Bakau Market

This morning Paul let me loose cutting his hair with the clippers, we placed a chair outside and I started cutting changing the grades as I went along, the occasional laugh was making Paul quite nervous. The finished result was quite good for my first attempt so I am sure it will be a regular job for me, Bradley next.

We then went to Bakau Market to buy some fish and have a look around. The market was bigger than we thought with lots of little stalls selling spices, lentils and rice by the bag which were weighed by using a 400g can, also the usual material and tailor shops on site. We walked passed the fruit and vegetable stalls then passed the head and legs of a cow and the butcher burning the skin and scraping it to remove the fat I presume to make leather. We finally arrived at the fish market with the day’s catch of Prawns, Bongo Fish which is a small bony fish and large Lady Fish set out on the tables as well as quite a few flies buzzing around. We picked out a Lady Fish from the bottom of the pile and paid 100 dalasi, which we later found out, was far too expensive. The man set about cleaning it for us the scales were removed along with the insides and finally he took off the head which we latter noticed had been put back in the bag. On arriving home Paul had a go and filleting it so we had two good size fillets and then a few smaller pieces not bad for a first attempt.

On picking the children up Abigail greeted us with a big smile as she had been given her new uniform all engraved with her name so she was very pleased. We continued on to the craft market to pick up my skirt also taking my white skirt as I had asked Fatou to tie dye it, we sorted out a price and then sat with Midnight the lifeguard and watched a pirogue go out to sea drop its nets then come back in and pull the nets in. On arriving home I made a batter and we had fish and chips which were very tasty, the Lady Fish was very meaty very much like Cod back home.

Settling In

We are now getting into the daily routine of boiling, bottling and chilling our drinking water and even the two ring stove is not an issue anymore, managing to create most dishes using less pans. However I got a shock when opening rice to find the odd weevil scurrying for cover, on speaking to other volunteers you just have to pick them out as you get them all the time. The best way is to wash the rice first as it brings them to the surface; it looks as if we are going to get extra protein in the form of bugs. Also there are different size ants the small ones given the chance will get into your food especially the sugar so we make sure everything once open is either put into plastic tubs, emptied into powdered milk cans or they are securely tied. We are also adapting to the many noises we hear on a night the croaking of bull frogs which is very load especially if it is wet, crickets, the morning call for prayer at about 5.00am and the chirping Bulbul bird which wakes us most mornings.

Bulbul

First day back at school for Abigail and Bradley after there week long break with lots of tears again we dropped them off then headed off to La Parisiene to update my blog and use our e mails. The power this morning was terrible it went off on three occasions, each time the generator had to be started then we had to get wireless connection again so I didn’t quite get everything completed.

Picked the children up and then Awo showed me how to make Chicken Benichin. After cooking the chicken in a large amount of oil as is the case with every dish we added garlic, tomato paste, stock cube and a onion and let this cook for a while then we removed the chicken we added some water then to this the rice and let it cook for about twenty minutes finally returning the chicken to warm through. We gave Awo some of the oranges and some lemons Paul had picked earlier and sat down to dinner very delicious I think I prefer it to Domada.

On the evening Georgia was having a leaving party for Emma, Courtney and Paul as they will be going up country tomorrow to Kerewan as this is where they will be based. Georgia has a lovely small two bedroom house with a gorgeous tiled shower room and fitted kitchen area which I was jealous of and a large lounge dinning area. The children played with balloons whilst we drank and chatted finally saying our goodbye’s at around 8.00pm.

After Paul had left to meet up with Amy and Ann at Brikama College we headed off towards the craft market with the usual warm greetings from the locals, I tried on my skirt for Fatou to make the necessary alterations. Fatou offered to plait Abi’s hair but Abigail was not taken with the idea so we headed back across the golf course seeing some more birdlife and a type of dragon fly as we went. On the evening we were invited to Jodie’s house as she is leaving on Sunday and wants to clear out some things, when we arrived Cathy and Georgia were there so we picked out a few bits and pieces such as plates, buckets, beach parasol etc then gave Cathy and Georgia a lift home with all of their gear.

