Santa

This morning we were up early washed the bedding and were on the beach by 9.30 as it was national cleaning day so we decided to be tourists for the morning. We met Adam who was pleased to see us as we haven’t been in touch since Tobasky. Felix and Georgia were on the beach which was a surprise as Georgia should have been in England her flight was at 6.00pm Friday evening along with Amy and John. Apparently the flight had been delayed until 6.00pm tonight as on landing the undercarriage had been damaged so they were waiting for a part to be flown out and repaired. They had all been put up in the Kombo Beach Hotel at Kotu on hearing this Paul sprinted off to see John and Amy, when he got back he said Amy was sat around the pool in her bra and knickers but they seemed cheerful enough. We packed up to leave at around 12.30pm as the Diana Mariam school was having their Christmas presentation party this afternoon which we had been invited to also it was Cathy, Emily and Greg’s birthday party which was being held at the Sand Plover from 5.00pm so we will be very busy for the rest of the day.

Diana Mariam Christmas Presentation

We arrived at the school for about 2.00pm an hour later than it was said to start I was very impressed with how they had transformed the grounds very festive with garlands and baubles in the trees. I introduced Paul to some of the teachers and then I showed him around whilst Abigail and Bradley went off to play in the reception area. Paul and I took a seat underneath a tarpaulin out of the hot sun and waited and waited and waited. Eventually at around 3.15pm Aunty Alberta announced that food was available for sale so at this the parents and children lined up to be served returning with various dishes. One young boy was sat next to Paul eating and spitting chicken bones out onto the floor which was annoying and others were just leaving empty foil containers around on the floor. Then Aunty Alberta welcomed everyone and a Christmas carol was sung however the children sang this sat in their seats instead of up on the platform whilst munching on food. By this time it was nearing 4.00pm so we had to excuse ourselves and make our way home to then pick up the car and drive to the Sand Plover.

Sand Plover

At the entrance to the Sand Plover we pulled of the main road along a very bumpy road and parked up in the small car park. We then had to walk over a very rickety bridge made out of wooden planks which lead towards the Sand Plover. The building was a little shack with an upstairs lookout area and benches and tables outside looking out across the beach to the sea. Cathy, James Emily and Robin were busy blowing up balloons and putting up party banners, we were introduced to Robin, Emily’s boyfriend who is staying out here for a week. We decided to leave them to finish off the party decorations and take a walk along the beach towards cape point, on the way we passed a small lagoon and on the bank was a two foot long crocodile as we approached it scurried off into the water and hid among the reeds. Further on we could see the eyes of another crocodile submerged just under the surface of the water bearing in mind the lagoons were separated from the sea only by the beach. We headed back towards the Plover by this time Emma, Sukey, Greg, Andrew Paul and Courtney had arrived we ordered some drinks and sat chatting until the buffet dinner was served. We ate a meal of chicken, beef, vegetarian curry rice and salad, we then handed out the presents for the birthday girls and boy to open rounding off the evening with chocolate cake. We then left at around 8.30pm carefully making our way across the rickety bridge which was unlit however the restaurant staff did shine a torch for us to pick our way across.

Croc Pools

This morning the children came with me to the school it is open day for the parents so they were very excited to see where I worked. I introduced then to Mr Jadama and a couple of other teachers and then they went off to play on the swings, trampoline and slide some of the parents brought in their children so they played with them in the school grounds. By 12.00pm they were getting a bit bored so they sat down and did a bit of drawing, eventually we left for home at 1.30pm, some of the parents didn’t turn up so their reports will be kept for later. On the evening I invited Tom and Lynne over for dinner they are staying in John’s house as he has gone back home today to spend Christmas with his son. I decided to cook pasticcio, garlic bread, salad followed by water melon for dessert. Tom and Lynne arrived around 4.30pm I made a cup of tea and we sat talking for a couple of hours before we sat down to eat. To my horror Tom was allergic to cheese so I quickly had to think of something to cook him the only thing other than frozen food were eggs so Paul quickly fried them along with some beans not my idea of a dinner party but what could you do. It was lovely to catch up with them as being in Basse which is the furthest point within The Gambia they don’t get down to the Kombo very often they are planning to stay here over the Christmas period though.

