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.