Plover

Dragonfly

Cape Point

Today with it being a public holiday the streets are very quite, we decided to visit cape point area and found a lovely secluded beach with a couple of kingfishers darting in and out of the waves catching fish. Paul made the kids his famous sand sports car which they were happy playing in whilst we went in for a swim the water was so warm, not cooling at all. I suddenly pointed to a large fish about two foot long just behind Paul he turned and followed it up the beach trying to get it closer to shore, whilst I made an exit for shore as it looked to me like some sort of shark or cat fish. There was a young lad on the beach so we asked if he knew what fish it may have been he was unsure but said it would have been a good meal for us and couldn’t believe we had let it go. We ate a sandwich picnic enjoying the sunshine and were visited by a large cricket which landed on Paul’s flip flop, and stayed there most of the afternoon.

Pied Kingfisher

Sand Sports Car

We finally packed up and walked around to cape point where there are a few hotels and a lovely stretch of white beach with palm trees we will definitely have to come back as very beautiful. We set off back to the car disturbing a large monitor lizard which ran for cover into one of the hotel grounds and bumped into Emma, Courtney and Paul all kitted up in their motor bike gear must be very hot for them, they were looking for the rest of the gang.

Cape Point Beach

Traditional Dress

We spent the morning at home as we were not sure what time we were expected at Ebrima’s house. In the meantime Paul helped Abu who is Lucy’s guard with securing one of the branches of the orange tree as the fruit was too heavy for it; they managed to tie it with some rope around a stronger branch to prevent it snapping. Abu then picked some of the ripe oranges whilst Paul held the ladder, Lucy thanked Paul for his help and gave us a bowl full of the green oranges and told us we could help ourselves, they were very juicy.

Amy and Georgia arrived at midday so we all quickly changed into our new clothes and set off in the car for Sanyang which is about an hours drive away. We took the coastal route passing all the tourist hotels, lush vegetation and small villages. On the outskirts of a small town we were stopped by a police traffic control man and he asked where we were heading we told him we were visiting a friend at Sanyang, he waved us on after congratulating us on our African clothes. We continued on passing Gunjur and Sandele which is the new eco hotel owned by Jerry and Morris only to realise we had gone too far and we were nearly at the border of Senegal. We quickly turned around and had a thirty minute drive back to Sanyang. I don’t know how we managed to miss the police station or market which had Sanyang in bold lettering on the walls.

Traditional Dress

We pulled up and asked a local where Ebrima Colley lived he said he would show us and he jumped in the car. We finally arrived outside Ebrima’s compound Paul quickly took the local back whilst we were introduced to his wife, five children and extended family as cousins usually live within the same compound. We were ushered into the house out of the afternoon sun where we were given some much needed water to drink. When Paul arrived back we were taken outside where chairs and a sofa had appeared for us to sit on then an extension lead was produced for the fan. A couple of Ebrima’s sons were boiling water to make Atiya, which is strong sweet tea and supposed to be very addictive I imagine a type of drug. We watched as they poured the tea from one glass to another making if froth then back into the teapot then from glass to glass again finally it was ready. First Amy was handed a very small glass of the Atiya she had a sip then passed it onto Georgia. His son then handed me a glass it was far too sweet and sickly I sipped about half of it then passed the remainder to Paul who had already drank a glass.

Bradley Posing

Abi with Pigtails

Paul produced some family photos and postcards of Redcar and Marske to show Ebirma where we live which he then passed onto his family to look at, Ebrima then produced some photos taken when he had visited London. Ebrima’s daughter Fatou aged two years produced a soft toy dog and bugs bunny with missing ears for Abigail and Bradley, however Bradley was far more interested in chasing the chickens around in the compound. Fatou ended up following Bradley and playing with a tigger toy which belonged to one of the cousins, Bradley was amusing the other children by bouncing it up and down. When I went to make sure he was okay one of the woman said he was her baby and wanted him to stay with her as she thought he was lovely.

