Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AFRICAN DIASPORA
heritage trail
Bermuda's African Diaspora Heritage
Trail commemorates the role African
slaves played in the formation of Ber-
muda. Free booklets, available from
tourist offices, direct you along this self-
guided tour of both tangible and intan-
gible sites that highlight peak points in
the cultural history of the island. A
plaque marks each site.
Thirteen sites have been identified,
including the site of the slave ship
Enterprise
incident, which, like the bet-
ter-known
Amistad
affair, involved the
rescue of slaves seeking refuge and
freedom, and the historic Slave Grave-
yard at St. Peter's Church (ca. 1612),
both located in St. George; the Crow
Lane, site of the execution by burning of
Sally Bassett, slave revolt leader; and
sites associated with Mary Prince, the
Bermudian slave who wrote the first
account of slavery actually authored by
a slave. Published in London in 1831, it
played a key role in the struggle to abol-
ish slavery. Another important site is
Cobb's Hill Wesleyan Methodist Church,
built by slaves by moonlight. The 13 sites
highlighted in the brochure can be col-
lectively visited through a combination
of bus and fast ferry routes, and as such,
require a full day to visit. Their densest
concentration is in St. George's, where
five of the sites lie within easy walking
distance of one another. Others of the
sites are part of major attractions (for
example, the Commissioner's House at
the Royal Dockyard), which you might
have otherwise visited independently.
Even if you opt not to visit every single
site (one, for example, commemorates a
gibbet positioned long ago on offshore
rocks, which are visible only from the
shoreline of “mainland” Bermuda), you'll
learn a lot about the sociology of Ber-
muda during its sometimes tormented
formative years.
7
A stroll along
Front Street
will take you by some of the City of Hamilton's most
elegant stores, but you'll also want to branch off into the little alleyways to check out
the shops and boutiques. If you get tired of walking or shopping (or both), you can go
down to the docks and take one of the boats or catamarans waiting to show you the
treasures of Little Sound and Great Sound.
Ferries back to Paget, Warwick, and Sandys parishes leave daily between 6:50am
and 11:20pm. On Saturday and Sunday, there are fewer departures. For schedules
and fares, go to
www.seaexpress.bm
.
On certain days you may be able to see locals buying fresh fish—the part of the
catch that isn't earmarked for restaurants—right from the fishers at the
Front Street
docks.
Rockfish is the most abundant, and you'll also see snapper, grouper, and many
other species.
Opposite the Visitors Information Centre stands the much-photographed
“Bird-
cage,”
where you used to be able to see a Bermuda shorts-clad police officer direct-
ing traffic on a pedestal likened to a birdcage. Visitors often wondered if the traffic
director was for real or placed there for tourist photographs. Such a sight is rare now.
Nearby is Albouy's Point, site of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, founded in 1844.
The point, named after a 17th-century professor of “physick,” is a public park over-
looking Hamilton Harbour.
To reach the sights listed below, take Bus no. 1, 2, 10, or 11.
Bermuda Historical Society Museum
This museum has a collection of old cedar
furniture, antique silver, early Bermudian coins called “hog money,” and ceramics