I have completed my second week at school and they have been busy preparing for the Christmas presentation which is to be held on Saturday so each morning they have had an assembly mainly with the songs which they are going to sing on the day. I myself was asked for a contribution so I sang the See Saw creep through the door song which Abigail and Bradley have sung whilst at Westgarth very embarrassing however I had already taught it to the reception children with Aunty Alberta so they all joined in. It has proved to me this week how passionate the Gambians are for their music and dance as Aunty Alberta was really getting into the swing of things as she got the children to sing along to the Christmas songs. I would say that Tuesday was by far the best day so far as I managed to do some phonics and practise writing the letters with grade 1 children whilst Mr Jadama filled in the exam reports ready for the parents open day on Friday. I also saw the baton being held by a school girl who was running down Kariba Avenue towards the traffic lights as I was leaving school to go and pick up Bradley.

Zenith Christmas Presentation

On Wednesday it was Zeniths parent open day, Christmas presentation and party, we had been told to arrive at around 8.30am first dropping Bradley off at his class we went to see Abigail’s work and chat to the teacher. The teacher was pleased with her progress she just needs to talk a bit more as very quiet which is the norm for Abigail. We then went to see Bradley’s report which again was very good. Paul then left to go to college whilst I went back home to get their party clothes to wear after the presentations which were supposed to start at around 10.00am. After a lot of waiting the presentations finally started at around 11.30am surprise, surprise nothing is on time here, first up was the school choir then a group of children playing the recorder then Bradley’s class did some reciting of the alphabet and a couple of songs. Abigail’s class was next with a song and play Three Foreigners came from Timbuktu. After this there were poems and another play eventually the performance finished at around 2.00pm.

Abigail and Bradley quickly got changed and by now the music was blasting out with some children dancing along to it. We were then told that the children’s party food would be served and they had to go back to their class for a head count. Thirty minutes passed and eventually Abigail’s class were ushered upstairs to get their food. The younger children then had to do the same with me holding Bradley’s hand I was asked to wait by his teacher who took him and some others upstairs. Whilst I waited myself and another teacher stopped anymore from going upstairs as there was not enough room. During this time young children aged three and four were trying to come down the steps with a can and foil container of food in hand. The steps are very deep so it was an accident waiting to happen in the end I was picking them up and carrying them down with a couple of other teachers talk about bad planning.

Christmas Crafts

We all had a lie in bed this morning after last nights party celebrations and decided to spend the day at home. Abigail and myself made a few of the Christmas crafts Auntie Lynne had sent over for her, the 3D paper Christmas tree seemed straight forward but I am not sure about the Reindeer and Santa Claus they look a bit more tricky I will leave them for another day. We then made and stuck up some paper chains which Emma had given us last night the lounge is looking a bit more festive.

Brufut Marathon

This morning Paul has entered the Brufut marathon which was starting from the traffic lights. walked over to check out the timings of the race and pay his entry fee he returned with a t-shirt with his entry number written on in black marker pen. Just before 9.30am Paul left to join the other runners at the traffic lights, myself and the children set of walking towards the golf course and headed through the farmers fields only to be met by three little piglets trotting along the path when they saw us they made a slight detour and then continued on their way. We continued on passing the ghetto and then saw one of the palm wine tapers up a tree I did manage to discreetly get a photo as they don’t like you taking their photo. We exited the fields onto the main Senegambia highway as we thought this would be the best place to see the race. After waiting a while we decided to start walking towards the traffic lights as we could see Paul walking towards us, he said the bikers were to start first. At 10.00am the bikers started with a police motor bike escort. We waited and waited eventually word came that they had set of the women runners who were starting further on down the course and the men would have to wait for the ambulance to return. When 11.00am came and went the runners were getting very annoyed and surrounding the organisers car, I decided to leave at this point as I was making sausage rolls for tonight’s party and Abigail wanted to put up the Christmas tree which Jackie had borrowed us. Paul then turned up shortly after us he and some others had asked for a refund. Paul was later told by a guy that he had seen him on Gambian television as they had highlighted the race and disagreements

