Bijilo Forest Park

When we woke up this morning we realised that our water heater has been leaking through the night into our laundry basket resulting in quite a few clothes with rusty stain marks on them. We put them straight into the bath with some detergent and Paul started scrubbing them with some soap, some of the whites went straight into some bleach however not all the marks would come out very annoyed as three of my white tops are ruined.

We finally ate breakfast, showered and set out for Bijilo Forest Park and Nature Trail or Monkey Park as it is known to the locals situated in Senegambia area. We entered the park and were approached by a guide who explained that the ticket office was not yet open so we will need to pay on our exit. He then showed us the type of animals which frequent the park including two types of monkey, squirrels, monitor lizards, spiders, snakes, butterflies and birds. We set off walking along the sandy path and through the forest of Rhun Palms which is one of the last places to see them, they used to run along the coastline but have been ravaged by builders and developers for the use of beams resulting in the erosion of the coastline especially noticeable around the Senegambia area.

Colobus Monkey's

The park was layed out into four sections colour coded in Red, Green, Blue and Yellow and about half a square kilometre in size with benches situated at varies points on route. Bradley was happy to run off a head and pointing out things of interest. It didn’t take us long to hear the familiar noise of trees being moved and on looking up we could see a Colobus monkey with baby in a distant tree, however not in range for a good photo. We walked further passing large webs of spiders and then heard the familiar screeching noise of monkey’s fighting. We set off in that direction looking up in the trees and suddenly saw a group of Colobus monkeys jumping from palm to palm.

Vervet Monkey's

Managing to get some photos we continued on following the colour marked route looping around and following the edge of the beach heading back towards the entrance, Having been in the park for a couple of hours it was very hot and sticky and a welcome relief to have the shading of the palms overhead. We followed the path down some steps passing another visitor who told us there were lots of monkey’s further on. We then passed a thatched seated area with a guide relaxing on a bench and we were just about to carry on when on looking up we could see loads of Vervet Monkey’s within the surrounding trees. They were very inquisitive walking past us on the path and were quite happy to sit and have their photos taken, Abigail pointed out a baby suckling from it’s mother. With plenty of photos we continued on Abigail jumping when a monkey came strolling around the corner passing us just feet away.

Two Cheeky Monkey's

Peek-a-Boo

Bottoms Up

Further on the track led to a bird watching area so we decided to enter only to quickly run out when Paul shouted “Ow” as something had flew from the wall and bit his ear. We finally arrived back at the entrance passing another large group of monkey’s sat grooming each other with bums in the air and others sat on the path one of which gave Bradley a scare when it chased after him. Paul paid our fee and showed the guide the bite on his ear which he didn’t think it was anything to worry about we then headed back to the car. We were in need of a drink so we got out the frozen juice and some apples I had brought with us. No sooner had the bag rustled we had monkey’s around us trying to steal the apples Abigail and Bradley were getting a bit scarred so we quickly got into the car. On the way home we called at one of the Kariba Shopping Centres where I managed to get a few things for Abigail’s birthday making sure they were well hidden we left for home.

On the evening we were invited to Mariella’s, we arrived just before 7.00pm as we had also asked John to take a photo of us to forward onto the Gazette as they are looking at doing another article about our life in The Gambia. Some of Mariella’s Dutch friends were over visiting for the fortnight before Mariella finishes her volunteering in December. When Bradley fell a sleep on my lap we knew it was time to make our exit for home.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DALE

On taking the children to school this morning Isatou came running over telling me it was her birthday when I asked her how old she was she said nine which I was very surprised at. It appears that most of the children in Abigail’s class are a year or two older which may be why she is finding the work a little too advanced for her.

I then continued on through the side streets and headed for the VSO Office to drop of a letter which Paul wanted posting. As I was nearing the British High Commission my sandal strap came loose the guard noticed and came over to help he said he would fix it and offered to borrow me a pair of flip flops, I thanked him but said I would manage as I was still able to walk in them. On arriving at VSO I greeted everyone then Maimuna the receptionist gave me a pair of her spare shoes and we tried to glue my strap back into place. A parcel had arrived from Jenny which enclosed the croc shoes in for Abigail and Bradley so they will be pleased. I had a quick look in the local paper to see if there were any jobs, there were a few some of which were for company directors etc a bit too high flying for me, however there was an admin job which would have been ideal only they were asking for Gambian National’s only.

