My Gambian Experience

Beach in Banjul
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It's been a week now since I've returned from The Gambia...a 4 day excursion turned adventure I decided to take after finishing my placement at the 1st center. I went with Laurence and Coumba, a Senegalese friend of ours here in Dakar.  The quickest and cheapest way of getting there was an overnight trek by bush taxi (yes it's as glamorous as it sounds) from Dakar to Kaolack, then switch to a minibus to Barra and finally a ferry accross the Gambian river to the capital, Banjul.

First off, it wasn't an easy trek and perhaps the sketchiest I've had in all of my travel experience. It basically felt like we were being smuggled into the country in the middle of the night...When we got to Kaolack we had to show our passports to customs so an old man with no more than 3 teeth sitting outside a tiny police station searched my bag and then pointed in the direction of a long dark hallway I had to follow in order to show my passport to an officer. As I reluctantly followed his orders I passed by a jail cell with a man sleeping on the cold cement with nothing but a thin blanket. Such an eerie place to say the least... That done, we were ushered to a half broken down mini bus that was going to bring us to Barra to take the ferry. People lined the ticketing area sitting and waiting for it to open. Finally, in the usually chaotic african fashion, we all managed to get tickets with only a few scratches to show for it. The ferry was a whole different story as they packed on as many passengers, baggage, vehicles, donkeys and goats as they possibly could! And yes, all within the same area of the boat!! At that precise moment, I understood why religion plays such an important role in West Africa because honestly, at that moment, that's all I had to hang on to in the hopes that this ferry wasn't going to capsize...because it certainly wasn't that donkey standing accross from me that was going to save me in the event. Safely docked, the sun was starting to rise. We again had to show our passport to another officer and then go into a small room where a man interrogated me on my profession, where I worked in Senegal, reason for visiting etc. and then he decided on an amount we had to pay to enter the country. Don't ask me what this was based on...it was all corrupt to say the least.

You Failed me Lonely Planet

Entertainers near the luxury hotel on the beach.
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We spent 4 days in Banjul, experiencing english West Africa where every other work spoken was "man" - insert jamaican like accent and every sentence ended with "my sista" or "my brotha". I loved it ;) We shopped through the chaotic Albert market and took advantage of cheaper goods and food than in Senegal.  We also visited The Abuko Nature Reserve, a small park that features a stunning range of wildlife which we explored by foot. We were able to observe monkeys, nile crocodiles, snakes, various species of birds and butterflies all around us.

My friend Coumba!
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We unfortunately stayed at a budget hotel that was clearly mentionned in my Lonely Planet. However, after various shady occurences, we realized, but only at the end of our stay, that it doubled as a whore house! yep, not so great...sort of felt cheated by my trusty book. That explained why all the white people were staying in a luxury hotel on the beach... As we packed our belongings to make the trek back to Dakar, I unfortunately was stricken with what I think was food poisoning. I'll spare you all the ugly details but let's just say I truly thought it was all over for me then and there. You can just imagine the horrifying trek back, basically just holding on to dear life and downing gravol like nobody's business. I've recovered since but my system just hasn't been quite right ever since. So I've had to take some time off (as I've since started my 2nd placement) to try and rest up. It's not easy being sick in a foreign country, especially a third world country, as I don't have the comfort which helps the recovery process (we haven't had hot water in over 10 days..not cool)

A croc!
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On a brighter note, I've just recently realized that Christmas is fast approaching!! Not that I have many reminders of it here but some stores are festively decorated and we decided to decorate the papaya tree outside our rooms with garlands to feel more festive. I absolutely love x-mas and all its "stressors": the hectic malls, the repetitive carols, the never ending xmas parties, the food, the drinks, the friends & family...

Hope everyone is surviving and especially enjoying the xmas prep!!

Love this tree
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Take care and good health to all,

p.s. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child in Africa for xmas, I believe I am still up for grabs.....

Karen xoxo