Bradley with Dog and Bugs so Cute

Georgia and Amy in Traditional Dress

We could smell food being cooked and a couple of teenage girls were using a pestle and mortar; banging it in sequence on investigating they were pounding grain to make flour. We were given a meal of beef domada and rice followed by bananas; I did think it would be more of a communal bowl where everyone eats with their hands however plates and spoons were produced to our delight. After much chatting we thanked them for their hospitality and set off for Brikama as Amy was staying at home, so going a different route we saw a bit more of the country. With Amy dropped off and on entering Serrekunda we could see lots of locals dressed up in their best clothes the woman as usual looked very elegant in brightly coloured clothing even the children looked very smart. We passed an area where there is a children’s play area and park and we could hear drumming and music and lots of people stood listening. On Kariba Avenue there was more music and people everywhere enjoying the evening’s festivities.

Skyping

I set about sweeping and washing the floors whilst Paul went to the bank, we had arranged to meet up at La Parisiene as we were hoping to use Skype to make our phone calls. When I arrived Paul was already talking to Jenny so it was great news that Skype was working. I then managed to speak to my Mam and brother who was there at the time, Abigail and Bradley had a quick word all for the cost of 20p for ten minutes, unbelievable how cheap Skype is.

At 4.00pm we headed out to pick up our costumes we decided to have a walk around the golf course to see if we could see any birds, we ended up seeing a variety Intermediate Egrets, Black-Headed Plover and a flock of Rose Ringed Parakeets which are a lovely green colour with long tails. After a good bit of bird twitching we arrived at the craft market Paul and Bradley tried on their shirts, Bradley was very pleased with his and looked very smart. Fatou showed me my skirt and top I was very pleased with it, unfortunately the skirt was too big at the waist, however because of the design of the top you won’t be able to tell so I will take it back on Tuesday to get altered. We had invited John for dinner so made a quick dash for home bumping into Emma and Emily on route. We ate a dinner of chicken stew potatoes and carrots followed by mango and banana fruit cocktail, and spent a pleasant evening chatting.

Intermediate Egret

Black-Headed Plover

Sand Castles

This morning Paul wanted to spend some quiet time on his college work, so I set about making a picnic lunch for us to take down to the beach. All packed up we set off and bumped into Felix who works for Jerry and Morris at Safari Garden, he had been taking Ruby to the vets as she wasn’t very well. He asked Abigail and Bradley if they wanted to see a tortoise, so we entered Jerry’s garden me expecting a small house tortoise, so it was quite a shock to see a giant tortoise that was thirty two years old.

We continued our walk to the beach and picked a sun lounger with thatched umbrella, it was a little cloudy at the time with the possibility of rain. Adam from the craft market appeared and started helping Abigail and Bradley build sand castles they then set off looking for shells to decorate all twenty one of them. Whilst I had one of the woman from the craft market trying to sell me things I did mention to her that Paul was thinking of a traditional shirt as we had been invited to Ebrima’s for Eid celebrations on either Sunday or Monday, she said she would come back later.

Adam helping to build Sand Castles

Paul arrived at about 2.00pm and true to form the woman from the craft market appeared with various lengths of material draped over her arm. We chose two pieces of material a blue leaf print for a traditional shirt and a blue, green and orange mandinka village scene print for a western shirt. Paul went off to be measured whilst I had Fatou who Jenny had bought Abigail’s dress from trying to sell me material to make a dress. I decided that we should all dress up for the occasion so I picked some material for myself to make a skirt and top in the local design and a blue baby elephant print for Bradley’s traditional shirt. We were measured up and told they would be ready by 5.00pm tomorrow.

We also bought from a beach trader who we often talk to as he walks up and down the beach selling to the tourists a couple of leather tasselled mandinka spears which we had took a fancy to, he said he would make us the original ones rather than those for the tourists so we can pick them up tomorrow with our costumes. And to top it off Paul bought a chief chair he had taken a like to and a pestle and mortar for me from Adam, so we felt we had helped towards their Eid celebrations as it is very hard for the locals at this time as during the month not much money is being spent. All spent up we set of home as the sun was now very hot and I could feel my arms burning and I was concerned about Abigail and Bradley burning.

The Volunteers

On the evening we had been invited to Max’s as Danny who is Australian and Fiona’s husband had returned after a trip back to their home in Ireland to do some work. We spent the evening chatting, drinking and eating some of Max’s delicious food he is such a good cook, we left for home at 9.00pm to put the children to bed.