Volunteer Christmas Party

Due to the car being off the road we walked onto the main Kariba Avenue planning to get a taxi to the party, the road was at a stand still as the president was travelling, also the baton was on route to Senegambia. We decided to wait to see the president and baton, chatting to one of the runners at the traffic lights where he was waiting to take over the baton, he is back here from England where he is currently studying. After a twenty minute wait we decided to continue our journey as we will be able to see the president another day and the baton had been stopped on route due to this. When we arrived at Sukey’s we were handed some mulled wine and a mince pie, the decorations which the children had helped to put up were very festive including the nativity scene which they had drawn and stood up. Abigail then changed as she had been given a green Christmas tree dress by Sukey which belonged to one of the volunteers which I had managed to alter so it fit better. There was the usual crowd of volunteers including some of the VSO office staff and from the UK the VSO country director who put in an appearance. We ate a lovely buffet of chicken Albodo which is a Philipino dish, benechin, lamb curry, coleslaw, grilled chicken and fish, potato salad, pasta, rice and sausage rolls and drank the usual Julbrew. Then we had a special visit from Santa Clause Abigail and Bradley were very excited as he was reading their letter which they had sent to him, eventually when we were all gathered around Santa he gave out the secret Santa presents. Bradley was very pleased to receive a football Abigail some wobbly rulers and stencil kit, myself I was given a fabric bag which had been made and Paul a can of Becks lager. After a stiff Whisky Santa went to tend his Reindeer and we next sang some Christmas carols accompanied by Max on guitar and Nap on the drums. When we sang the twelve days of Christmas Angela gave us the Australian version which was very funny, Kangaroos, Plata pusses and Wombats spring to mind. By this time Bradley was very tired so I laid him down on Sukey’s bed to sleep. Next was a quiz which was in three parts, music, general and picture clues we all split up into teams and the best team name would receive extra points. Paul’s team Tampon won best name as an anagram made up of their team initials. After the quiz we shared out the Christmas cake which Georgia’s friend had brought out from Marks & Sparks and drank some egg nog which was made by Canadian Courtney and tasted gorgeous. With the night coming to a close and all of us having enjoyed ourselves including Abigail who was still jumping around we woke up Bradley to go home as it was now 11.00pm.

Secret Santa

Santas little helpers

Sukey & Santa

Max & John

Christmas Carols

Max on Guitar, Nap on Drums & Ricko

First Week at School

This week has been a very busy week for me as I started working mornings at the Diana Mariam School in Fajara. On Monday when I first arrived the children had assembly and I was introduced to them as Aunty Denise by Madame Senghore the deputy head. I was then introduced to Mr Jadama who is the English teacher, he teaches grade 1 and grade 2 children and I will be working with him in these years. Mr Jadama’s first lesson was with grade 1 class within the class there were seventeen children aged about six years old. The children were very noisy and were shouting out answers to a question rather than putting up their hands and waiting to be asked. After the first lesson we had a thirty minute break at 10.30 the children sat at the picnic tables within the grounds eating what they call breakfast, however it is more like lunch as it usually consists of a Tapalapa (bread) filled with omelette, sardines, chicken etc or in some cases they bring a chicken and rice dish as well as bags of crisps or sweets. Jammie Oliver would not be impressed with the amount of sugary sweets and crisps the Gambian children consume at school rarely do you see an apple. After break the next lesson was with grade 2 this was a very small class of only six boys and one girl. Mr Jadama gave the children a comprehension exercise from one of the Scofield text books. I wouldn’t say a lot was achieved from this and the lesson was rudely interrupted by Aunty Alberta telling a couple of children off for not practising their Christmas lines.

When I arrived at the school on Tuesday I was informed that the children would be sitting exams for the rest of the week. This morning they would have Maths, French and Social Studies, Mr Jadama and myself would be with the year 2 children, during the Maths exam. Whilst waiting for the Maths exam paper to arrive Mr Jadama practised spellings with them on the blackboard. They had been told the story about the princess and the frog so the spellings related to the story. When Mr Jadama was called out of the room rather than just sit there I continued where he had left off. Eventually the Maths exam paper was handed out and explained to the children, however it wasn’t long before the children were putting up their hands and asking for support. In some cases they were unable to read some of the questions or they were unable to comprehend what was being asked, this went on throughout the exam with Mr Jadama and myself supporting them. The next exam after break was Social Studies this seemed straight forward and was only a one page sheet. Then they were given out the French exam which again was a one page sheet with some words in English which you had to find the French equivalent for from a list. After the children had finished an exam they had to sit until break time or until the next exam began in some cases this was thirty minutes. I found this very annoying as it resulted in the children getting bored and wandering around desk to desk borrowing erasers or sharpeners whilst the slower children still completed their exam. It would have been far better if the teachers had given them little tasks to do between exams to stop this from happening.

