Bakadaji Hotel Serekunda

Its funny to title this "home" but it really felt as if we were coming home... i was feeling very connected to the gambia and really like i was heading to my own home. Jori's words: The next day we finished off the last five hours of the trip heading back home to Serekunda. We stopped at a famous wood-carver's market in Brikama, where Justin picked up some nice keep-sake's and walked back into "Happy Camp" right ...

... get intense but fast walking really helps. I don't know how people who don't have a connection (aka, a girlfriend who has been here and knows the area) get a real Gambia experience. BTW, the markets are amazing.... woodworks, crafts, etc. Don't worry; gifts will be purchased for everyone! I don't know what else to say but it's been amazing and the people are so interesting here. Stories will be told latter... for now, I must put up the info about where Jori and I will be for ...

... a booth...) and guess who was waiting for the other side for me. yuppppp.... that would be jori sapper. there was about 300people at the airport for a flight of only 120or so... everyone was trying to advertise and sell some kind of hotel or taxi service. Jori and i ran through and next thing i knew i was in their friend Benz driving through the countryside(learned in was the edge of banjul). Within 15minutes we ...

... and groundnut source drizzled with butter... obviously a special treat. They really do expect you to tuck in, especially after told them how far I had cycled. They were from Senegal and clearly delighted at my ability to speak French. Upon setting eyes on me, the youngest burst into tears... I was the first white man he had ever set eyes on and it clearly caused him some distress! After more chatting I handed out a selection ...

... like limited advancements in the Gambian education system. Yet, by the way, when we ask him about underground opposition parties, he smiles enigmatically and answers 'if they were underground, how would I know about them?" I can't help but think he relies on a hope in the possibility of great, sudden change to deal with the reality of Gambian politics. After all, he can easily remember a time before the form of government in existence now, and saw the overthrow of a government ...

... adapts to the fast; people tend to lie down rather than sit, businesses are often open fewer hours, and greetings are spoken with a sluggish cheerfulness, rather than the energetic friendliness that is common other times. After breakfast there is cleaning, and, because it is September, school has just started and you must get ready to leave. You will don your uniform: a very English style (one of the many little signs of colonialism), with a collared shirt, black shoes, and ...

... until 3pm the next day, went to go find the nurse he made the slightly terrifying discovery that there were none. The entire hospital was empty. He retreated back to the glorified cell and went back to sleep, sure that some nurses would arrive early in the morning to give him his shot. But when they did finally arrive they had no shot. They assured Bryan and Shane every time they asked that someone would be coming soon, very soon. "Ndanka, Ndanka," they told themselves, all the ...

... life of Suso. We were all leaning in close, seated around the living room couches, captivated by what this soft-spoken man said, because it was so real and significant and beautiful. Sidibeh had worked to record the stories and songs of the griots, with the knowledge that children from griot families were going off to become lawyers and doctors instead of continuing the griot tradition, and the knowledge the griots had was generally being forgotten in a world of more urgent, flashy ...

... there was only one male in the grounds, obviously a bit of a player. Their facial expressions and reactions are as complex as ours, if not more so. They seem so relaxed in the company of human beings, whether that's because they are used to tourists feeding them or because they know that we're distant relatives, I don't know. They would sometimes make eye contact with me whilst eating and I wished that they could talk or tell me what they were thinking... Not only did ...

... the night, and stop at Toubacouta, a village of souvenir shacks, a butchers shop, a telephone and not much else. Le Pelican resort is a step into Europe and it's sports fishing scene here in teh Sine Saloum Delta. Beautiful bungalows with thatched roofs and upmarket decor, Le Pelican couldn't be further from our Barra Ferry misery. A swim, delta-side meal and a few ice cold beers, and we are back in the groove.