Nadia and Angela

Cathy, Fiona and Mariella

Georgia and Sukey

Emma, Amy, Emily and Courtney

Paul and June

Painting the Lounge

I Spent most of the morning waiting for the painter to arrive he finally turned up at 11.00am and set about painting the lounge area, not wanting to leave the painter alone we waited for him to finish. Four hours later the lounge was complete with two coats of magnolia, at this point Cathy turned up as she had just received a phone call to say her house was also getting painted, I had hoped the paint would be left so I could complete the kitchen. I managed to give her a quick tour of the house before she headed of home with the painter and Allu the VSO driver.

We took Abigail and Bradley out for a well deserved walk passing the local ghetto where the palm wine tappers congregate and towards the local vegetable plots. On route we saw some grasshoppers and a red beetle with a velvety furry back, as well as the usual lizard darting for the undergrowth. On arriving at the beach Midnight the lifeguard was very pleased to see Paul, and asked him to go fishing with him sometime saying he had caught two red snapper over by the rocks this morning. We headed back as the clouds overhead were looking pretty dark and I had put out the washing which didn’t dry from yesterday. We arrived back in time before the rain came and set to sweeping and mopping the lounge before putting the furniture back into place it looks much better we just need some things to go on the walls. After dinner we sat down to watch Mama Mia, me and Abi both singing along.

Red Furry Beetle

Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu

A Big Happy Birthday to Michelle!!

I spent this morning posting my blog whilst Paul headed out to Timbookto book store to look for resources. For the local Muslims Ramadan is just about finishing so it came as no surprise that on picking up Bradley and Abigail we were informed that the school will be closing tomorrow due to them getting ready for Eid and they will return to school next Wednesday after the holidays. After having two good days at school we will have to start all over again settling them in again next week. Abigail had been given quite a bit of Maths and English homework to complete during the holidays. Whilst Awo was busy cleaning we took the children out of her way for an hour, just outside the compound Abigail saw a lovely little bird a Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu she is getting a proper bird spotter. We managed to find a good gift shop selling cards and toys so will have to make a visit next month for Abigail’s birthday.

Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu

Unwelcome Visitor

Paul went to the VSO office this morning as they required our passports, when he got back he spent some time making resources for college. Meanwhile I set about writing my blog and downloading some photo’s from my camera ready to post onto my site on Wednesday. I was stopped in my flow when an unwelcome visitor flew in through the door, it looked like a flying ant but very large I managed to trap it between the window and the mesh as I had no intention of moving it.

I was at the school early to pick up Bradley thinking it best after the state he had got him self into yesterday, however I was pleasantly surprised when he greeted me with a big smile saying he had enjoyed today so much he skipped home telling me what he had been doing. On picking Abigail up she said a new girl from London was in her class just trying out the school and she also has a younger sister Bradley’s age, so hopefully they may join the school and be some friends for Abigail and Bradley.

We headed out in the car as we had decided to check out the prices on ovens, called at a few stores including a second hand shop with a variety of fridge freezers, microwaves and ovens. On asking the price he wanted over a hundred pounds which was the same price that we could buy a new oven for, he just laughed when we told him this saying that’s what the owner wanted for it. I noticed on leaving the store a sun glasses stand with a sign at the top saying Woolworths, so this must be where they got rid of some of their equipment to. We headed back no further on in the oven hunt, making a quick visit to Kariba Shopping Centre and Right Price to get some of the larger food items.

We showered and dressed then took the children off to school with quite a few tears on the way. Paul then headed of to Brikama college to meet up with Amy they had decided to have a tidy around in the office which has been put aside for VSO teachers, and to see what resources they have.

Bradley was upset yet again when I picked him up from school, I finally found out that he didn’t like practising the writing of his numbers as he couldn’t do 2 and 5, I told him we would practise when we got home. The teacher (Aunty Anna) also gave me an exercise book explaining that she would write in it each day what lessons Bradley had been taught and this then had to be signed and returned each day. Abigail seemed to have had a better day she had been taught some Maths, English and Music and had wrote down a couple of the songs one about an ostrich and the other about a bug, it was so they could practice their o’s and u’s.