Friday was by far the best day for myself the children had an English exam which I was able to assist with and we then did a little comprehension exercise. I was also shown the school library which had a number of the oxford reading books of Biff and Chip. The library was under lock and key and it was obvious that there was no system in place and it was probably rarely used by the teachers or children. During the morning Mary Samba the head teacher asked me for some feed back from the week which I thought was really good. She is very passionate about trying to improve English within the school and I did suggest more group activities to help bring each other on, reading activities to help recognise key words and phonics as the children are unable to blend the letters to form a word. I have suggested a phonics workshop and I am hoping to ask one of the volunteers to run this for the teachers within the school as Mary is very keen and willing to pay for this to be done. With the morning finished I went to pick the children up from school first calling at home as I did this I passed a guy in our street carrying two huge live rats held by their tails I stopped him to have a better look, god knows what he was going to do with them, cooking pot maybe.

On the afternoon when Paul arrived home we dropped the children off at Sukey and Greg’s as they have offered to look after them this afternoon so we can do some Christmas shopping. The children were really excited about going as they were also helping to decorate the house ready for the volunteer Christmas party. Once dropped off we headed straight for Wishes gift store this is an excellent shop with imported toys from the UK. A couple of hours later we had picked a number of stocking fillers and larger presents these we left with the store as they also do a free wrapping service. We then headed back down Kariba Avenue to look at bikes as we have decided on these for Christmas. As we were nearing the shop we ran out of petrol and had to pull over to the side, Paul went to fill up his can whilst I walked the short distance to the bike shop. I had a good look around inside as it sold everything including loads of Christmas decorations. After a good twenty minutes waiting for Paul I went outside to see where he was only to see the car getting pushed by some of the locals. He thinks the starter motor has gone so we are going to have to phone the mechanic to pick the car up tomorrow. We looked at the bikes and picked Bradley a Spider Man bike unfortunately there were not many girly bikes so we finally picked Abigail a red and silver bike. The back wheel on Abigail’s bike was a bit loose the nut needed tightening so the guy went looking for a spanner. I knew this could take sometime so I decided to set off walking to Sukey’s as it had now gone 6.30pm. I set off with good intentions but soon realised that I was unsure which road you had to go down and it was starting to get dark. I decided to phone Sukey for directions apparently I had gone too far so I had to head back the way I had come Sukey then met me on the corner of her road with the children. Shortly after Paul picked us up at Westfield junction and we headed back home. Once the children were in bed we emptied the car of presents and placed the bikes in John’s house out of view as they do have a habit of popping in to see John from time to time

Rainbow Beach Resort

We had quite a lie in this morning as the children didn’t wake up until gone 7.00am, we changed and decided to go for a walk. Within the resort in a tree we saw three Gonolek birds, a bright red breasted bird with black wings and a yellow patch on the top of its head as well as loads of chattering Weaver birds. We took the road to the lagoon and walked along a track which was slightly overgrown in areas. After seeing quite a few birds we made our way towards the beach, Abigail and Bradley collecting shells on the way. As we passed the fishing boats we spotted a cloth with some fish heads poking out from underneath it on closer inspection the fish were small three foot long sharks.

On arriving back at the resort we ate breakfast then spent the rest of the day on the beach. On the afternoon Jenny, Mick, Teo and Mia arrived with some of the children from their village in tow so I introduced them to Paul and we stood chatting in the sea cooling off. Bradley played with Teo for a couple of hours before we packed up for home. On the way back we called at Jackie's as we are borrowing her Christmas tree as she will be spending Christmas at home this year. As we loaded the tree in the car Jackie said to Abigail you are in charge of the decorating of it not Mummy, Abigail was pleased with this remark. We dropped Sam and Jackie of at Atlantic road, Jackie also plays touch rugby with Paul on a Sunday.

Tanji Museum

This morning we called at La Parisienne to make a couple of phone calls and also to pick up a cake which I had ordered on Wednesday on Cathy’s behalf for James. I was shocked when the cake wasn’t ready as I had asked for a morning pick up and it wouldn’t be ready until the afternoon. Usually they have plenty of cakes on display but today there were a couple of larger cakes and one small vanilla cake. There was no option but to ask for a refund so I could see if Le Palais had any chocolate cakes, luckily they did however it still required icing so would take another thirty minutes. I ordered and paid for the cake then returned to La Parisienne to meet Paul before setting off back home. We quickly packed a holdall as we are staying over at Rainbow Beach Resort at Sanyang to celebrate James Birthday. All packed we phoned Sam telling her to make her way to our house as she was travelling down with us, however the plan is to first stop off at the Tanji Museum on the way.

