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Last Updated on 4 January 2026 by Vanessa

Have you read Alex Hailey’s best-selling autobiographical novel Roots: The Saga Of An American Family? Or have you seen the TV mini-series based on the book?

When I was on a press trip in The Gambia last year, I did a boat trip dedicated to the enslavement of one of Alex Hailey’s ancestors: Kunta Kinte.

The cruise took me to the now abandoned St. Andrew’s Island where the slaves used to live, to the slavery museum in Albreda, and to the nearby village of Juffureh (also called Juffuree) where I met one of Kunta Kinte’s decendants as well as some cute cats and goats.

📍 You can book the same tour I went on here.

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Juffureh, The Gambia: tracing back the roots of Kunta Kinte

Is Kunta Kinte a real person?

Yes, Kunta Kinte was a real person, although his story is most widely known through the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley and the subsequent television mini-series adaptation.

Kunta Kinte was born in the mid-18th century in the village of Juffureh in The Gambia. He was a young African man who was captured and sold into slavery. His life and experiences as a slave in America are chronicled in Alex Haley’s book.

Haley claimed that Kunta Kinte was his ancestor, and he spent many years researching his family’s history, eventually tracing it back to Kunta Kinte.

While some details in Roots are based on historical research and documented accounts of slavery, the book is ultimately a work of historical fiction, blending fact and storytelling.

Nevertheless, Haley’s efforts to trace his family’s roots and the oral history passed down through generations played a significant role in popularizing the story of Kunta Kinte and the broader history of African Americans.

Kunta Kinte Roots Experience Tour: St. Andrew’s Island, Albreda, and Juffureh

Juffureh was Kunta Kinte’s birthplace in The Gambia.

These days, it’s still possible to visit the village and explore historical sites and people related to its association with Kunta Kinte. This includes Kunta Kinte’s reputed birthplace and other landmarks that are significant to the story.

Most visits to Juffureh are part of guided tours that focus on the history of the transatlantic slave trade and the cultural heritage of the region. These tours nearly always include visits to Kunta Kinte Island aka St. Andrew’s Island, the slavery museum in Albreda, and the village of Juffureh.

The tour that I took was called the Kunta Kinte Roots Experience Tour.

Kunta Kinte Island aka St. Andrew’s Island

Guided Kunta Kinte tours usually start in the morning with a short boat ride from Banjul to the North bank of the Gambia River.

The first stop is Kunta Kinte Island, formerly known as St. Andrew’s Island (named after a Portuguese sailor who died there of malaria). This used to be the last bit of African soil that many slaves saw before being transported in ships to the Americas.

Before exploring the ruins of this UNESCO World Heritage site, your guide will tell you about its history, about how the Germans built the fortifications, and how the island becomes smaller due to erosion and might be gone one hundred years from now.

He will also tell stories about slavery in connection with Kunta Kinte Island, for example how prisoners were given mandatory names, and that the slave trackers often abused female slaves so that their children could serve them as well. The women then strangled their own babies to protect them from misery.

What makes Kunta Kinte’s story unique is that he fought to preserve his cultural heritage (like refusing to take the English name that the slave drivers gave him).

Kunta Kinte Island is now uninhabited, apart from a large colony of Golden Silk Spiders.

Slavery museum in Albreda

Next, the boat will take you to Albreda.

As soon as you disembark in Albreda, a group of waving children and women who perform little tricks while crushing herbs will welcome you.

Poverty reigns in the village.

A steady income is as good as non-existent and the inhabitants largely depend on small donations from passing tourists. Many of the villagers beg for money. Others just sit around, talking and putting vegetables from one basket into another, while their dogs and goats sleep next to them, numbed by the heat. Life is slow in Albreda.

The main stop here is the Albreda Slavery Museum, which mainly consisted of drawings, pictures, and informational panels. Outside the museum is an exact replica of a slave ship.

The museum isn’t anything special, but I think the area is worth visiting as it’s one of the poorest parts of The Gambia, and it really opens your eyes on poverty in other parts of the world.

Juffureh

The last stop is Kunta Kinte’s home town Juffereh. You will meet one of Kunta Kinte’s descendants, Binta Kinte, who will offer you a certificate for sale as proof of your visit.

It’s a good idea to buy such proof because here, too, locals live in extreme poverty. Many don’t know whether they’ll have something to eat that day or not. If the passing tourists don’t give some pocket money or something to eat, chances are they won’t.

Life is not treating people well here. The begging is extreme. I saw babies covered in rashes, who probably didn’t live many more weeks after our visit.

Juffureh is also the only stop on the Kunta Kinte guided tour where you will see cats. Luckily, there aren’t too many of them. If people here are too poor to keep their children and themselves alive, then they sure can’t take care of the cats.

This kitty welcomed me to Juffureh. The images of animals and people gathering together on dusty roads is typical for The Gambia.

After the Kunta Kinte Roots Experience Tour

After the Kunta Kinte Roots Experience Tour, I thought the day’s adventure would be over. Actually, it had only just started.

While we were heading back to the south bank, our boat’s motor broke down in the middle of the river. We had to be rescued, which meant waiting for a little canoe to row us to the mainland.

Back at Albreda, we had to wait for a bus to pick us up. It was here that we learned that time in The Gambia had an entirely different meaning. Everything in The Gambia lasts 20 minutes, even if it’s two hours or 40 minutes. “That’s how the term GMT was invented,” our cruise coordinator joked. “Greenwich Mean Time? “No. Here it means Gambia Maybe Time. You can never be sure when someone or something will arrive.”

After about an hour, a ramshackle little bus took us for an hour and a half drive to the ferry port. During the trip, one of my fellow travelers wanted to open the window but accidentally took out the glass instead. The air smelled of fresh herbs.

The ferry was a different story. I felt as if we were being transported inside a garbage container. The passengers were mainly locals. Some had their goats on a leash; some carried a coffin. An authentic experience, to say the least.

Back on shore, we immediately went to Poco Loco Beach Bar in Serrukunda to enjoy our evening meals. There was singing on stage and the atmosphere was jolly. The crowd consisted mainly of elderly white ladies and their young black lovers. It was yet another part of this country – the part in which fun, comfort, and money took center stage. A small ginger cat found its way inside the restaurant and perched itself on my lap – one of the many starving inhabitants of The Gambia.

Looking for accommodation? Check out these best places to stay in The Gambia. (Tip: My favorite is The Coconut Residence Hotel in Kerr Sering.)

Where to next in The Gambia?