I set of for home unfortunately my sandal strap soon came loose, calling at the butchers on the way, again no mince I wouldn’t care I have already bought the burger buns I may have to put them in the freezer if I don’t get any tomorrow.

I arrived at La Parisienne for about 11.00pm and set about answering emails and updating my blog, managing to get most of it posted which I was pleased about. Then I set off to pick up Abigail and Bradley from school at 3.00pm, Isatou asked if Abigail was staying for extra curricula classes until 4.00pm, this is getting really confusing as we were told it was 3.00pm they don’t seem to be very good at communicating. Abigail and Bradley have had another good day at school which was pleasing we were offered a lift back with Lina and Joseph who was very tired and curled up in the foot well and went to sleep.

This morning the plan is to get some shopping from Kariba Centre as we are out of quite a few things, first I had to call at the bank to get some money. We have been trying to stick to a budget of 1500d a week however this has already been increased from 1000d a week. We have found that living in The Gambia is not cheap so we are substituting some of our savings from England as Paul’s volunteer allowance does not stretch far enough. This has meant that items such as ice-cream, chocolate and crisps will be a rare luxury for Abigail and Bradley.

I flagged down a five, five taxi and jumped in with a couple of other people, myself ending up sitting in the middle. The elderly lady then started a conversation with me in Wolof fortunately I managed to answer her back with the usual greetings. She was very pleased and laughed welcoming me to The Gambia, this seems the norm here if you show you are trying to speak the language they are very friendly towards you. I was dropped off outside Right Choice and Kariba Centre, calling in both stores to get all the items which I needed. Just about spent up and waited down with bags I jumped in a Gelleh Gelleh for my return trip home calling for bread and fruit and veg on the way.

On arriving home Awa was busy mopping the floors with Louise straddling her back in a sling. Awa was telling me about her malaria and that she hasn’t had it for three years until last week and how ill she felt. I packed away the shopping and went to pick up Bradley first calling to get some mince from the butchers as I had promised Abigail and Bradley some beef burgers for dinner only to find they didn’t have any left. I quickly called at Safeway and they had no meat on display due to a fridge breakdown so I will have to try again tomorrow.

Bradley and Abigail were happy playing with Louise who is now pulling herself up around the furniture and has managed to climb up onto the settee. Awa is looking forward to the day when she starts to walk so she won’t have to carry her around on her back.

I had a strange conversation with a guy when I went to pick up Bradley from school today. I could hear him singing behind me and when he was next to me he asked are you picking the children up from school to which I replied yes. He continued to walk with me asking my name and saying he was Nigerian and called Steven. He then asked me if I was a Christian and if I go to church. He then started talking about religion and asked me to tell him something uplifting about the bible. He then quoted a psalm from one of the chapters of the bible he was definitely trying to spread the word.

On arriving home Bradley practised some of his letter formations from his jolly phonics workbook before picking Abigail up from School. When we arrived home Abigail practiced some spellings on Space as we know this is what Westgarth have been learning about this term. We also plan to call at Timbooktu some time next week to see if there are any children’s books about space.

On picking up Abigail with Bradley from school we went to Safari Garden as I have been promising them a dip in the pool for a week now. We bought some drinks and changed, the water was lovely and cool as it was another hot day. They played for a couple of hours before we finally headed for home. Whilst walking home through the streets it was very humbling to see a couple of Gambian kids using some imagination. They were playing horse’s galloping around with a branch between their legs and holding onto a piece of rope. We also saw a pretty black finch playing alongside a group of Red-Fire Finches and Cordon-Bleu’s.

Touch Rugby

We were up early as Paul had a busy day today we first went to La Parisienne to make our usual phone calls and check our emails. Paul has then arranged a meeting with Maurice at Safari Garden for 10.00am re a project he is hoping to do whilst out here so Abigail and Bradley went with him whilst I went home to make dinner. On the afternoon Paul went off to meet a Gambian guy who is president of rugby, Paul he is hoping to get a team together. When Paul arrived home he quickly changed and we all went to Leybato beach as Paul was playing touch rugby. I was quite surprised at how many women were playing and also the different age groups within the teams. The beach was very busy with Gambians playing football or doing their usual training of press ups and running.