We arrived at the museum for 11.30am after a brief introduction from the guide we were able to look around the museum at leisure. On display were instruments, animals, photos, batiks, woven material and seeds to make dye from. The guide then took us around the museum grounds showing us a working well which Paul decided to have a go at and an area where a couple of guys were weaving wool into table runners which were for sale to visitors. Whilst in the grounds there were a number of squirrels running up and down the trees, the guide told us what each tree was used for. We were then shown a traditional compound area with husband and sons houses at the front of the compound and the wife and daughters at the back this is so the husband knows who is visiting the women within the compound. The husbands wives will stay in one house and take it in turn to visit their husband at his house during this time they are responsible for all the domestic work within the compound. In each house were raised beds made out of a bamboo frame and covered with palm leaves no mattress however we did sit on them and they seemed reasonably comfortable. With the tour finished we were shown in to a type of pagoda traditionally known as a bantabar and we were entertained by some drummers, a balafon player and singer.

We were back on the road and arrived at Sanyang, James and Cathy were laid on a couple of sun beds however the rest of the gang were still to arrive. We ate our picnic lunch, put our luggage into our room and changed for the beach. The sun was very hot, which was a nice change as most of this week it has been very overcast. James decided to build a volcano for Abigail and Bradley to stand on which meant Paul was able to have a quick snooze. Eventually Amy, Emily and Andrew arrived, they had decided not to stay over so will be making there way back home to Brikama this evening much to Abigail’s disappointment. Andrew was on top form after last night however he was covered in mosquito bites, Abigail had counted over fifty on his back. He had apparently called at Safari Garden on his way home from the commissioners and had chatted to the security guard before falling a sleep so the mosquito's feasted on him.

A dinner of fish and chips was served on the beach again, followed by the chocolate cake we then sat around a camp fire and chatted. We had brought the pop up tent with us so when the children get tired we could put them in it and carry them to the room when we go to bed later on in the evening. It was a bit colder than last time on the beach however the fire kept us warm, the most annoying thing was all the butterfly’s flying around and landing on us or into the fire. Once the fire had died down at around 11.30pm Paul carried Abigail and Bradley off to bed.

The Commissioners Residence

This evening new volunteer’s have been invited to a reception with the British High Commissioner in honour of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment who are currently out here training the Gambian Army, apparently every year British volunteers from VSO are invited to attend. I had picked up the invitation on Tuesday from the VSO Office, as soon as I saw the envelope I knew it was important as stamped on the outside was the Royal Coat of Arms in embossed gold. When Paul opened the envelope on the evening I was a bit disappointed as it was only addressed to him. The next day Paul queried if it was possible for the family to attend as the reception was only from 6.30pm until 8.30pm so not at all late for the children, to our delight we were all able to attend.

The dress code was smart casual so once ready we walked the short distance to the British High Commission only to be told by the security guard that the reception was being held at the Commissioners residence at Cape Point. Paul had not read the invitation properly so he rechecked it to find out the address and we set off walking. As we walked we kept checking if any taxi’s were approaching as we would have at least a thirty minute walk thus resulting in us not arriving until 7.00pm, very late. We finally managed to flag down a five, five taxi and arrived only ten minutes late. On entering the gated area two security guards asked us our names and checked this against a list before we were allowed access. Then when we entered the house we were asked to sign a visitor’s book before making our way through the large hall to the garden area. We were welcomed by the commissioner and then offered a selection of soft or alcoholic drinks by one of the waiters. Within the garden were a couple of marques which were set up for the purpose of serving drinks. There were already a number of people in small groups chatting however none of the other volunteers were there so we found ourselves an area close to the fence which overlooked the sea and beach, this happened to be the very beach which we had spent an afternoon on back in September at Cape Point.

The other volunteers finally arrived they had stopped at a local bar for a couple of drinks, Greg and Andrew had already had a few too many. By now the waiters were bringing around drinks and canapés, constantly circulating the guests then refilling their plates from the kitchen. Whilst myself and Paul were talking to Cathy and Amy one of the guys from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment came over and introduced himself he had been sent over by some of his mates. Paul kept the conversation going asking him about the regiment and what they were doing in The Gambia apparently they come out a couple of times a year to train the Army. It wasn’t long before the rest of his mates decided to join us, Amy became the centre of attention once they had found out who was the single girl within the group. During this time the children were happily being entertained by Emily and Andrew who were upstairs on a veranda lookout area. Bradley at one point was running his car down the stair banister so I decided to join them and have a bit of a nosey at the same time, the veranda had some wicker settees and a coca cola fridge, through the patio doors was the upstairs lounge area. Paul did a bit of circulating talking to the deputy commissioner and some of the guys from the Regiment. The children by now were getting tired so I went to find him so with quite a few of the guests having left we decided to make for home thanking the commissioner for a pleasant evening on our exit.

