We heard drumming outside our sliding door. We were getting ready for breakfast to be sure we arrived on time for our 8:45 pickup. We had booked a car for the day (you will read more about that in future posts) and we didn’t want to lose any time. But the drumming drew us.
As we pulled into the dock at Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, a group of ladies drummed and danced while vendors set up what would become one of the most complete, impromptu, pier side craft markets of the cruise. We had to rush through breakfast because we lingered on our balcony.
We got to the car a little late. When I got off the ship I realized that I had a pocket full of recharged lithium batteries, a spare SD card and no camera, so back to the room. I wanted pictures. At the car our guide, Alieu and driver, George were waiting.
Our goal was to visit the Wide Open Walls (WoW) project in Kubuneh Village and several of the surrounding “art” villages in the region. They were developed to promote tourism in The Gambia and to take some people beyond 65 kilometers of beach that Gambia boasts. They’re a little over an hour out of Banjul. Getting there and back by different routes is the topic of this post.
Going out of Banjul we pass Arch 22, originally named for the date of a coup in the 1990’s. It has a double meaning now because democratic elections removed the military leader (A Lieutenant) after 22 years in power. The arch has different meanings for the different sides of the political divide.
After passing the National Assembly headed toward more rural areas. Alieu asked me if I noticed anything off as we left pavement for rutted roads.
Me, “No stop lights.”
Alieu, “Ten Points.”
On the way back from the villages we stopped at an “on the hoof” meat market.
Public transit around Banjul consists largely of shared vans You get in, luggage is on the roof. luggage may include sheep, held on by nets. Alieu says these sheep will be special guests at an Easter dinner on Sunday.
In the Gambia a lot of life is lived on the streets. Streets carry people, animals, cars, carts and are used as workshops and shops. I understand New York was that way in my grandfather’s time with pushcarts and kids playing in the street before cars became so dominant, fast and powerful.
On the way back we stopped at the beach that, Gambia hopes will be an economic driver. The villages we will talk about in the next post hope to draw some of those beach goers a bit inland.
Between the beach and the port we stopped along the Gambia River estuary for some bird watching.
Stay tuned for the next posts as they come up.
Here There be Dragons (and Termites)
