Published: 4 February 2006
Leo's view of The Gambia Trip
I first knew about the Gambian experience around a year ago. Sean and Jordan had just returned and at the time I didn’t think anything of it.
But, a year later and there I was, at Manchester airport ready to board the plane. I was anxious, nervous and I pondered on how the trip was going to go. I really wanted it to go well; meanwhile the loud speaker announced it was time to go. A few hours into the flight and the boredom settled in, although it wasn’t surprising as the plane was slightly inadequate with no entertainment and small amounts of legroom. The journey seemed to be going very slow; nevertheless, we still reached the airport! As we circled the runway ready to land, the thought went through my mind ‘had I done the right thing?’ and ‘what will it be like?’, but before I had time to think, the plane had landed and we went to collect our bags.
The weather was roasting; it blustered throughout the plane as the door opened. Our passports were stamped and we were almost ready to explore the Gambian experience. It took a mere ten minutes to collect our bags and then off to look for Jerreh. This didn’t take long as Jerreh’s smile can be seen from the other side of the world! This is when I knew we were in safe hands.
We walked outside and my first impressions were of shock. There were hundreds of Gambians surrounding us as we walked to the car, many offering free gifts and some just simply wanted to say hello. After all, it is one of the friendliest places you will ever visit. The long road to the hotel showed us the living conditions of the Gambians. Their houses looking like an enlarged garden shed.
Shortly afterwards, we arrived at Bijilo. The wonderful hotel staff greeted us with aplomb, and took us to our room. The lovely hotel was the central point of relaxation, and that it remained for the rest of the day. Later that night we visited the local area of Kololi and this is where we decided to eat. The food was good, the trip was underway and we were ready to play some Badminton!
The original plan was to rest for the first weekend, thus leaving the rest of week to play Badminton; however, we simply couldn’t wait! So the next morning we awoke at 7.30am and Tom and I decided to go for an early morning swim, followed by breakfast. This turned into a daily routine. The food at the Hotel was a wonderful breakfast buffet and better than the English breakfast to say the least! Later in the day, we decided to go on our first trip to Youna. We had mixed emotions. I was ready to undergo this challenge but still I had different thoughts; nervous, excited, happy and sad.
Nevertheless, the road to Youna turned my mind the wrong way up anyway! The road was filled with ditches and hills, yet luckily we had found the right driver to take us. We met a local group who had negotiated a good price for the week, so we tried our new driver out on the way to Youna, this was the start of an amazing relationship for Tom and I. His name was Sexy, a 23 year old Rastafarian. Nonetheless, he was the most friendliest, funniest and happiest person I have ever met. I knew that we were in for a good week the moment I met him!
Meanwhile the road to Youna was devastatingly bumpy and I could immediately see the living conditions as numerous females strolled past with baskets on their heads. We also went past houses, which personally I have seen better looking garden sheds, and I simply couldn’t believe these people. We drove through villages on the way and at one point the jeep was being chased by at least 20 children. Although this brought out reams of laughter, you had to stop and think for a minute and you then discover how lucky you actually are.
We got to Youna after about half an hour on the road and we were exhausted, so decided to visit the shop for a drink. There was a new shop though, and this was Ibbu’s shop. We sat around and had a drink with the locals, also many of the Badminton players had seen us on the way and came to meet us, a famous saying mentions that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and when the Gambians smiled, this phrase was thrown into perspective. The locals were very friendly and later that day we met the Headmaster of Youna School. We talked about various issues before making our way back to the hotel. We sat in the hotel room discussing the day, and we had a knock at the door. It was Jerreh!
Conveniently we were looking to take him out to dinner so it was lucky he turned up. As the evening rolled on, we went to Uncle Sam’s for our meal, Omar Jallow and Jerreh had come to eat with us and the evening went well, although the food was not too good, the African boys gave us a lot to talk about.
