The Gambia8 Oct 2012
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cute little guy
water volleyball
:-) Had to cross the river on a car ferry the queue for trucks to cross was about three days long so we became a 'bus' ' and got into the quick queue with that and a small note passing I to the right hand we were on and across in only about two hours but sitting in the truck waiting was not pleasant. Still hot! Through some interesting countryside to Tandaba on a river tributary. We were supposed to camp but the price of camping and a bed was the same so we opted for the beds pretty basic - electricity between 7.30pm and 3am and 5am and 7am. But during g that time we did have a fan and there was water in the toilet and a cold shower. There was however a pool which had been cleaned and chlorinated so we spent some time in there. Set up the tents to dry out from last nights drenching. Went to bed - heard the thunder and then rain sooooo heavy on our tin roofs lay in or rather on the bed thinking about how our nice, dry -tents would now be wet. We had left some without, flysheets! Luckily we were staying the next day to do a wetlands river, excursion so they had plenty of time to re-dry. Did the wetlands in the morning and saw many different birds all very pretty but the afternoon spent in the pool was a highlight - cool for the first time this week.
On to Bintangbolong only a couple of hours away with a market stop. Gave a small knitted doll - one of the ones sent by Jan and her knitters, to a little girl who was delighted with it and had numerous others then wanting presents. Its hard to find single children and we can't give out things to only one person in a group.
Our campsite was by the river and while not large it did have a jetty and a bar/eating area over the river. The manager let us use a couple of the rooms for showers and toilets. Some of the group opted to have a swim in the river but not wanting to tempt fate I decided that although it would have been nice it was more important to stay healthy. Lunch was interesting we had bought some eggs in a local market and when we had boiled them we found cooked embryos in nearly everyone. Did a couple of hours in the Bintangbolong River a tributary of the Gambia River - most relaxing but we went at the wrong time of day and there was very little bird life let alone any mammals to be seen. Had a magnificent lightening storm during the evening but no rain.