Ecole Diana Mariam School

After picking up the children today from school I quickly showered and changed as I have a meeting with the Head Teacher of the Diana Mariam primary school, Awa was happy to watch the children for an hour. I had heard that they were looking for assistance with the English language so last Tuesday I called in to take a look around the school. I was shown around by the Deputy Head who seemed very nice and I was very impressed as they seem to have a lot of resources. In the yard area was a large trampoline and primary coloured picnic tables with parasols. The reception classrooms were displayed with posters on the walls and a number of toys and learning aids, the children were busy sat watching a French DVD on the television when I was looking around. The primary area was a little less colourful and the classes were much smaller in size, I was surprised to be shown into an ICT suite with five computers. As we went from classroom to classroom I was introduced to the teachers who all seemed pleasant. They currently only have children up to grade three as they are adding another grade on each year. They are a bilingual school teaching French so the children when in class automatically switch to speaking that language.

The Head Teacher Mary Samba is a lawyer so the school is run by the deputy in her absence. When I arrived I had to sit and wait in reception as Mary had phoned to say she would be late. After a ten minute wait I was introduced to Mary and we chatted about what she was looking for. She wasn’t concerned with the fact that I was not a qualified teacher she just wanted the children to have interaction with the English language through reading, writing, phonics etc. I did explain to her the issue of the children and their hours of schooling at Zenith, she was quite happy for me just to work mornings assisting the teachers. I have agreed to start this Monday so I am quite looking forward to the experience of working with the teachers and especially looking forward to helping the children.

Ecole Diana Mariam School

This morning we put the roast in the oven and went out for a short walk planning to call at the shops on the way back. We walked towards the rice fields and crossed over the road and continued on down a sandy track, which lead us to some local streets and compounds. We decided to follow a couple of guy’s only to find that we had to cross a small stream by the way of standing on tyres and rocks. Across the first part without any problems we came to another deeper stream, Paul first took Bradley then came back for Abigail helping them to balance on the rocks whilst he waded up to his knee’s in the stream. I followed just behind, the stream was very cold and clear safely at the other side Paul pointed to a couple of leeches swimming about, we had a quick check to make sure none were attached to us. Passing Emily’s house we came out at Kariba Avenue and quickly called at the shops before heading back for our roast lunch.

On the afternoon Paul joined all the lads to watch the Liverpool game at one of the local pubs dropping us off at Dunes so I could do some emails and Abigail and Bradley could play in the Pool. When we arrived the other girls had had the same idea as Amy, Cathy and Sukey were already there and Emily joined us not long after, she had just got back from visiting Emma up country at Kerewan. Abigail and Bradley played in the pool I decided not to join them as the sky has been very overcast for a couple of days so the pool was very cold. At 5.00pm we walked to the pub with Cathy and Sukey, Paul was just finishing a pint and the football had finished so we left for home.

Toll Point

We were up early as we had decided to go for a walk to an area called Toll Point just across from Denton Bridge on the road towards Banjul. We parked up at Wadner Beach just outside a hotel which was now closed and derelict and walked onto the beach. Making our way around the edge of a saltwater lagoon and picking our way around the mangroves we saw some Cormorants, Egrets, Herons Terns and a couple of kingfishers which were gliding over the water looking for a meal. In the distance we could see a group of Pelicans on the beach as we approached they took to the lagoon and eventually took flight and headed out to sea. We headed around the toll point and back towards the groundnut factory hoping we would be able to find the forest path as detailed in the guide book. As we passed some flowers we saw four Beautiful Sunbirds flitting amongst them looking for nectar.

