The Kinte family compound, in the centre of Juffure, is the spot where Alex Haley's research traced his ancestry. A small, low-walled enclosure marks the family's land; a local guide — usually a member of the Kinte family itself — will sit visitors down and tell the story of Kunta Kinte's capture in 1767, his transport to America, and his descendants' return to the village in the 1970s.
The experience is unavoidably staged for tourists, with set speeches and an expectation of a tip. That does not entirely undermine it. Sitting in a Mandinka village while a member of the named family describes the history that connected this place to the slave trade is a serious moment for anyone interested in the African end of that story.