On Monday I woke up with a cold no wonder after getting so wet on Saturday. We called at the police station to fill out a statement for my lost phone. Once that was done it was passed over to the CID division and we were taken into another room. All we wanted was a crime number so that Africel can give us a printout of used calls which then can be traced and may help to catch the culprit. Whilst there we were asked some questions and then one of the officers asked us for a fare we were surprised at this thinking it was another word for a bribe. Paul stood up and went to find the superintendent and queried the remark he explained that it was money for transport to Banjul as they need to obtain the crime number from there so if we want it quicker then they can take it today otherwise it will take a few days. We left without paying the so called fare and walked to Africel. Once there I cancelled my sim and obtained a new phone and sim card. We then called in Kariba Centre for a bit of shopping. It was raining on and off throughout the day which didn’t please Lynn as none of her washing was dried or ironed by Awa. This brought out some creepy crawley’s in our compound as we found a scorpion spider these are like scorpions but have large antenna instead of pinchers and don’t have a stinging tail so harmless.
I got a bit of a shock on Wednesday as when I went to buy my vegetables from the market I was told by Aunty Jenny’s son that Maria his sister had died on Sunday in childbirth. This explains why on Monday all the stalls were closed except one and the young lad told me they were at a funeral. The baby boy was okay and being looked after by Jenny however Maria had haemorrhaged and by the time they had gotten her any blood she had died. This was quite a blow to me and I was very upset, I have always gone to Aunty Jenny’s stall and her daughter quite often serves me and chats to us and gives the kids a banana. I know this could have still happened in the UK but it does bring home how undeveloped a country they are as it does happen quite often that the baby or mother will die.
On Thursday we decided to take a trip to the Tanji Nature Reserve. We jumped in a taxi to the turntable and then a gelleh to Tanji. Not quite sure of where we had to get off Paul kept checking the road he eventually asked them to stop and we got out. We walked down an overgrown path nothing much in the way of a sign to say we were at the right place. We ended up in an area which was reasonably open with trees and overgrown grass in places. Paul tried to make a path through the trees heading towards the beach my thoughts of snakes were in my mind all the way. Eventually we came out near a lagoon and managed to follow it before eventually getting onto the beach. Whilst doing so we heard a little noise of something crying and there in amongst some leaves and twigs was a baby otter no bigger than my hand. It quickly started moving off for cover Paul had thought he had seen something move into the bush earlier we thought maybe its mother. We carried on walking along the beach towards the fishing village of Ghana Town stopping on route to take a look at the site where Maurice is building some more lodges. They look very much like Sandele lodges only there are two apartments to each lodge. As we neared the village a pirogue was just coming in so we decided to see what fish they had for sale. They were a friendly bunch of locals and we were soon chatting to a couple of them. I finally ended up buying a large lady fish bartering (I am quite enjoying the bartering) the fisherman down to a good price with the help of one young local lad. He then said he would clean it for us so we followed him to one of the fishing huts where he gutted and scaled it. We followed him to the village stopping off to look at the huts where they smoke the fish. A group of lady’s were in one of the huts one of which started to talk to us in Mandinka, she was pleased when Paul could answer her questions. They were busy washing, boiling and smoking cat fish this has become one of Bradley’s much liked fish. We continued on to get a carrier bag for the fish from the local bitiko. The young lad then took us to the road side where he safely put us onto a gelleh and guess what didn’t ask for any money, we were very pleased that not all Gambians are on the hustle. Another couple with a young baby also got onto the gelleh with lots of buckets full of fish and produce which were placed onto the roof of the gelleh. They were on their way to Serrekunda market to sell their goods. When we arrived back home Paul set about filleting the fish some of which we put in the freezer for another meal luckily we seem to have had a couple of days with no power cuts.
Friday was Coroteh for the local Muslims the end of their month of fasting (Ramadan). We took Lynn off to Cape Point, getting on a gelleh to Bakau and then walking along past the British Commissioner’s residence. We made our way onto the beach it had changed quite a lot from just three weeks ago. There was a large pool of water on the beach cutting us off from the sea. We walked to the Calypso Bar and then it started to rain so we took shelter under one of the parasols until it was a light drizzle which eventually stopped. As we passed the pool at Calypso we spotted a small crocodile just on the surface of the water however as we got closer it moved further under with only its eyes visible. We decided to continue onto the Sand plover, this proved to be a wet experience as the tide was in up to the start of the mangroves. At one point we rolled our trousers up and waded through knee deep in murky water. I had decided to take off my shoes bad idea as I stood on leaves and grass and god knows what else. At the Sand plover we ordered some drinks and went upstairs to sit and look at the view. In the distance we could see some rather black clouds heading our way. The Sand plover looked very battered from the recent storms which we have had. The rain came and went so we decided to walk over the rickety bridge to the road and back up to Bakau where we jumped on a gelleh for home. On the afternoon we stayed in as it rained on and off most of the day.
