We left Sunday afternoon around 5pm and travelled two hours to a town right on the border of Senegal and Gambia (on the Casamance side). It was a cute little town and the local shop (called a Bitik) was right on the border so I could stand under a tree and be in Casamance and the Gambia at the same time!
That night we arrived just as it was getting dark and at prayer time so everyone washed up and prayed while I sat there in the dark wondering what I had got myself in for (a strange town – not sure where I was staying and I was the only female).
It was around 8pm so after prayer time we went to the bitik to buy something for tea. Mr Jarju, one of my collegues had come well stocked with bread, sardines and tinned corned beef. I had bought a lot of biscuits and cereal but no ‘real’ food. At the Bitik there were no eggs so I bought 5 spoonfuls of mayonnaise in a plastic bag (for 5D) and had a mayonnaise sandwich. Being a vegetarian is not an easy feat in the Gambia. The teachers we were staying with had food bowl prepared by one of the local villagers. Mr Jarju, Mr Korita and Allelu my travelling companions had sandwiches and cous cous (ground corn) mixed with tinned evaporated milk and sugar (apparently a delicious drink but it was lost on me).
After around an hour and a half they showed me where I was supposed to be sleeping. I had a room to myself which someone had moved out from for me (the sheets weren’t washed but I bought my own sleeping mat and sheets which I could lay on top of the bed). Luckily there was locks on the doors to the room so I felt a little secure although with both doors closed it was a sweltering night. That night was also the first rain I had heard in the Gambia in the four months I have been here (and apparently it was not a proper shower). I could hear this huge banging the whole night like there was a bomb going off all around – the Gambia has impressive lightning.
The next morning I had to brave the unfamiliar shower situation. The showers are in the photo – they are similar to public toilets – with two rooms with a drain for the bucket showers and two rooms with a hole for the toilet. Yes to go to the toilet you have to squat down like you are going behind a tree but with the added dilemma of aiming really hard for a tiny hole. It is not easy. The bucket shower was just cold water from a well in a container similar to a drench container with the top cut off and a wire handle and an old can to scoop the water to throw over you. I have to say after the hot night the cold shower was amazingly good! It turns out that the shower system was one of the better ones I had on trek.
That night we arrived just as it was getting dark and at prayer time so everyone washed up and prayed while I sat there in the dark wondering what I had got myself in for (a strange town – not sure where I was staying and I was the only female).
It was around 8pm so after prayer time we went to the bitik to buy something for tea. Mr Jarju, one of my collegues had come well stocked with bread, sardines and tinned corned beef. I had bought a lot of biscuits and cereal but no ‘real’ food. At the Bitik there were no eggs so I bought 5 spoonfuls of mayonnaise in a plastic bag (for 5D) and had a mayonnaise sandwich. Being a vegetarian is not an easy feat in the Gambia. The teachers we were staying with had food bowl prepared by one of the local villagers. Mr Jarju, Mr Korita and Allelu my travelling companions had sandwiches and cous cous (ground corn) mixed with tinned evaporated milk and sugar (apparently a delicious drink but it was lost on me).
After around an hour and a half they showed me where I was supposed to be sleeping. I had a room to myself which someone had moved out from for me (the sheets weren’t washed but I bought my own sleeping mat and sheets which I could lay on top of the bed). Luckily there was locks on the doors to the room so I felt a little secure although with both doors closed it was a sweltering night. That night was also the first rain I had heard in the Gambia in the four months I have been here (and apparently it was not a proper shower). I could hear this huge banging the whole night like there was a bomb going off all around – the Gambia has impressive lightning.
The next morning I had to brave the unfamiliar shower situation. The showers are in the photo – they are similar to public toilets – with two rooms with a drain for the bucket showers and two rooms with a hole for the toilet. Yes to go to the toilet you have to squat down like you are going behind a tree but with the added dilemma of aiming really hard for a tiny hole. It is not easy. The bucket shower was just cold water from a well in a container similar to a drench container with the top cut off and a wire handle and an old can to scoop the water to throw over you. I have to say after the hot night the cold shower was amazingly good! It turns out that the shower system was one of the better ones I had on trek.
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