Tuesday, January 31, 2012

♫ ♪ je marche seule... ♪ ♬

   So what’s new in my new playground? Many different things.


   With regards to the fauna, well, I see goats and cows go past. As there are often fishermen, there is occasional interference, though pacific, with the lines. Even if they are being guided, they don’t deviate too much from their path.    
   Last Friday, I had a good laugh when one of the cows decided to sprint off – did she want to show off or did was she just very hungry? In any case, one of the two young men went off after her. It was hilarious as she would always remain 5 or 6 metres in front of him so accelerated and slowed down accordingly. At one point, the tired young man stopped and the cow did the same, with the cheek to turn around and wait as if she were taunting him… We have fun with what we have LOL!
   From the avian point of view, we see the “fishers” of course, but there are also vultures on the right side always on the lookout for a carcass which is very common, there are plenty littering the beaches. On that day, they were having a feast; one of their own had met a dire end. Those creatures really don’t look too nice!
   The water, despite being the wrong colour for my bath, seems abundant with fish, and fishermen don’t catch small fries as they did in Mauritius’ lagoons, but real big ones that can feed a large family.



   At all hours, there’s some activity and people on the beach. I go out either in the mornings or after 17h. I stay in the shade when it’s hot!
   The day where " I walk alone...♪" will be the day I see flying pigs.
   It’s hard to go for a stroll without being “latched onto” by a, no doubt amiable, individual. From my 1st outing, Lalo (bottom-right photo) came to see me and started talking. I just wanted to walk but hey, we’ll do what we can. As he was asking a good few questions, rest assured harmless ones, I, who am not inquisitive of nature, forced myself to ask many in turn. Two advantages, this stops him from asking too many questions, and it allows me to learn about the local customs. The next day was no different, he must have been looking out for me and immediately locked in. At the beginning, I wasn’t much a fan of this but in the end I realised that when you’re with someone, others leave you well alone, without which you wouldn’t be able to go more than 100m without being stopped. Be it Lalo, Spiderman, Jo or Aliu, all is done in kindness but don’t kid yourself, there’s always some reason behind these actions: "come to my juice bar. It’s the best and now you know me", "I’m looking for a job, could you talk to your husband for me?""if you’re in need of a guide", "we could go on a romantic walk..." woah woah woah, stop right there. "To run or walk in my company is one thing, but it’s not called romantic ok?" On that note, I saw Jo on Friday again, the romantic walk guy. He takes part in the coconut tree planting project on the beach (bottom-left photo). ‘No harm done’ as they say. To counter erosion and the decline of coastal vegetation, the government (whose President is the minister of agriculture) has plantation projects and on the beach, these brave coconut trees are for the most part under three years old. Right, some work and a lot of watering and they’ll grow nicely.
   The navy also comes to the beach to do drills (top-right). They have Spanish instructors who teach them how to swim and survive. They do 15-day courses with tests at the end. That day was a test day and seeing the instructor, in the water, jump at every movement of the water trying to keep his papers dry was funny (top-left).
I chatted for a while and the next day even joined one of them who wanted to teach me how to do knee press-ups. You know, with the knees touching the ground. For me, it’s proper press-ups or nothing, so I showed him. Very nice as a contact.
   Every afternoon, the beach darkens… with people who come to relax and play football, but all day people do their outside gym and their favourite exercise is, you guessed it… press-ups (middle-right). I decided ‘why not?’ and joined in. If there are many people doing it, you don’t look too silly! Normally I wait to be far away or isolated to burst out the press-ups (20 for the time being is not bad!), stretching and other yoga-like exercises. This is all very fun!



   To vary the pleasures, sometimes I go out, on my own or with Pascal, by the road and cut through the cemetery to join the beach. It’s at most a kilometre. They should bring their goats here as the grass is tall and fresh! It’s a catholic cemetery – with an equal dosage of stone and magnificent black-marble headstones – that must be quite old. Near the end, there is a nice alley of baobabs.    
   So there you have it, this is my surrounding environment. Now it’s time to cross the road out of the hotel and to go off and discover the heart of Banjul.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

From the Nile to Bakau

   2nd day of rest and we set off once again with our car, though with new and regulatory number plates this time... and Alex. Not that we’ll be counting on him when encountering some nice policemen, but because he’s one of the guides in yellow that are at the entrance of the hotels, for “adventurous” holiday makers. We’re stopped everywhere, be it beach or street, where people offer us their services as guides. I don’t doubt that there are nice and competent people, but the ones here are recognised and it’s their job. 
  