Barbeque at Greg and Sukey's

Paul was up early as wanted to download windows 2007 and try again with skype from the internet so he set off for La Parisiene. He returned at 10.30 feeling very good that it had all downloaded hopefully now we will be able to call family on a Saturday. We decided to have a walk along the beach at Fajara, set off with cloud overhead but soon changed to bright sunshine found some good size shells to add to our collection.

Two hours later arrived back very hot and thirsty, showered and changed as we had been invited to Greg and Sukey's compound for an afternoon barbeque. We went by car picking up Emma, Emily and Max on route, found the house after loads of detours around the back streets to miss the pot holes and pools of water. The house is a very good size with three bedrooms and two toilets, definitely the best volunteer house so far only a bit of a dodgy area. We ate a selection of sausages, chicken, burgers, bread, avocado dip, coleslaw, potato salad, tomato cucumber salad and yoghurt dips very tasty. Very enjoyable afternoon chatting and listening to music, we left at around 7.30 to get the children to bed.

Happy Birthday Mum & Mandy

A big Happy Birthday to Mum & Mandy for yesterday!!

We decided to do some quick updates at La Parisiene. Abigail and Bradley sat playing with their toys and eating ice-cream whilst I tried to download Skype it did eventually download however I managed to cancel out the microphone in the process. The internet was very slow so decided to give up, after having tried making a phone call via Skype to my mum. Did eventually get in touch with mum on the evening via my mobile it was a quick call before my credit ran out wished her a happy birthday and gave her a quick update.

Meet Charlie

Picked up the children from school at 12.00pm, don’t seem to have done much at school this week, on asking locals they said they will start learning next week. We ate lunch then decided to visit ‘Charlie’ at the sacred crocodile pool at Katchikali, Bakau. The pool is considered a magical place and bathing in the sacred pool can cure infertility and bestow good fortune, regular rituals are performed by locals for this purpose.

We set off in the car stopping to get some air for the tyres not from a garage but a guy at the side of the road, very strange. On reaching the street there was a throng of people exiting the mosque after their Friday prayers one such person asked if we needed help and told us to park up at the large tree as the road was too bad to continue any further. Lamin as he was named took us down some small side streets between compounds and smelly drainage ditches to the crocodile pool. We paid our entrance fee and applied some mosquito repellent no sooner had we set off we could see the head of a large female under a drainage water outlet. We were told that in the rainy season the crocodiles sometimes escape and are found in the Gambian compounds and have to be captured and returned to the pool.

We continued to a wire fence surrounding a murky green pool in which we could see a small crocodile on the surface, then suddenly there was a gap in the fence and Lamin said we could walk around the pool. Paul and Bradley walked along and I joined them only to get a picture of a baby crocodile sat on a rock. We came to some seats with one of the guides sat with a crocodile at his feet, this was the famous Charlie we were asked to sit down and pat his back, very strange. We managed to get a photo of us touching Charlie however it was a bit too scary. Behind us there was a large pregnant female with gapping mouth we were told not to go too close as when pregnant they can be very aggressive. We noticed bonga fish on the ground, the guide informed us he feeds them well so visitors are able to walk amongst them, I think they must have been drugged as very docile.

Charlie

Baby

Preganant Mum

Scary Spider's

We picked our way around the pool, checking behind ourselves every now and then just for safety, a very large moniter lizard sat sunning himself in a tree, unfortunately we didn’t see any monkey’s as they were too high up in the trees. We exited through a good but small cultural museum displaying traditional dance costumes, drums, Kora’s which are half gourds covered with cowhide and nylon strings, a type of harp instrument and lots of information on the history of the region. On existing Abigail pointed out some huge spider's easily with a leg span the size of your hand, we were told they make you very itchy if you are unlucky enough to be bitten by one.

Smaller Spider about the size of our Large Spider's back Home

Today will be the first day when all existing children will start school, Bradley understandably was not too happy about going, but when I picked him up after school he seemed a little better. Abigail’s day was spent being introduced to some of her teachers such as PE teacher and Art teacher; it seems as if they have specialist teachers for certain subjects. She gave us instructions that she will need her PE kit on a Thursday and some pencils, crayons, ruler, and sharpener for Art class which being very much into crafts she was very excited about.

