Monday - April 16, 2018

Monday - April 16, 2018

Today we are visiting Banjul, The Gambia. This narrow country is only about 30 miles wide and 250 miles long. It is located on both shores of The Gambia River and is surrounded by Senegal. This is another country that achieved Independence only recently. It is very poor with a life expectancy for men of 60 years.

As we entered the harbor we passed two anchored ships. They bore a sign indicating that they were a power station. Wires exited the sterns and rose to high-tension towers on shore. We were unable to get an explanation of why they existed, but our guide did tell us that there are sub stations outside the city.

When the ship was cleared by immigration our tour was called at 9:30. This was only 15 minutes later than scheduled. We were stickered for bus number 16. In the parking lot we found buses for every tour except ours. Bus 16 was not in the port. Frantic communications disclosed that it had been delayed, but was on its way. After standing around waiting for an hour, it arrived and we boarded. As we headed toward our first stop the guide apologized because the microphone was not working. Someone would meet us at our first stop to fix this. Soon we eft the paved road and traveled down a dirt road to a Bakau, nearby town. We stopped here for a local craft market. We found some beautiful fabrics and a cute little coiled bowl with a top. We were very happy. We did visit the other booths with their carvings and jewelry. These were very nice, but we managed to avoid purchasing anything else.

Back at the bus we learned that we would now split into two groups on smaller vehicles for the trek to the crocodile pond. This was necessary because the street was very narrow. As we moved along we passed many little shops with women or men running sewing machines. We learned later that this is where the ladies brought their fabric to have garments made. It would take 2 to 3 days to get the finished product. We do not know how much this cost, but our guess is that the prices were very reasonable. We base this on how low the incomes are.

When we arrived at the crocodile site, we first visited an ethnographic museum. Here we viewed exhibits of clothing, tools and instruments. This was all very interesting, and we wished we had more time to view it thoroughly. As it was we were the last to leave the museum and had to hurry to catch up to the group.

They had moved down a trail into the woods. Along the way we passed a fenced clearing with a garden on the other side. We could identify cabbage and corn, but the other crops were new to us. Some women were coming through a gate carrying large baskets of vegetables on their heads. The path was not even or level. They did not waiver in carrying their burdens.

Now we were at the pond. There were crocodiles all around, and they were not fenced in. Some local men were keeping an eye on them, but we walked within 3 feet of them without disturbing them in any way. They did move so we knew they were alive, but they were not interested in us. One man held one of the larger crocs by the tail while passengers had their pictures taken with him. The crocodile’s jaws were wide open. As we moved toward the pond to view the babies, Alice and I stopped to apply insect repellent. These woods were heavy with bugs including mosquitoes. Malaria is not your friend. We stopped at the pond, and sure enough there were two small crocs slowly moving along the shore. Now it was back to the small buses.

Andres joined us on our big bus to tell us that the microphone could not be fixed. He would stay with us fro the rest f the tour to narrate for us. His voice did carry better, and he would move to the rear of the bus to repeat his comments. We all got to hear everything.

Now we drove to Serre-Kunda, the most populous town in The Gambia. Here we got caught in a traffic jam for 20 minutes. Finally we got clear and drove to Arch 22, which celebrates The Gambia’s independence. We stopped at a nearby restaurant to take pictures of the Arch and to have refreshment. The local beer was pretty good. Alice had a coke. The Arch, while nice, cannot compete with the monuments to independence that other countries have offered. This is a reflection of the economic state.

On the move again we were soon back in Banjul. We stopped at the main market, and Andres said he would lead anybody interested on a tour of the market. At the end of the tour he would take us to the ship’s shuttle. The bus would return directly to the port. Alice and I got off the bus. One other lady joined us. The tour was great. He explained various fruits and vegetables to us, and did a thorough job of letting us see the full gamut of crafts. Then he led us to the shuttle.

I talked to Andres on the shuttle. He had been on his phone quite a bit as we returned to the ship. He was the operations manager. He was struggling to keep everything going, but he was doing very well in our estimation. We were happy to have had him as our guide. Our tour was not short-changed in any way. In our minds the tour through the last market more than made up for our delayed start.