of governor Ballay, island of Tombo – Which shelters the historic center of the capital Conakry “was covered with a regularly drawn city, harmoniously built, leaky of wide shaded boulevards, cheered up by gardens; a small port, very busy, served by a temporary pier, gave of the animation and the importance to Conakry”.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Sangareya Bay, Guinea