It didn’t take long for Bradley to end up in the sea fully clothed playing with a little girl. We chatted to Danny who stopped playing half way through due to nursing a sore head, hangover from the Diwali evening. We set off for home having to take Bradley’s shorts off as they kept on falling down. Abigail suddenly pointed to the sky saying is that a bat, Paul and I looked up saying no. We continued to watch noticing that they had a very different wingspan to a bird and we realised they had no tail feathers it was then we agreed that they were large fruit bats. Abigail was very interested in them and wants to go out to watch them again one night.

Shell Shells And More Shells

The rest of the gang have gone of to Makasuto Reserve, we decided to go at a later date as we have been invited to a Diwali evening tonight at Senegambia resort. So we spent a quite morning before walking to the beach at 2.00pm. Paul continued on as he was meeting Greg and Danny in a bar at Palma Rima to watch the Liverpool game. It’s a relief to Paul that a few of the male volunteers support Liverpool, Paul, Greg, James and the other Paul who is located in Kerrewan so quite a fan club.

Adam came to say hello but was too busy at the market helping to wash some of the cloth and clothes at his cousins stall getting them ready for the tourist season, so he didn’t spend as much time with Abigail and Bradley as normal. The children busied themselves at the waters edge collecting more shells I think we will need a suitcase alone to bring them back to England. I started reading the Roots book which Jenny had bought me for my birthday. Having now lived here for a couple of months in The Gambia I can relate to some of the aspects within the book very true to life here. I decided to put my sun bed down so I could lay on my stomach and ended up trapping my finger which gave me a nasty cut which took ages to stop bleeding. On the way home we called at the craft market to say goodbye to Adam on which he produced a coconut for us and a bracelet which he had made for me on seeing this Abigail thought it was lovely so no doubt he will make her one for next time we are there. By the time I got home my finger was like a fat sausage and very painful, I washed and sprayed it with some antiseptic then covered it with a plaster so it could nit together without me catching it and causing the wound to open up.

Big Beautiful Shells

Diwali Evening

We showered and dressed, Abigail and Bradley would be having a very late evening, and made our way to the Indian restaurant where we were shown inside to a private room. On the wall was a large plasma screen which was playing loud pop bollywood music. Eventually some more VSO Volunteers arrived and joined us, there was around a hundred guests including the British High Commissioner and other volunteers from Peace Corps, UN and MRC (Medical Research Centre). The owner thanked us for coming and the evening began however the only music and dancing we were going to see was on the plasma screen.

The waiters came around with trays of Indian buffet food, onion bhaji’s, samosas, fish, prawns and chicken in breadcrumbs of which Bradley was very happy to try and enjoy. As well as giving us an endless supply of free alcohol, soft drinks, or powerful fruit cocktails. Paul went over to have a chat to the high commissioner of which he was very surprised when he remembered him by name. They chatted about rugby the high commissioner being a big fan and a couple of emails Paul had sent him. Abigail and Bradley were very tired by this time so fell a sleep on the seats. We stayed until 11.00pm and then carried Abigail and Bradley to the car placing them on Chris and Melanie’s knees as we had offered them a lift back to the volunteer house. Chris and Melanie are a newly arrived married couple from Canada who will be going up country to Basse next Thursday to take up their roles as physiotherapists.

Dinner with Emily

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RYAN & LEWIS

When Paul arrived home from work we drove in the car to Palma Rima which is just around Kotu Point. We parked up and walked along the beach as usual having the odd local bumster asking us if we wanted some juice or showing us jewellery to buy. We eventually arrived at the Senegambia Hotel there were quite a few people sat on the sun beds so the tourist season is picking up, we then turned around and walked back. On the way home we stopped of at Mains shopping centre to get a few bits, they seem to cater more for ex pats so they do have quite a good selection of cheese, ham and meat on display and some items are much cheaper than the shops on Kariba Avenue.

We have invited Emily over for dinner, so I set about warming up the beef stew I had cooked earlier, putting the rice onto boil, and making an eve’s pudding by stewing a couple of mango’s instead of apples. Because I had no dish to put it in I ended up using one of the pans, hoping it will turn out okay. Emily arrived along with Paul who was just returning from a quick run. She had brought a bottle of wine for dinner (the first we have had since arriving here) and some chocolate biscuits for the children which they were pleased with. I had to delay the dinner as the eve’s pudding just didn’t seem to be cooking however I turned the heat up a bit more and it did eventually rise. We ate dinner enjoying seconds of the eve’s pudding which was yummy with the mango’s I will definitely be making it again. After a couple of games of Uno we put Abigail and Bradley to bed and then sat and chatted.

