Culture Centre

We left the park to head back towards Barra stopping off on route at a compound where we were shown around. The compound consisted of three small circular mud huts of which the floor was just the hard compacted sand. Within each hut there was a bed and wardrobe which was simply a piece of rope hung from one wall to another. They had a hut for their goats and their food was cooked outside on an open fire within the compound. After giving a small donation we left for the next village where we stopped at a cultural centre the very one where Alpha (Jinack Island) works. With a warm greeting from him and the rest of his friends our group were shown to a seated area. We were given a performance of African dance and music by the local villagers. The women first took centre stage stomping their feat and flinging their arms about to the beat of the drums. Then out came a couple of the kankarang dancers which are used for ceremonies the first one was covered in leaves and was wearing a mask with horns. The next one was in a red straw like costume with mask. They danced around the ring and a couple of our party were asked to dance including me and Paul. As this was going on the local children who were surrounding the area would occasionally rush into the centre and start dancing then they would rush out again. The day was drawing to a close as we left the centre saying goodbye to Alpha and making our way to the ferry terminal. We arrived back home just before 7 o’clock all very tired and dusty from our eventful day.