On Monday I walked to La Parissienne to use the internet after thirty minutes and still no connection I decided to try my luck at Le Palais. This proved to be a good choice as I was connected straight away so managed to get my blog up to date and answer a few e mails. On the afternoon the plan was to take Tessa to Senegambia as she wanted to book a flight home sometime around the Christmas period so we were looking to call at Gambia Experience office. Unfortunately Bradley had been feeling a bit unwell so I stayed at home whilst he slept. Abigail said she would take Tessa so off they went. A couple of hours later they arrived back having had a successful journey as Tessa had managed to buy her ticket home with a three month window. Abigail had also taken Tessa around the grounds of the Senegambia Hotel spotting a large monitor lizard and also commenting on how dirty one of the pools looked.
On Tuesday Mia & Teo came around to play as Jenny had phoned on Monday evening to see if I would look after them for a couple of hours. Jenny needed to go into Banjul to get her residence permit updated and also try to find someone to replace a window in her car. They arrived just before midday so whilst I made them hotdogs for lunch they played in the compound. After lunch they continued playing in the tent which we had put up, this then turned into a water pistol fight. A couple of hours later Jenny arrived back she had had no luck with finding a replacement window for her car. I made a cup of tea and we chatted for an hour before they went home.
On Wednesday I took Tessa into Serrekunda she is a bit lost as she is waiting to go up country to her placement and most of the other volunteers have started work this week. We jumped on a gelleh and were soon at the gelleh station in Serrekunda. We had gone looking for foam for Lynn’s chairs and I was looking for a top for Louise, Awa’s daughter as it is her birthday. I soon found a man selling clothes and found a couple of nice tops and a pair of shorts for 35 dalasi. They are imported second hand clothes but if you have a good look through them you can find some which look brand new. Tessa found a lovely white linen sleeveless blouse for 10 dalasi (25p) bargain. We eventually found a couple of shops which sold the foam one wouldn’t budge on his price and the other I walked away when one of the guys started swearing. When we arrived back home we decided to call at Safari Garden for a dip in the pool.
On Thursday I took Lynne into Serrekunda so she could get the foam for her chairs and also pick up some material to cover them and some curtain material. After a good look around we found the foam shop the guy recognised us from yesterday and started apologising for the lad who had been swearing, he apparently thought he was with us. This is sometimes what happens as a local will latch onto you taking you to a shop and then they will get some commission from the shopkeeper if they get a sale. We bought four pieces of foam and then looked for material. Lynn wanted a cream voile for curtains the first shop we tried was very expensive so we looked further. We eventually found some more I still thought it was way too expensive but Lynn just wanted to get it sorted. We then found some nice yellow gold fabric for chair covers this was a much better price. All loaded up we headed back home stopping at Filas, was known as the Blue Bar for a drink. Later on the afternoon I took Lynn to the tailors so she could get her curtain and cushion covers made.
On Friday morning we all went to the VSO office, Paul wanted to pick up his e mails and I wanted some reading books from the library. Then on the afternoon we decided to walk to Senegambia. When we reached Kotu stream it was too deep to cross so rather us getting wet pants we cut through the Kombo Beach Hotel grounds. From here we made our way along the road and across Kotu bridge. We then had to walk down a track to Palma Rima Hotel to bring us out onto the beach at the other side of the stream. As we were walking a coach from the hotel passed us we were told it was the Namibia football team who were staying at the hotel. As we headed into the next bay it started to rain so we took cover under the lifeguard lookout hut. The rain soon passed so we continued onto Senegambia cutting through the grounds of the hotel. The hotel looked very quiet just a few guests were sitting around the pool and bar area. As we crossed the hotel gardens we spotted a Woodland Kingfisher and some Robin-chats. I decided to have a look in their bikini shop as mine is worse for wear. I ended up trying one on which I liked, the top was okay but the bottoms were too skimpy. We then looked in a shop called Whydah’ on the high street again with no luck. We jumped in a taxi to take us back home.
On Tuesday Mia & Teo came around to play as Jenny had phoned on Monday evening to see if I would look after them for a couple of hours. Jenny needed to go into Banjul to get her residence permit updated and also try to find someone to replace a window in her car. They arrived just before midday so whilst I made them hotdogs for lunch they played in the compound. After lunch they continued playing in the tent which we had put up, this then turned into a water pistol fight. A couple of hours later Jenny arrived back she had had no luck with finding a replacement window for her car. I made a cup of tea and we chatted for an hour before they went home.
On Wednesday I took Tessa into Serrekunda she is a bit lost as she is waiting to go up country to her placement and most of the other volunteers have started work this week. We jumped on a gelleh and were soon at the gelleh station in Serrekunda. We had gone looking for foam for Lynn’s chairs and I was looking for a top for Louise, Awa’s daughter as it is her birthday. I soon found a man selling clothes and found a couple of nice tops and a pair of shorts for 35 dalasi. They are imported second hand clothes but if you have a good look through them you can find some which look brand new. Tessa found a lovely white linen sleeveless blouse for 10 dalasi (25p) bargain. We eventually found a couple of shops which sold the foam one wouldn’t budge on his price and the other I walked away when one of the guys started swearing. When we arrived back home we decided to call at Safari Garden for a dip in the pool.