A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MANDY!
I got a bit of a shock on Wednesday as when I went to buy my vegetables from the market I was told by Aunty Jenny’s son that Maria his sister had died on Sunday in childbirth. This explains why on Monday all the stalls were closed except one and the young lad told me they were at a funeral. The baby boy was okay and being looked after by Jenny however Maria had haemorrhaged and by the time they had gotten her any blood she had died. This was quite a blow to me and I was very upset, I have always gone to Aunty Jenny’s stall and her daughter quite often serves me and chats to us and gives the kids a banana. I know this could have still happened in the UK but it does bring home how undeveloped a country they are as it does happen quite often that the baby or mother will die.
On Thursday we decided to take a trip to the Tanji Nature Reserve. We jumped in a taxi to the turntable and then a gelleh to Tanji. Not quite sure of where we had to get off Paul kept checking the road he eventually asked them to stop and we got out. We walked down an overgrown path nothing much in the way of a sign to say we were at the right place. We ended up in an area which was reasonably open with trees and overgrown grass in places. Paul tried to make a path through the trees heading towards the beach my thoughts of snakes were in my mind all the way. Eventually we came out near a lagoon and managed to follow it before eventually getting onto the beach. Whilst doing so we heard a little noise of something crying and there in amongst some leaves and twigs was a baby otter no bigger than my hand. It quickly started moving off for cover Paul had thought he had seen something move into the bush earlier we thought maybe its mother. We carried on walking along the beach towards the fishing village of Ghana Town stopping on route to take a look at the site where Maurice is building some more lodges. They look very much like Sandele lodges only there are two apartments to each lodge. As we neared the village a pirogue was just coming in so we decided to see what fish they had for sale. They were a friendly bunch of locals and we were soon chatting to a couple of them. I finally ended up buying a large lady fish bartering (I am quite enjoying the bartering) the fisherman down to a good price with the help of one young local lad. He then said he would clean it for us so we followed him to one of the fishing huts where he gutted and scaled it. We followed him to the village stopping off to look at the huts where they smoke the fish. A group of lady’s were in one of the huts one of which started to talk to us in Mandinka, she was pleased when Paul could answer her questions. They were busy washing, boiling and smoking cat fish this has become one of Bradley’s much liked fish. We continued on to get a carrier bag for the fish from the local bitiko. The young lad then took us to the road side where he safely put us onto a gelleh and guess what didn’t ask for any money, we were very pleased that not all Gambians are on the hustle. Another couple with a young baby also got onto the gelleh with lots of buckets full of fish and produce which were placed onto the roof of the gelleh. They were on their way to Serrekunda market to sell their goods. When we arrived back home Paul set about filleting the fish some of which we put in the freezer for another meal luckily we seem to have had a couple of days with no power cuts.
Friday was Coroteh for the local Muslims the end of their month of fasting (Ramadan). We took Lynn off to Cape Point, getting on a gelleh to Bakau and then walking along past the British Commissioner’s residence. We made our way onto the beach it had changed quite a lot from just three weeks ago. There was a large pool of water on the beach cutting us off from the sea. We walked to the Calypso Bar and then it started to rain so we took shelter under one of the parasols until it was a light drizzle which eventually stopped. As we passed the pool at Calypso we spotted a small crocodile just on the surface of the water however as we got closer it moved further under with only its eyes visible. We decided to continue onto the Sand plover, this proved to be a wet experience as the tide was in up to the start of the mangroves. At one point we rolled our trousers up and waded through knee deep in murky water. I had decided to take off my shoes bad idea as I stood on leaves and grass and god knows what else. At the Sand plover we ordered some drinks and went upstairs to sit and look at the view. In the distance we could see some rather black clouds heading our way. The Sand plover looked very battered from the recent storms which we have had. The rain came and went so we decided to walk over the rickety bridge to the road and back up to Bakau where we jumped on a gelleh for home. On the afternoon we stayed in as it rained on and off most of the day.
A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MANDY!
On Saturday it was another bleak day, dark sky’s and rain Paul did manage to take the children for an afternoon stroll bringing Adama back from the market for a cup of tea.
A BIG HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY TO MUM!
A BIG HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY TO MUM!
Today is mums birthday so we were up early to go to Le Palais, the connection was very good so managed to have a good conversation. Mum had received my presents bought via the internet however my letter and other present was still in the post. She was getting ready to go to my brother Alan’s house for an afternoon party with all the family I only wish we could be there to celebrate with her.
No comments:
Post a Comment