Pink-backed Pelicans

Scarring the Birds

Sacred Ibis

We were unable to find anything which looked like a forest path as mounds of empty groundnut shells had been discarded everywhere. We did find another lagoon though and were pleased to see a Sacred Ibis and African Darter Bird. We decided the best thing was to head for the road walking over mud flats and ducking under the large spiders webs which were in abundance. We walked back to the car and suddenly spotted in a tree within the hotel grounds a Bearded Bardet which is a funny looking goggle eyed bird, Abigail was pleased to be able to tick off a few more birds in her book. On the way back we called at Denton Bridge to check out prices to go to Basse by river as we plan to visit Tom and Lynne at some point. We decided not to go all the way by river as very expensive over £200 each and would take over three days to get there. The best option is to go by road stopping off on route and maybe doing a boat trip to see the Hippos near Janjanbureh

Tobasky Celebrations

We were up early and dressed and waiting for the call from Adam to meet up with him for the Tobasky Celebrations at his home in Serrekunda. When he called we quickly jumped in the car and picked him up at the Africel junction. He then directed us to his home in the heart of the market area which we were very surprised at. His home was behind a tailors shop in a large compound area littered with rubbish which seems the norm here. After been shown into the house we were introduced to Adam’s mother, younger sister, daughter and niece all of which were very slim and pretty. Then his brothers and sister in laws came to say hello they all live within the compound. We sat down and were offered bananas to eat Adam then asked us if we wanted to see the Ram being cut up as it had already been killed. Leaving Abigail and Bradley in the lounge we headed through the house into a very narrow yard area, within the yard was a shower, toilet and kitchen area. The ram was on a tin sheet and in the process of getting skinned by two guy’s from the tailors shop who had come to help. Adam’s nephew’s aged seven and ten were happy to watch and hold a leg whilst the other was busy playing with the rams testicles. With the skin removed they then set about cutting off the legs before opening it up and removing the liver, kidney, and heart, these were passed to the two sister in laws who started chopping them into small pieces. The whole process must of took about an hour, I was surprised at how little blood there was although its throat had been cut elsewhere so the blood was probably drained off then. However there was still some pooh carlings up its bum and undigested food in its intestines which did spill out otherwise not gruesome at all. Adam explained that the skin of the ram will be taken to the mosque and also half of the ram will be given away to the poor.

Shortly after we were served a lunch of onions fried with rams liver and heart with bread it was absolutely gorgeous even the kids enjoyed it followed by grilled ram with onions which was a bit tough. Abigail was pleased to be given watermelon for dessert which she seems to have acquired a taste for since being out here. We ate from a communal bowl with Adams younger sister luckily we were given forks so we didn’t have to eat with our hands. We then sat in the compound and drank some ataya tea with Adam and a couple of his friends whilst Abigail and Bradley played with Adam's daughter, niece and nephews. After a lot of sitting around we were just going to leave at around 4.00pm only to be told that dinner would be ready soon. So waiting a bit longer we ate ram in a sauce with vegetables and rice, a bit too spicy for the kids but Paul and I enjoyed it.

Adam's Daughter Fatima

Adama's Niece & Daughter

Whilst there Abigail did manage to christen the outside toilet with a number 2 which to her horror was a pit latrine which she had to squat over however she did manage to hit the hole. The bad news was I had forgotten to bring any toilet paper so I had to use water and my hand to clean her bum like the Muslims do “ugh”. Overall the day was spent with a lot of sitting around for us and the men whilst the two step sisters busied themselves preparing the food. We did have an insight into how others live and although Adam is not poor its a million miles from how comfortable we are living in Fajara. On the evening as we were putting Abigail and Bradley to bed we had a nice surprise when Lucy arrived at our door to give us a whole ram’s leg as her brothers had given her too much. We cut it in to two freezing half to eat at a later date the thigh we plan to have as a Sunday roast.

National Beekeepers Association

The children are off school for a couple of days to celebrate Tobasky, we have decided to go with Paul to Brikama as he only has a two hour meeting to attend at 9.00am. The plan is for me and the children to look around the National Beekeepers Association and Craft Market then meet up with Paul after his meeting and take a look around the market.

Paul dropped us off just outside the Bee Centre, there was a small stall outside selling the three different types of honey found in the Gambia, Jungle Honey lightest in colour and the best tasting, Mahogany Honey and Palm Honey which have a stronger bitter taste. After making sure it was okay for us to take a look around we were first taken to an area where the bee’s come to drink, there was a small number of bee’s buzzing around us on asking if they sting the guide said yes but they are more aggressive at different times of the year. We were shown two different types of hives within a wooded area, a traditional wicker basket hive which is used more up country and a wooden hive which is manufactured at the farm. They are also in the process of producing a hive for viewing purposes so you can observe the bee’s at work making the honey.