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.