Emily is a Paediatric Doctor working in Banjul at the Royal Victoria Hospital which has been quite an experience for her to see young children dying each day from malaria or malnutrition. She told us of one occasion she had finished her shift only to have a very under nourished child come in so unlike the Cuban Doctors who left (and are earning more than her) she stayed and tried to get a needle into the child’s already collapsed veins and spent an evening watching the child only to have the child die later that night very sad. Paul then walked Emily onto Kariba Avenue where it was lighter for her to make her way home.

Timbooktu Book Store

Last night we received a call from Awa to say she was unable to come today as she was unwell with malaria so I set about washing and hanging out the clothes before setting of to La Parisienne. The internet was very slow I only managed to get one days worth of blog updated however I did post a lot of photos, will try again tomorrow.

On picking Abigail up from school we headed for Timbookto Book Store, we spent nearly two hours in there looking at the children’s books and getting some information on Gambian Wildlife. They both choose a book each, Abigail picked an African story book to add to her collection and Bradley picked Mr Busy. I also managed to get some ideas for presents for Abigail’s birthday so will have to call back again with Paul.

On arriving back at home I set about making a pizza only to receive a phone call from Tom and Lynne to say they were at the traffic lights with the view to call in. I thought I had explained where we lived however Tom called back for directions so I went outside the compound to find them, they were a little further up the street so I waved and finally attracted their attention. After showing them around I made a cup of tea, Tom played with the children reading stories and playing hide and seek whilst I finished making the pizza with Lynne chatting to me. They are leaving to go up country to Basse on Friday which is where they will be based, we have accepted an invitation to stay with them at some time in the future. Paul arrived an hour later so we chatted for a while before they left for home.

Timbooktu Book Store

Senegal Coucal

Whist sat in the compound updating my blog, I heard a couple of bird sounds which I didn’t recognise on investigating it was a pair of Senegal Coucal’s I did manage to get a photo however not very good as you can see as they were too far in the trees.

Paul had another strange experience on his way to work this morning, he decided to use the Gelleh Gelleh he found a seat next to a young girl. He then started to read a book about the history of The Gambia as he was about to turn the page the girl stopped him by holding down the page of the book so she could finish reading it. Paul then turned over and continued reading and got to the end of the page and went to turn back to the previous page to recap only to have the book taken from him by the girl who then finished reading the page. She passed the book back to Paul saying it was a good book and asking him if she could have it. Paul explained to her it wasn’t his to give away as it was VSO property and she would be able to get it from the identification no on the cover. After a lot of confusion she finally accepted that Paul wasn’t going to give her the book and she jotted down the number of the book.

Baby Sheep

Because the children were at school yesterday they have been given today as a day off, Paul took them out for a walk before leaving for college whilst I set about sweeping and mopping the floors. We ate lunch with the intention of going to the beach only to have the joiner turn up to fix one of the ceiling tiles which had collapsed due to getting wet when we had a leak in the roof. It was pointless me mopping this morning as by the time the joiner had finished there was muck all over the corridor, I quickly set about sweeping and mopping.

We set off for the beach Bradley running off a head as usual, on the way we saw a newly born sheep with a red ribbon round its neck the children insisting I took a photo of it. We stopped off at the Fajara Club to have a look around, pick up an entrance form and check on the prices. On enquiring about the volunteer price the receptionist said they have stopped that deal so they seem to have doubled in price as to when Jenny first enquired. Included in the price is the use of the pool which was not very big but was very nice, tennis courts, squash courts and golf course, however the gym was a separate membership.

We finally arrived at the beach at 2.30pm found a sun shade and we all went into the sea which was quite rough but Abi and Bradley enjoyed jumping over the waves. I read whilst the children made sand castles and played at the waters edge. We packed up after a couple of hours and set off for home, Bradley and Abigail upset that they didn’t see the baby sheep again.

Zenith Founders Day

We woke up early as today we were going to a service at Saint Paul’s Parish it was a celebration for founder’s day at the Zenith School. Paul and I dressed in our African clothes, Abigail and Bradley had to wear their school uniform which they were not impressed by. Hot and sweaty we arrived for the 9.00am service, Abigail and Bradley had to sit under a marquee outside with the other children whilst we were asked to find a seat inside. The service began with the priests and choir followed by the school children walking down the aisle to their seats, all the girls had been given straw boater hats which they looked very smart in. After lots of singing, praying and communion the service eventually finished at 11.30am, very long service especially for Abigail and Bradley.

