They are gone.

   And there we go, the last charter flight left on Saturday, and now we enter the period of great calm. It will be strange to be in such a big and empty place. The seasonal guests have left and won’t be back until November. 

    Luckily for me, James, my walking “companion”, is still here for my regular 6 kilometres, as is Badou, a tennis coach who has been promoted to aerobics instructor. From the 80’s routines and his lack of knowledge in the subject, and from my past experience with years of dance, gym, skiing… oops I’m straying… as well as a whole range of classes in England, I try to motivate him so that he creates his own routines. On the internet, finding ideas is easy. Then, it’s a case of him choosing the movements that he likes but that are also fun and that particularly create a flow between moves. Our 1^st session bore fruit and he has already twice experimented with his routine along with the local girls who regularly come to his classes. Now he will have to create a few more and, most of all, the challenge, stick to them because here, the habits come back quicker than they go and he’s not the most dynamic and motivating person out there!! However if this works, which doesn’t really bother me, it will be very positive because as a spouse, there aren’t that many things to do and particularly, I have many skills and ideas to pass on. Let’s hope that he keeps at it. Come on, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, 3, 4. Ah yes, we will also need to find fitting music because trying to relax on a hard beat is… not relaxing whatsoever. Then there are some pieces of music that are so fast that we seem to be chasing a train (not to mention the skipping CD LOL)

   The number of maids is reduced to the minimum and the beds will be devoid of their lovely sets. This is normal because if the number of planes that land in the country drop to near-none, then there will be very few customers. This is the case for all the hotels, lodges, etc… It will be very calm until November. Only Bruxelles Airways keeps its regular flight four times a week from Europe (Brussels-Banjul-Conakry or Freetown). The country is working on promoting The Gambia, to other African countries such as Nigeria, as a destination because it would be a change of scenery for them in any case.

   On a plus, the next season should be good seeing as more arrivals are planned than last year.