Built by the French navy during the Second World War to defend Dakar's port from possible Allied attack — the Vichy authorities did successfully repel a Free French and British force at the 1940 Battle of Dakar — the Cap Manuel bunker now sits empty on the cliffs at the southern tip of the peninsula. Concrete corridors and gun emplacements open onto vertiginous Atlantic views.
The site is unguarded and informal: there are no signs, no fences, no entrance fee. Local kids hang around offering to show visitors the network of underground passages; agree on a small tip and bring a torch. The clifftop walk to and from the bunker has the best ocean views in the city.