We made our way outside as the children were marching back to the school in a procession lead by the police brass band. The Gambian children really got into marching swinging their arms and stomping their feet whilst the band played. On arriving at the school it was decorated with balloons and a bouncy castle was set up for the children to play on. We found a seat and then cans of pop were brought around followed by some finger buffet food in a foil container. When Bradley had finished eating he went off for a play on the bouncy castle before we left for home.

On arriving home Paul changed and busied himself in the garden which he has managed to acquire of Lucy so we can plant some veggies. I changed and jumped in the shower whilst Abigail and Bradley played with a Frisbee in the compound. Paul then went to play tag rugby at Bakau whilst I prepared a dinner of roast chicken and potatoes followed by mango crumble which we ate when Paul arrived back in at 6.30pm.

Saint Paul's Parish

Police Brass Band

Bradley seems to be more of himself this morning he didn’t even cough much through the night. We called at La Parisienne to use the internet and make some phone calls. Very poor internet service we were cut of a few times eventually we gave up and left. After lunch we decided to spend the afternoon on the beach as Lucy our landlady had mentioned that she was having over some friends for lunch. We asked John to join us as he hasn’t even been on the beach yet. All packed up we found a couple of sun beds under the shade, Paul went off into the sea with Abigail and Bradley whilst me and John chatted. Adam arrived greeting us as usual with a bag full of shells for the children. Then I decided to cool off John paddled at the waters edge, eventually joining Paul in the sea in his shorts as he hadn’t brought any costumes with him, he did say when he goes home at Christmas he will bring some back as he did enjoy himself.

On arriving home Lucy was still entertaining her friends who were sat outside in the compound it was very noisy until they left at 8.30pm

Africmed Clinic

Bradley had quite a bad night coughing, I was up a couple of times giving him calpol, water and putting the fan on as quite hot. I took him off to school however I told the teachers if he didn’t feel well to phone me. When I picked him up from school he seemed okay until I bought him an ice-cream which resulted in his breathing becoming very rapid, I phoned Paul to see if he was on his way home. I undressed Bradley to cool him down and gave him some honey and lemon he also managed to eat his lunch.

By the time Paul had arrived Bradley had fallen a sleep we woke him and took him to the Africmed Clinic, it was a short wait before a nurse took his pulse, temperature, weight and height then checked his oxygen levels. We were then called in to see the doctor who took down some details and checked Bradley’s breathing. The doctor decided to monitor Bradley at the clinic so we were shown to a room the only one available was a labour room with two beds in but very clean. Bradley climbed onto one of the beds and lay down whilst the male nurse put him on a nebuliser to stabilise his breathing after which he was given some oxygen. The nurse also tried to insert a canella missing his vein the first time he tried again with Bradley’s other hand which went in okay it was incase they needed to get any drugs into his system. He was then given an x-ray, within an hour his breathing had returned to normal and he was much brighter. We were called back in to see the doctor he was happy with Bradley’s progress however the x-ray had shown a chest infection Bronchitis so he was prescribed some antibiotics. We were very impressed with how quick and efficient we were dealt with; we were in and out within three hours.

On the way home we called at Bakau beach to buy some fish as the fishing boats bring in their catch around 5.00pm. We parked up at the side of the road and walked down the incline and onto the beach. There were Gambians wading out to the boats with trays and bringing them back full of fish and women with buckets of fish gutting and cleaning them on the beach. Unsure of what to do we headed back up the beach a guy approached us asking if we wanted to buy fish, we said yes. He took us up to a jetty passing fish laid out on tables and freezers. Within the freezers there were Barracuda, Lady Fish, Butterfish Red Snapper and fish that were bigger than Bradley. We looked around bartering for a good price on Lady Fish eventually we had to settle for seven Red Snapper for 1.25 dalasi which seemed a good price.

Whilst Paul waited for them to clean and descale the fish I made my way back with Bradley and Abigail, as we walked up the hill Abigail pointed to a large web stung out between the telegraph poles with hundreds of the Giant Golden Orb Weaver Spiders as photographed in an earlier blog.. Bradley by this time was feeling a bit unwell again so we quickly made our way home we put three of the Red Snapper in the freezer eating the others with chips of which Bradley really enjoyed. We put Bradley to bed hoping that he would feel much better tomorrow once the antibiotics had got into his system.

