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.
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.
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