2 day trip part III. " Lights out"

7pm and the dusk is starting to close in. I break yet another promise not to take any more sunset photos. Sunset is just so enticing the dark green black silhouettes of palm trees and forest outlined against the acidic golden yellow sky , turning to pale gold, the perfect sphere of the sun dropping without a sound lower and lower then disappearing altogether. We are in darkness. The crew light a halogen lamp , silently we slip over the water towards our overnight camp.

Day trip Part II "And the Hippo Yawned"

The ferry "Port" ( ha ha ha.) is on the river bank and there is the ever colourful range of food stalls , market traders, a man with two excessively long pythons. Incredibly beautiful women dressed up in sequins , satins , flounces and frills their heads stacked high with bales of immaculately folded cottons in every colour , I would have loved to have a look at some but I was scared of the stampede of women that would descend if I started the ball rolling. The scene resembles a packet of liquorice all sorts thrown on a burnt sienna canvas.

Two day trip . Part 1 " apologies it is rather long.

This trip offered the best way to see the most of Gambia.
Day 1: Collection from our lodgings 8.20 am. Drive along the South bank of the Gambia crossing by ferry to the north bank driving a bit more to reach the stone circles at Wassu , then boarding a boat for lunch and a 4 hour trip up river . Arrive at our overnight destination camp Janjanbureh in time for an evening meal. At this point we were issued with specific instructions " you will change for dinner, nice clothes please" . There was a fleeting aside "this will not be like your hotel" , the Gambian accent is just rich and groily ( i know, thats not a word either but this place just requires new adjectives) it resonates somewhere deep inside them, the smiles convince you every time.

Day trip I.

The idea for this years holiday was a change of modus opperandi. Stay in one place instead of constantly moving on and take day trips out to view and absorb the surroundings. Keep it low key, a gentle itinerary more suitable for us all.

Hard work on the beach

Today we joined up with an amazing team of people who voluntarily help out at an orphanage and  a care home for handicapped children nearby . The owners of our compound contribute their time and use their contacts with tourists like us to support these ventures.

Fish supper

Our guide purchased the fish for us and sugested his wife would cook it "Gambian style" for us. We willingly excepted his generosity , to be honest we had been struggling to find out what Gambian cuisine was like. He drove us to his compound in Serracunda. This town has one of the largest Street markets in Africa we might be ready for it now. It is a hot dusty exhaust filled town a hive of straggled (there's that word again) industry and dusty recycled commerce .