I was hoping to update my blog this morning; however I had a problem trying to load up photos to my computer so just answered my emails, I was glad to leave La Parisienne as the air con was off so very hot it was cooler outside. I set off to pick up Bradley getting a lift of Lina who has a little boy in Bradley’s class, we arrived on time only to be told every Thursday from now on they have extra curriculum activities so may do dancing, football etc so they need picking up at 3.00pm. We both hadn’t read this anywhere, Lina dropped me back at home saying she would pick me back up at 3.00pm I said I would set off and meet her on the way. On heading off back to the school I had three cars stop to see if I wanted a lift before Lina pulled up, Bradley was happy to see me after such a long day.

National Holiday

When Paul dropped Abigail and Bradley off at school he was told that they will need picking up at 12.00pm as a national holiday has been declared due to the World Cup coming to The Gambia and the president would be showing it off at the stadium later on today. There was no point in Paul going to the college as he only had a lecture this afternoon which would now be cancelled.

Paul called in at the VSO Office this morning he spoke to Nuha re work for me in The Gambia. On returning he told me Nuha gave him a contact of an ex volunteer as she may have work available, Henrietta is Dutch and works for Ballast Nedam she has lived here for ten years and is married with two young children to a Gambian. We went to her office which is just at the traffic lights and had a good chat to her unfortunately she has nothing at the moment but has asked for my CV and will keep in touch if any thing comes available.

We decided to look for some bamboo to try to hang the Batik’s so walked down Kariba Avenue in and out of the shops. Whilst we were looking we noticed a cooker for sale in one of the shops it had some paint missing off one of the corners, we were told it was second hand but it looked as if it hadn’t even been used so we agreed a good price. Unfortunately we couldn’t find anywhere which sold bamboo so we headed home Paul picking up Abi and Bradley whilst I called at the bakers for bread. Paul picked up the cooker in the car and connected it to the gas supply making sure everything was working okay which it was, however not as strong a flame as the stove top, hopefully we may save some gas.

After lunch Paul headed out to the stadium with camcorder in hand, we thought it best not to take the children in case of crowds so we headed to the beach instead to pick up my tie dyed skirt from Fatou leaving Awa finishing of the ironing. On arriving at the craft market Fatou wasn’t there however Adam was so he found my skirt which looks very good a deep navy purple with pink. He then picked up Bradley’s bucket and spade and accompanied us to the beach building sand castles for them. Shortly after Felix and Georgia arrived, oh Felix is now Uncle Felix as the kids have really taken to him. They had a couple of surf boards so they took Abi and Bradley in the sea in their pants as I hadn’t packed their costumes. They really enjoyed it I think we will have to look for some body board for them.

We set off for home on arriving I realised I had forgot to take my key and unfortunately Awa had already left for home. Luckily John was at home so I managed to phone Paul only to hear car horns and noise in the background Paul was explaining that the president was arriving and he couldn’t hear me. I quickly sent him a text, John made me a cup of tea then it started to rain so I was glad to be inside. Paul eventually turned up telling us he couldn’t get out until the president had done his lap of honour throwing biscuits out to the crowd as he went. Unfortunately he had missed seeing the cup but enjoyed watching the crowd, soldiers and police dancing and singing along to the music however later on he was complaining that he had burnt his bum sitting on the hot concrete.

Batik's

Here goes back to Kariba shopping centre, no problems today got on the correct Gelleh Gelleh and managed to get off just opposite the centre. I had a good look around and managed to get most things when I came out Georgia was just visiting the bank next door we had a quick chat. I jumped in a five, five taxi back to the traffic lights, basically you pay five dalasi each and people jump in and out on route. I unloaded the shopping then called to pick up the Batik’s, Abigail’s and Bradley’s jungle Batik’s have come out very well. However I don’t think Ebrima quite grasped what we wanted as we picked out three pictures to go onto one piece of cloth. Ebrima has made the three pictures into one village scene which has resulted in there being three suns in the one picture oh well never mind, I suppose it’s a talking point.