   It’s a good thing that we chose to take him with us because even if the crocodile pool at Kachikally is only about ten kilometres from Banjul, in Bakau, access to it is made by very improbable alleys that we would never have guessed by ourselves. You need to break from the usual “I’m looking for a signpost” habit because most of the time, there won’t be anything to show you the way and if there is, it’s probably because you’ve already arrived!       Don’t hesitate to ask for directions as people here are very friendly.
   Some roads are paved with tarmac though many are just made of sand and suffer during the rainy season without even being repaired in the meantime.
   Kachikally is one of the 3 sacred places with crocodiles in Gambia used for fertility rituals. The other 2 are Folonko (in southern Kombo) and Bereding (along the river to the North).
   The “pool” is the private property of the Bolang family, one of the founding families of this location 500 years ago and who still own most of the land in the town of Bakau. They must not make any financial profit from this pool as they believe that to do so would take away its “healing powers”.
   The entry price is low and there’s also an excellent museum which retraces and speaks of circumcision (future subject), musical instruments as well as the intervention of Gambia during the 2nd World War. In the garden, you can also go on a small walk amongst the baobabs, ‘silk’ trees and more.



   We were told that there are about 150 crocs, but even though they were stretched far out, basking in the sun, along the beach, paths, and vegetation, it seemed that there were less. Perhaps some of the smaller ones have been munched since the last census!
   The pool itself looks like a giant cup of green tea like the ones they served in Sydney! The sun was not at its highest point so the crocs were searching for any niche where they could warm their cold blood. 
  These are Nile crocodiles who are fed fish every day and who are not… so they say… dangerous. That’s all well and good but I wouldn’t got dip my toes in the water. A croc is a croc!
   The nesting and birthing season is the only one where they become aggressive as the mothers must protect themselves from the greedy appetite of their peers.


   Well here we are. Who would have thought that one day, we’d be stroking a crocodile. It’s not easy to turn your head towards the camera when you want to keep an eye out for the slightest bit of movement. Note the position: ready for a sprint. Who knows!   
   I present to you Chally, the most famous of crocodiles here at Kachikally. He must like being stroked because the bottom of his back looks smooth and polished. Strange, no-one seems to be polished nearer their head, but dogs love it when you give them a scratch behind the ears☺. To the touch, the feel is supple and leathery; no wonder we make bags and shoes out of them! More supple than a cow for sure!
   They must spend so much time in the water that the bigger ones are often covered in this green ooze which lies like a film on the pool. As they don’t have a tongue, they open their mouths wide to cool down. Being the Sylvie that I am, I would say: “But why do they stay in the sun if it makes them thirsty?” ;)
   A visit that’s well worth it and which allows you to learn a bit more about life here.  

Sunday, January 22, 2012

1 outing... 1rst tribulations !

  If we’re here, it’s not to chat with the charming holidaymakers at the hotel, though this happens for sure, but to discover a new country and another culture so hop!, a camera, some suncream, a bottle of water, a road map in the bag and sunglasses on the end of our noses and off we go in our Kia.
  To start, we’re going to take it easy and go south, down the coast and back up through the inland. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem as there are only three main roads indicated on the map. Some of the larger roads have tarmac, a lack of which leaves place to sand (which is the case for most roads). Apparently there are occasional sandstorms – It must be quite an experience!


  Past Bakau, we arrive at Fajara which has a golf which we should visit, then we went through Senegambia. Contrary to what the name suggests, it’s not the union of The Gambia and Senegal but just a town. After a few deviations via alleys – all in the name of exploration – and a walk round the beach, we stopped in Tanji, a fisher’s village between the road and the ocean. The women are traditionally and colourfully clothed. Various stalls line the road and animations can be found everywhere (above pictures).
  

