Mythological African Creatures: Yumboes


© Ken WIlson-Max, 2013

Yumboes, are a type of fairies in Wolof mythology (Senegal, West Africa).Legend has it that they live on Goree Island, just off the coast of the capital, Dakar. They are said to about two feet (60 cm) in height, and of a pearly-white colour with silver hair. The Yumboes come out to dance in the moonlight and feast on large tables, served by partially invisible servants whose feet and hands are the only parts visible. Yumboes eat corn and fish and are know to invite human guests to their feasts. Some call them the ‘Bakhna Rakhna’ (good people), just like the Scottish fairies called Good Neighbours.

1 Comment

Tell us what you think

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s