A Very Long Day

This morning we were up at 5 o’clock as we were going on our trek into Senegal to the Nickola Koba National Park. Our taxi arrived and we set off to Barra ferry dropping John off on route in Banjul. We bought our ferry tickets and then met up with Marielle and her sister Heleen who would be accompanying us on the trip. Francis arrived with our tour guide who just happened to be the same guy who took us to Fatala game reserve. Once across the ferry Francis took us to our land rover jeep and we were introduced to our driver. We climbed in and headed straight to the petrol station to fill up the tank the deal was we brought it back full. As the tank was filling Francis and the guys from the station were looking underneath Paul got out and quickly asked us all to get out and move away as petrol was spilling onto the floor. They finally found a small hole at the top of the tank where the petrol had overflowed. My thoughts were not again however once the tank had got below the hole it was okay so we were finally on our way to Farafeni where we were to pick up one of the new volunteers Kanti. On route Paul received a call from Kanti to say she had still not got across the river so we decided to drive to the ferry at Bambatenda putting an extra forty minutes onto our time. Back in Farafeni Paul then took Kanti to get some CFA as she had not yet purchased any Senegalese currency. Marielle, Heleen and the guides went looking for some breakfast. Myself and the children watched the luggage and as usual became the centre of attention with the Gambian children and locals trying to sell us boiled eggs, cashew nuts, peanuts or asking for pens or minty’s from us.

Heleen, Marielle's sister

Bambetenda Ferry Port

Back on route we had wanted to head straight to the Senegalese border after Farafeni however Francis was unsure on what state the road would be in so suggested we stay in Gambia until reaching Basse and cross at the border there. This meant crossing back to the south side at Bansang. The road up to now had been very good but we new it wouldn’t last forever as we left the tarmac behind replacing it for dusty red sand. This felt more like the Africa you see on TV as we passed little African thatched hut villages. We reached the ferry at Bansang at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon. The ferry was only big enough for two vehicles and was pulled across by hand to the other side. Once on the other side we picked up the south road which was very bad, although tarmac we had to manoeuvre on and off road to miss the potholes.

Bansang Ferry Crossing

We reached Basse at around 3 o’clock it was much larger than I thought with plenty of stalls and shops, asking directions we drove along a dirt track to the border post where passports were stamped. We then had to get them stamped again once at the Senegalese border post which was in the town of Badiara. We crossed a tributary of the river Gambia again and asked a police officer for the distance and directions to Tambacounda which is the third largest city within Senegal. After explaining where we were going he told us to take a shorter route to the village of Missira. We decided to go for it as time was against us it was already past 5 o’clock and the game reserve gates close at 6.30pm. We took the route shown and headed down a dirt track through small villages. After thrity minutes we stopped to ask directions and were told we had missed our turning so we had to turn back. Eventually asking directions again we were put on the right track. With hopes dashed of reaching the park before closing we decided to head for another camp at Missira. As night time was drawing in we were driving down a one vehicle track in the middle of no where over very rough ground and having to occasionally duck to avoid getting hit by branches. By 7.30pm as we passed through a couple of villages I was starting to get a little concerned, if anything happens to the vehicle now we would be stuck. All I was thinking was It’s a good job Gambia and Senegal are both safe countries as the thought of bandits did cross my mind. By now the children had managed to fall a sleep. As we entered the outskirts of Missira village up ahead we could see lights which belonged to a camp. We were so pleased to be at the camp, we asked if they had any rooms and were given the answer we did not want to hear No. We had no option but to continue on to the next camp. Finally finding the main tarmac road and heading towards the game reserve we passed a sign for a camp 35 kilometres off track, we took the decision to stay on the main road and head for Dar Salam camp at the reserve gates. This turned out to be the right decision as they had rooms available. It was now 10 o’clock in the evening. We quickly settled the children down then had a quick lager before retiring ourselves after a very tiring sixteen hours on the road.