Arrived bright and early at the airport to pick up our left luggage and meet up with Jenny, said our farewells to Mike and went through departures. The six hour flight went very smoothly with a little delay of 20 minutes, once on our way Abigail and Bradley were delighted with the two in flight films, Night at the Museum and Bolt both were kept quiet for four hours. The decent into Banjul Airport was quite spectacular as the plane banked we had an excellent view of The Gambia River and mangrove swamps which looked very green and lush with patches of red baked earth and the odd termite hill dotted here and there. Upon exiting the plane we were welcomed by a smiling line of Gambians, I found this very peculiar all that was missing was the shaking of hands as you would with dignitaries.
The air conditioned terminal was a welcome relief from the afternoon sun which was a very hot 32◦C, however once through customs we were met by the jostling of porters trying to help us with our luggage hoping to be rewarded with a tip. After a quick greeting with Nuha the VSO programme manager we were whisked away to our awaiting vehicle and set off on route to the hotel were we will be staying for the week whilst our accommodation is sorted. We had our first glimpse of Africa up close and personal, the main road into The Kombo region was tarmaced and covered in places with red earth from the many side streets which were untarmaced; this was lined with various run down looking shops and stalls selling fruit and veg, household wares, material and furniture to name just a few. Every where was very busy with Gambians walking or sitting chatting drinking tea and the odd donkey at the roadside or goat crossing the road for its next meal. The arrival was made perfect when I got my first glimpse of a monkey sat in a tree from the roadside.
Arrived at the hotel, I would have to say very very basic however a very friendly atmosphere, the pool was small but clean and a welcome relief after such a hot journey, we also met the other new volunteers who will be doing their In Country Training (ICT) with us. After such a tiring two days we decided an early night was called for so off to bed at 9.30pm, only to find out the next day Gambian time is an hour behind the UK so actually had a very early night especially for Paul on a Friday.
The air conditioned terminal was a welcome relief from the afternoon sun which was a very hot 32◦C, however once through customs we were met by the jostling of porters trying to help us with our luggage hoping to be rewarded with a tip. After a quick greeting with Nuha the VSO programme manager we were whisked away to our awaiting vehicle and set off on route to the hotel were we will be staying for the week whilst our accommodation is sorted. We had our first glimpse of Africa up close and personal, the main road into The Kombo region was tarmaced and covered in places with red earth from the many side streets which were untarmaced; this was lined with various run down looking shops and stalls selling fruit and veg, household wares, material and furniture to name just a few. Every where was very busy with Gambians walking or sitting chatting drinking tea and the odd donkey at the roadside or goat crossing the road for its next meal. The arrival was made perfect when I got my first glimpse of a monkey sat in a tree from the roadside.
Arrived at the hotel, I would have to say very very basic however a very friendly atmosphere, the pool was small but clean and a welcome relief after such a hot journey, we also met the other new volunteers who will be doing their In Country Training (ICT) with us. After such a tiring two days we decided an early night was called for so off to bed at 9.30pm, only to find out the next day Gambian time is an hour behind the UK so actually had a very early night especially for Paul on a Friday.
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