Senegambia

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Gambia is one of the oddest shaped countries in the world. It is just a few kms either side of the Gambia river, surrounded on 3 sides by Senegal and the other by the sea.



It has been 6 days since by last blog - in that time I have been in both Senegal and the Gambia. There have been several attempts in the past at uniting Senegal and the Gambia, which is not surprising considering the Gambia s strange geography.



Some general points - the food in Senegal has been superb! I didn't come to Africa for the food, so the quality of the Senegalese cuisine has been a revelation. Also despite the groups of touts, street crime etc, in general the people are very friendly and hospitable.



Since my last blog I left Dakar for Mbour; then went to Foundiogne. After Foundiogne I crossed the border to Banjul in the Gambia. I am still in the Gambia but staying in a place in Serekunda.



So, for a bit more detail...



After writing the last blog in Dakar I visited the lads at their budget hotel on the evening of the 11th. They were waiting for their Visa s for Mali to be issued. So, they would be in Dakar till Thursday. I am intending to get my Mali Visa in Guinea, so I saw no purpose in continuing to hang around in Dakar. Although I would like to have visited the clubs in Dakar, I didn't think it worth hanging around for days. The other thing that is superb in Senegal is the music, so it is a shame I didn't get to a club in Dakar.



On the morning of the 12th I left Dakar. The bellboy insisted on calling a taxi. I took a taxi to Pompiers garage. As I arrived a large number of touts shouted through my taxi window offering bush taxi s at very inflated prices. (They think I don't know what the price should be).



When I got out of the taxi, making it clear I was intending to take the bus; the taxi driver muttered about the Mafia at Pompiers.



Much as I tried to avoid the touts and scalpers it was impossible. I caught a minibus to Mbour, which is the main town on the Petite Cote. It is a few km south of Saly-Portugal, which is a strip of ocean fronted hotels for package tourists. Being a package tourist snob I wouldn't want anything to do with them!



At Mbour I booked into the Centre Touristique Coca Beach. It cost me 15000 francs. It is a large number of bungalows built along the beach, with a long coconut tree lined drive. It has a bar and restaurant built around a swimming pool - I even took a dip in the pool!



After the evening meal I chatted with some of the staff. One of them Mohamed Lamine Delsol invited to me to tea. He also said he would have liked to have invited me to see his family, but I had made it clear that I was moving on the next day.



One thing that is very noticeable in Senegal is that most people are young and there are very few old people. We touched on this in our conversation. This is of course due to the very evident poverty in Senegal and relative wealth in Europe. Also, many of the population lack access to very basic things that Europeans take for granted. If you want to see the shocking demographics then click on the picture of Senegal (or the Gambia)on the bottom of this page and follow the links. I could get political here and rant, but I'll save that for another time.



First thing the next morning of the 13th I left for Foundougne. This involved changing buses several times.



First, I caught a bus to Koalock. At Koalack I had to get a taxi because the north and south bound buses leave from different garages several km apart. Bye the way, a garage is often no more than a group of minibuses and taxi's parked on waste ground.



From Koalack I got a bus to Passi, and from Passi a bush taxi to my final destination in Foundiogne. At arrived at my destination at about 6pm and booked into a place for 10000 francs.



The next morning on the 14 I took a pirogue trip out into the delta. An area of mangroves and Boabab trees.



On the 15th I left for the border. First a bus to Passi, followed by another bus to the border. At the border, as usual I was plagued by money changers and touts. I gave the touts the slip and caught a minibus to Barra which is the other side of the river from the Gambia's administrative capital. The capital Banjul is very small, and is more like a large village than a city. It's never really grown since the British established it as their foothold in this part of west Africa.



From Barra I caught the ferry across to Banjul. At this stage a would be guide attached himself to me, despite my best attempts to shake him off. He followed me to the ferry, having earlier tried to tell me where it was - frankly, it was bleeding obvious. Then he tried to buy me a ticket, which I specifically told him not to - how stupid did he think I am? I bought myself a ticket but it didn't stop him wasting his money by buying 2 tickets! Did he think I would be grateful? So, I chatted with him whilst waiting for the ferry, for half an hour. The ferry was very overloaded with livestock as well as people - the animals were being moved to be slaughtered at the Muslim festival due on Friday.



Whilst waiting for the ferry I saw an elderly bald white man, with a fringe of white hair around his huge bald batch - obviously a tourist, in that he was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a sling bag over his shoulders. He was pig ugly, his belly hung over his shorts, it was so big it looked like he was pregnant! Added to his shrunken, blemished skin he was a lovely colour of orange. If he had dressed properly he might have looked OK. Why did he think it appropriate to be catching a ferry like that? I felt like asking him if he had forgotten to get dressed in the morning, but I resisted the temptation.



When I got off the ferry in Banjul I managed to lose my guide. He had gone off to get me a place on a bus, which I had never asked him to do. Something I am very capable of doing myself if that is what I wanted. He wanted to take me where he wanted to go - he had never even asked me where I intended to stay that night, but had told me he worked at a hotel on the coast. He obviously had his agenda which would have involved tourist hotels and shops. I intended to spend the night in Banjul - the village capital, which I did.



The next day I moved to the Priai Motel in Serunkunda. Which is a very nice budget place with a friendly owner. It was Sunday, so I didn't do much.



This morning I went to the consulate for Guinee, to get my Visa for Guinee, which is my next destination after entering Senegal again. It was quite difficult to find, its just a few rooms on the 2nd floor of a building.



When I got there, the door was open. Looking inside there was nobody in the reception room. The only sign that it might be somewhere official was the portrait of someone important on the wall. I knocked on the door and called out - no reply. About 5 minutes later someone walked towards the consulate along the balcony. I asked them if it was the consulate and they invited me in. They told me to knock on the first door on the left. In that small dingy room was the person who issued the visa's. After filling in the forms the man in the office told me to come back for my visa at 3.30pm.



So, I had time to kill. I got a minibus to the coast for 6 Dalaisis. I walked around the area for a while and then got myself lunch. The woman serving was from Liverpool and knew Leeds well! After my meal I asked about the croc pool and was led there. You can see in the photo how tame the Crocs are! They are Nile Crocodiles and are only ever fed fish. They are kept very well fed, so they are never tempted by their human visitors.



I then went back to Banjul and got my Visa, in fact I was 5 minutes early, but the man at the consulate was waiting for me, and called down from the balcony for me to go up. It's possible he doesn't get to do that much in that office in Banjul.

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Photos

Gambia
My new best friend - Charlie the croc

Senegal
Room in Foundiougne

Senegal
Pirogue trip

Senegal
Pirogue trip

Senegal
In the Boabab tree - pirogue trip

Senegal
Pirogue trip

Senegal
Foundiougne Hotel

Gambia
Room in Serakunda