Kariba Shopping Centre

After dropping the children off at school I decided to make my way to Kariba shopping centre by Gelleh Gelleh on my own. What a performance, I picked up the bush taxi only to realise I had got on the wrong one as it turned of the main road heading towards Serakunda. I quickly stopped the driver and got out cutting through a side street back to the main road I tried to get my bearings. I then shared a taxi with a very large woman and guy squashed between them on the back seat, very sweaty. I thought I had explained where I was going only to have the taxi driver detour off the main road yet again continuing down side streets with pot holes then around to Westfield Junction which was too far for me. Dropping both passengers off the taxi driver pointed to where the main road was, luckily he didn’t charge me anything for the ride so I walked back up the main road only to bump into Max, by this time I had had enough so I jumped in the taxi with Max and headed back home passing the Kariba shopping centre on the way and not spending a penny, I may try again tomorrow.

Bradley and Abigail woke up early at 6.00pm so Paul decided to get us all up to see the sun come up; we made our way up the spiral staircase to the roof of our lodge and waited. We stayed for an hour watching a group of pelicans fly overhead and a couple of vultures sat in a distant tree we then showered and made our way to the restaurant for breakfast. On arriving at the restaurant no one was about so we decided to have a stroll on the beach meeting Maurice on the way, he was going to pick up the staff at Kartong. We waded along the waters edge the sea was still too warm at 8.30am eventually reaching the end of the bay and back. Abigail and Bradley playing follow the leader, picking shells and chasing the odd crab which appeared out of its hole in the sand. Then back up for breakfast, we sat and chatted to Maurice and ate a selection of fruit, toasted bread and muesli with natural yogurt, slowly the other volunteers appeared finally finishing breakfast at 11.00am we headed for the beach to spend the rest of the day.

Abigail and Bradley weren’t short of a hand to hold whilst they enjoyed jumping over the waves and body boarding. After a long soak in the water I decided to lie in the sun whilst Paul built the children a sand motor boat although It didn’t take me long before I took shelter under a thatched roof sun shade from the hot sun. We ate lunch at Sandele, then at around 4.00pm set off for home taking Georgia, Felix and Emily back with us and stopping to fill the tyre with some air, definitely a slow puncher. The journey was much quicker home helped by Felix amusing the children with eye spy and counting games. After all the drop offs and unloading some crates at Safari Garden we enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing at home and went to bed early.

Weekend at Sandele

We are looking forward to this weekend as we have been invited to Sandele Eco Retreat with the rest of the gang as a twin birthday celebration for Emma and Geri. Sandele of which the first phase opened in 2007 is close to the Senegal border and the village of Kartong, it is the dream of Geri and Maurice in conjunction with the local community to create an Eco Hotel with material sourced from the near area, bricks made by compressing mud and shells to help bond the cement, a wind turbine for the electricity, solar panels and the famous composting toilets to name just a few. The employees are all from the village of Kartong and after twenty five years the community will assume complete ownership.

Link:

http://www.sandele.com/

After an early breakfast I set about making sandwiches for a picnic and getting ready the clothes and beach bag items, packing them in a small holdall whilst Paul went to buy a bottle of wine for Geri and some snacks to take along with the picnic food. With everything packed in the boot of the car we gave Emily a quick call to say we were on our way as she was travelling down with us. Just as we set off Felix phoned asking us to take some crates of pop and beer so we made a quick detour to Safari Garden all loaded up we finally picked up the coast road towards Kartong. We were soon at the fishing village of Tanji and could smell the smoke houses where they smoke bongo fish the finished result is similar to kippers. As we were nearing Sanyang a car drove along side of us and piped his horn it was Ebrima, we waved and continued on passing the village of Gunjur.

Reptile Reserve

We had decided to visit the reptile reserve first and it is just before Sandele as we were not expected until around 4.00pm. We found the sign for the reserve and drove a short way down a bumpy sandy road parking up at what looked like the entrance. We were greeted by the guide and after a quick drink and sorting out snacks for the kids we were taken into the reserve and introduced to the reptiles on display which are native to The Gambia. The reserve was a bit run down and the reptiles were enclosed by cement walls with a flimsy piece of wire cage which was lifted off so the guide could reach in and pick up the reptiles or as in the case of the pythons they
were behind glass awaiting the completion of their larger enclosure. On display were a large variety of snakes some of which were poisonous such as the deadly puff adder, crocodiles, terrapins, turtles, lizards, skinks, geckos, millipedes and scorpions. The guide was very informative allowing us to hold some of the less dangerous reptiles. Bradley was much braver than Abigail and was willing to touch some of the snakes, however didn’t like the idea of a small python draped around his neck

Monitor Lizard

Soft Shell Terrapin

Baby Terrapin

Puff Adder