Blogs from Basse Santa Su, Upper River, Gambia, Africa - page 2

On Friday night we had the official VSO Christmas do/Goodbye to a few of our VSO friends party down in Kombos. The time has finally come to say a fond farewell to Duncan and Sam (sniff sniff!). I was given the mission to buy Christmas decorations on Friday morning. I was amazed to walk into Emporium (the posh shop or ‘Harrod’s’ as we call it because it might as well be here) to find it looking like House of Fraser with trees and decorations and even David Bowie singing Little Drummer Boy on the stereo. I had to stop myself from getting very carried away. It’s really strange to think of it being Christmas time here. On Saturday we were lazing by one of the hotel pools to a sound track of cheesy Christmas songs over ... read more

I've told a lot of people already about this daft idea I've had of doing a 10k run on 17th December and I promised not to pester for sponsorship. However, I've found this snazzy way of linking up my Just Giving page with my blog so I thought I'd look at techy and give it a go. I'm raising money for Basic Foundations who are fundraising for a garden project based at the Rural Support Organisation for the Disabled here in the Gambia. More information is on my Just Giving page. I'll just say it's a very worthwhile cause. Duncan is also on the fundraising campaign trail for the same cause. He's riding his bike 370km all the way from Basse to Banjul which is near enough the length of The Gambia. He sets off ... read more

I haven’t been able to write lately because the internet has been so bad in Basse. Qcell, the internet provider decided to switch their 3G network off in Basse. Hopefully they’ll realise this is a bad idea soon otherwise Duncan, Sam and I will be storming their headquarters in protest. So while I’m visiting the coast I thought I’d update the blog while I can. This weekend it has been Tabaski, the Gambian’s Eid celebrations. Preparations have been underway for the last two weeks. Three goat rams appeared in the compound one morning and there has been much talk about new outfits. Fatou took me to on a special trip to Basse to buy material for a new outfit to take to the tailors. It’s been like the build up to Christmas. I spent the whole ... read more

It was Duncan’s birthday on Sunday so we decided to have a little party, a fancy dress one at that. Parties, concerts and any kind of event are known as a ‘programme’ in these parts so it was ‘Duncan’s Happy Birthday Programme’ with the theme being, of course, The Gambia! It was a monumental affair with all four of us in attendance: Duncan of course, Me, Lilli and Sam. It’s no mean feat to come up with a fancy dress costume in Basse but we tried our best. Sam came as the river Gambia! The river that, as you can tell, gives The Gambia its name. Around her waist you can see some of the things that you might find in the river Gambia: hippos, fish, turtles, and rubbish. Nice! Duncan is dressed as everyone’s best ... read more

I have finally reached Basse! I am now to be known as Fatou Jawo. When you get to your compound you get a proper Gambian name so now I am officially Gambian! Here’s a little photo tour around my new pad. It’s so much nicer than I thought it was going to be. It’s grotty round the edges but I like to think of it as my Gambian cottage. I am very pleased to find that I have a proper toilet, it flushes and everything! No pit latrine for me. And I have a shower so I’ve had my first one in 3 and a half weeks! Mind I’d got quite used to bucket baths and I’m honestly torn between which I like best. There’s nothing quite like pouring a big jug of cold water down ... read more