    The boats had of course returned from fishing and we went along the place where they dry their herrings, catfish and other rays. The gutted fish are spread out on grates placed on a sort of barbecue and smoked and dried in this way for a few days. The smoke comes from wood fires underneath and the catfish were covered as well by paper. Once ready, the fish is conditioned in crates which will then be sent to other African countries.
Echange de bons procédé dans ce pays {Aucune idée de ce que tu veux dire ?}. An agreeable fisherman explained us everything that he did and we Thanked him as was expected… yep, welcome to Africa!
   On the roads, there are constant traffic controls though most let you pass and all you need to do is slow down. Others stop you, in Gunjur for example, and ask for your vehicle’s papers and driver’s licence. Oops, the licence, damn, the guy at the hotel said that we wouldn’t need it and, confident, we didn’t take them. A phone call and an explanation between locals later, we were on our way again. It’s not too much of a problem as we’re driving back to the North and returning to Banjul. Dare I say that despite the three roads, we managed to mess up and found ourselves going towards West Gambia, the river, the inland, and not the North and Banjul.
   In Sifoe, we finally found our way again but were stopped once more. This time, the policeman was none too pleased at our lack of licence as well as a badge on our licence plate. Double oops. It took us slightly longer and another few phone calls to explain our blunder and once more a “Thank you”. The licence is “noa culpa” but the car itself made us grumble a bit as it wasn’t our fault… So much emotion, which as you know, I love… not!
   I suppose it’s something to tell the grandkids
  85-95 km was our first experience of Gambian roads and villages. Considering there is a grand total of approximately 3000km of roads, not counting tracks and trails, we’ve made a good start.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

1st discovery

  Where to begin? There will be much to say and much to discover so I’ll start from the hotel and move towards the beach. The hotel has its own beach, but the gap between it and the sea is huge, 10-15m from the edge.  

   It’s a vast stretch where you can comfortably walk or run on a relatively flat surface for a long time without sinking into the sand. I went there in the morning so met herds of goats and cows with magnificent horns. I’m not entirely sure but I think that they belong to the President’s livestock. People speak good English but the accent sometimes makes it hard to understand. When you want to be polite, you ask them to repeat it twice at most… unless it’s very important ☺. The animals graze on the “Island” where sporadic patches of grass grow (though rather dryly in this season).
  From afar, I could see a kind of micro-estuary which brought water to a ‘pool’. I waited for the beasts to cross just to realise that it wasn’t possible to do so without the water level reaching the chest. It’s a bit much. In fact, seeing as there’s a road in parallel to the beach (about 80 to 200m distance), it’s always a possibility to walk further via this road or to come back by it.



When you go off to the right, you arrive near a fishing ‘village’ with their funny looking and vibrantly coloured boats (although most would need a good lick of paint!). They are basically settled "nets' and people dry their fish on rope/nets taut on wooden posts.
  Many boats don’t have motors and so are propelled by oar or, wind-permitting, by sail. This type of sail reminded me of Rodrigues though the latter’s were triangular.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

" 3 MONTHS "

… that’s the time it took to enjoy life… a brief foretaste of early retirement if you will, before going off to a new slice of life.
  The 3 months is in fact 4, but I like 'Numérobis’ (Jamel Debbouze, in Asterix Mission Cléopatre) expression when he talks about the time given to complete the palace. In fact it’s one of the few films that I enjoy watching time and time again.

    Anyway, where was I? Well here we are, I landed in the late-afternoon of Thursday at Banjul International Airport. Lyon-Brussels-Banjul was quick enough – One of the rare airline planes to regularly fly there, most other companies are charters that only fly in winter.
    No window seat which wasn’t great! But on the other hand, no neighbour spilling over into my space either so…

I had planned to be wearing flip-flops when I landed but put my boots away in Brussels as my feet were already hot (and not without missing the opportunity to paint my nails). So charming, thanks Clau, I’m thinking of you. The sun is in me J.
   When we landed in Banjul, half the passengers remained in their seats as the plane continues on to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Customs wasn’t very big, and for once it was the domestic queue that was longer than the one for international passports. Luckily, an employee from the hotel was there to greet me and accompanied me to a side door where my Pascal was waiting all smiles.

   Welcome to Gambia, new land and home of the 2 marchi!
   The airport itself is small so getting out to parking was quick. A good half-hour journey, and a brief snapshot of life in Gambia, later we arrived at the hotel. A large sign showed the President with his wife next to a slogan that all women will like “Behind every great man is a great woman”.

   Here is our new Gambian nest. The Laico hotel is comprised of 204 rooms, one of which, a suite, is our base for the time being. The bedfold was original and the decorative flowers (Bougainvillea and hibiscus) reminded me… dare I say… of home. That’s right friends, I left Mauritius with a little piece of it in my heart and I will never be able to say it enough, Mauritius I love you.