First day at School

Up at 6.30am to get the children ready for their first day at school, Bradley was exited to be wearing his new uniform looked very smart although the shirt is a little bit too big; unfortunately Abigail’s uniform has still not arrived. Their official day starts at 8.30am and finishes at 2.45pm Monday to Thursday (Bradley finishes at 1.35pm) with an early finish of 12.00pm on a Friday for both as this is the locals day for pray. Dropped them off at 8.10am and saw them to their classrooms gave them quick hugs and kisses and left them for the day. I went straight to La Parisiene to update my blog site, found the internet very quick probably due to the time of day so managed to post a good bit of my blog. Actioned a few emails then set off to pick up Bradley, he was quite upset as a little boy had punched him in the face, gave him a big cuddle whilst trying to hold back the tears myself so as not to upset him further. He settled down saying he had missed me we had a slow walk back home a quick change of clothes and a snack. Bradley had a little play before we set off to pick up Abi, she seems to have had a much better day. Awo was busy cleaning and Louise had a bit of a cold so not her usual happy self, the children played drawing pictures, Bradley’s mishap forgotten.

Bradley's Uniform

Bradley's Classroom

Abigail's Classroom

Paul starts Work

Paul was picked up at 10.00am by Nuha and taken to Brikama College for his first day of meeting some of the staff and for a workshop. Myself and the children decided to take a picnic to the beach, met Lamin for a quick chat and then one of the lifeguards called Midnight tried to teach me some Olof. I was glad when it started to rain so I could make a quick getaway; we took shelter in what is used as a fruit market during the tourist season. We ended up staying there for an hour chatting to the women from the craft market having already recognised Abigail and Bradley. The rain finally was much lighter so set off home only to find Paul already back. On asking him how his day went he announced that the college closes on Friday until 28th September, however he will use this time to get some lesson planning actioned.

Stuck in the Mud

The next morning we set off for home in the pouring rain in a convoy of four vehicles ourselves being driven by Nuha, who decided to take a detour to his mother’s house to pick up some fire wood so we left the other vehicles to go on, big mistake. On arriving at his mother’s compound, Paul helped load up the wood with Nuha and his sister, we started to reverse and with wheels spinning the front tyre ended up getting stuck. After a lot of spinning wheels both myself and a philipino volunteer called Venus decided to brave the weather and help by placing wooden chocks under the wheels as by now the rear passenger wheel was also stuck. Two hours later, very wet, muddy and with the help of some locals we finally got back on the road and set off for the ferry terminal at Barra. Luckily for us a ferry was just pulling in so we didn’t have a long wait and arrived back home at about 2.30pm, changed out of our wet clothes, showered and settled down for the afternoon.

National Museum of the North Bank

We ate a breakfast of onion pancakes, bread, jam, banana and mango then set off at 8.30am to the villages of Jufferuh and Albreda, arrived at the hotel unpacked and we set of walking on the Roots Pilgrimage. No sooner had we left the hotel we were surrounded by children all of which wanted to hold our hands and they were fascinated with Abigail and Bradley. A young girl called Maria who was 10 years old took hold of my hand, as we walked even more children appeared running up to us and hugging our legs very sweet. Amy one of the volunteer’s started singing ‘If you’re Happy and you know it Clap your Hands’ and had all the children joining in clapping and singing, she has a good rapour with the children.

The walk to the Museum was only short as both villages have now merged into one, we passed a very smelly fish market and a large baobab tree full of chirping weaver birds, which are a very pretty bright yellow but very noisy. First we were taken by our guide to a baobab tree within the museum grounds which was said to be the very tree where ‘Kunta Kinte’ was circumcised and became a Mandinka Warrior, in those days this area would have been covered by forest. The tree had the outline of an elephant on one side and a monkey on the other so amused Abi and Bradley.

We entered the small National Museum of the North Bank which depicted the horrors of slavery between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. We tried to lift one of the neck shackles on display and found it to be unbelievably heavy. On display were artefacts of, pistols, whips, shackles, cowrie shells, cowbars and kiss pennies which were iron bars used as money to buy slaves, as well as literature on the history of the slave trade, very thought provoking.

Slave Trade

Triangular Trade