On Thursday I took Lynne into Serrekunda so she could get the foam for her chairs and also pick up some material to cover them and some curtain material. After a good look around we found the foam shop the guy recognised us from yesterday and started apologising for the lad who had been swearing, he apparently thought he was with us. This is sometimes what happens as a local will latch onto you taking you to a shop and then they will get some commission from the shopkeeper if they get a sale. We bought four pieces of foam and then looked for material. Lynn wanted a cream voile for curtains the first shop we tried was very expensive so we looked further. We eventually found some more I still thought it was way too expensive but Lynn just wanted to get it sorted. We then found some nice yellow gold fabric for chair covers this was a much better price. All loaded up we headed back home stopping at Filas, was known as the Blue Bar for a drink. Later on the afternoon I took Lynn to the tailors so she could get her curtain and cushion covers made.
On Friday morning we all went to the VSO office, Paul wanted to pick up his e mails and I wanted some reading books from the library. Then on the afternoon we decided to walk to Senegambia. When we reached Kotu stream it was too deep to cross so rather us getting wet pants we cut through the Kombo Beach Hotel grounds. From here we made our way along the road and across Kotu bridge. We then had to walk down a track to Palma Rima Hotel to bring us out onto the beach at the other side of the stream. As we were walking a coach from the hotel passed us we were told it was the Namibia football team who were staying at the hotel. As we headed into the next bay it started to rain so we took cover under the lifeguard lookout hut. The rain soon passed so we continued onto Senegambia cutting through the grounds of the hotel. The hotel looked very quiet just a few guests were sitting around the pool and bar area. As we crossed the hotel gardens we spotted a Woodland Kingfisher and some Robin-chats. I decided to have a look in their bikini shop as mine is worse for wear. I ended up trying one on which I liked, the top was okay but the bottoms were too skimpy. We then looked in a shop called Whydah’ on the high street again with no luck. We jumped in a taxi to take us back home.
On Saturday morning Abigail and I took Lynn off to Senegambia for a girly morning, Bradley stayed at home with Paul. Lynn wanted to check out some beauty salons and enquire on flight availability to east Africa. We called first at the beauty salon at Senegambia Hotel and Lynn decided to get a pedicure. Abigail stayed to watch whilst I went to check on flights at the Gambia Experience office for Lynn and also ourselves as we are thinking of having a holiday over the Christmas period. We had looked into travelling to Saly in Senegal by road or possibly to somewhere along the west coast of Africa like the Ivory Coast by air. On enquiring at the office they only do flights to Gatwick however they suggested I call at Brussels Airways on the main highway. After quickly popping in to tell Lynn I set off for the Brussels Airways office at first heading in the wrong direction. Finally finding the office I was told you can get a flight from Dakar to Tanzania which is where Lynn wants to go however you also make a stop at Ethiopia and it was cheaper to fly back to Gatwick and then onto Tanzania. As for ourselves I managed to find out if any flights went from Banjul airport to the Ivory Coast, they do however the price was much too high. I headed back to meet up with Abigail and Lynn and we quickly called into Whydah’s so Lynn could buy a holdall then we jumped in a taxi just managing to get home before it started raining.
Namibia v The Gambia
On the afternoon we made our way to Bernie and Pete’s house to meet up with all the new volunteers as we are going to watch our first international football match Gambia v Namibia at the Independence Stadium. We had put on our cagoules as it was still a bit drizzly. Lynn was walking with us, Paul had decided to take us via a short cut this was okay if it had been dry however the rain started to get heavier. We ended up walking through puddles of water up to our ankles. Then one of Paul’s flip flops broke so he was walking barefoot to make it easier. When we arrived at Bernie’s the other volunteers were already there, Paul managed to borrow a pair of Pete’s flip flops so we set off for the stadium. The roads were busy with cars and locals walking and at one corner of the stadium there were lads climbing over the fences to get into the grounds. At the front of the stadium we waited in a queue and then had our bags checked by security. We had paid to be in an area which is covered thinking of the sun or rain. Once inside it was already so full that there were hardly any spaces left to sit so we ended up splitting up. We found a space and I put my cagoule down for us to sit on as the cement terrace was very wet. Although we were in an area which was covered the rain was coming towards us so we sat there getting wetter and wetter. Talk about miss wet t-shirt competition I was glad it wasn’t a white t-shirt. With the stadium filled up to bursting point (no health and safety issues here) even the aisles were full of locals standing the game started. Fifteen minutes into the game Gambia scored its first goal followed by another shortly after, the crowd went wild standing up and whistling it was very exciting. Across from us there were a group wearing the Gambia colours dancing and getting the crowd going a bit like mascots. In the second half we scored again, the final score was 3 – 1 to The Gambia. We decided to wait until some of the crowd had disappeared and watched as lads jumped down from the balcony to the ground to make a quicker exit. We eventually left via the front entrance and made our way towards one of the streets which leads to the traffic lights walking through muddy pools of water yet again and totally drenched. As I was walking I suddenly realised that my trouser pocket was a bit lighter, I had had my mobile pinched. Lynn took Abigail and Bradley home whilst I quickly went to the police station to report my theft. They took some details and asked me to come back on Monday. Later on that evening Lynn told us that amongst our group two phones, one camera and one wallet had been stolen so we had been toubob targets for some lucky local thief.
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