Day 3: We woke up at the same time and did the same thing! It was still only the second time this year I woken up to 30 degree temperature! The day was planned out; first of all we went to BB (Bungalow Beach) and this was the first time we had been to see the ‘shops’ in the Gambia, although surprised, I was astonished not at the shops, but at the amount of nice fabric and items that the Gambians had made. This just shows how much these people have to work for their living. We ordered some clothes, ready for collection on Tuesday; I was still amazed that you could make a pair of trousers out of one sheet of material! After that we went to the local shop. After the mayhem of traveling to Youna the day before, we decided to make it a bit more interesting and gathered sweets from the local shop.
After this, we went to Tujerin for the first time; we ate bread at the shop with the locals. This was good as we got to know the cultures and hobbies of the Gambian people. Later that night we tried another restaurant, this time we went for an Indian meal. We also decided to treat Omar Jallow to a meal and learnt about his lifestyle - although he is a quiet boy, we finally got him to talk when we mentioned his girlfriend!!! Still, the Indian restaurant was full of nice people who had a permanent smile on their faces, much like the rest of the country.
Day 4 was a different day. In the morning we left Tim and Les in the hotel and traveled to Sexy’s village to see their cultures. All of his friends (the whole village!) took a liking to us and it seemed he was a well known figure in the village, everywhere we traveled we could hear ‘Sexy’ being shouted at us. When we went back to Les and Tim we set off again to Youna, which was when we started to play and teach Badminton. We marked the lines with water and struggled to put the net up, but eventually we played a ‘proper’ game of Badminton. After this we visited our hotel and had a splash in the pool.
After relaxing it was back to Badminton and this time, Tujerin. We visited the shop in Tujering and saw many of the Badminton players. Tom and I bought a football and we played on the streets. We also saw one of the hotel staff, Lamin. He had got us a large watermelon as a gift and it boded well for the rest of the day as we had something to eat at Youna later that night. The large watermelon followed us to Youna later that day, where we played hours of Badminton with the team. Tom and I were astonished at how good they were, how they adapted to the obstacles that surrounded daily life, for example, using water for lines on the court. It showed their wants and passions towards the sport. At around 3pm we went back to the hotel and relaxed, this was essential as we needed to cool down occasionally.
After a cool swim and a dozen drinks we drove to Youna with Sexy and visited Youna in the evening for the first time. I found it difficult to see as there was no distant light, nor were there street lights. It was blacker than black as the gloom surrounded us. But, of course, this didn’t matter; the smiles of the locals were enough to light up any city in the world. Amazing! The watermelon was soon gone, everybody had a piece and everybody loved it.
The night was ironically one of the greatest nights I have experienced and decided to invite Samba and Amadou to spend the night at the hotel. It was spent mostly pillow fighting! This seemed to make the Gambian boys happy, even if it did hurt a tad.
The next morning was bright, sunny and happiness shone through the windows. The four of us got up and went to the breakfast table, had our breakfast and took some food back to the room for the two boys. We were then joined by Es and Alou. This surprise helped us plan out the day, although Tom had a bit of sunstroke, nothing stopped him from coming down to the pool to enjoy the day. We taught the people how to swim and they thoroughly enjoyed the day. For them it must have seemed unreal, their simple lives were not used to the good life.
Es and Pa joined Tim, Les and I as we collected our clothes from Bungalow Beach, which were very well made. The day ended with us revisiting Youna again and having a good old chat with the Youna locals again. Most of them knew us by now and their good English and sense of humour created some good conversations.
Day 6 and it was a very important day. Tim and Les had a meeting with Francis, Kabs, The Master and Jerreh on the future of the Project. The meeting went well and this complimented the day. The Tujering boys came to the hotel and played football and we went swimming. Tom and I went onto the beach and talked to the Tujering boys, listened to music and had a good day with some very friendly people.
Day 7 was our last full day in the Gambia. It was mixed emotions waking up as I missed the UK but also made some very good friends in the Gambia who I would also miss. This was when I knew this journey was far from over. I couldn’t possibly leave this country; it felt as if the job was half done. Nevertheless we enjoyed the day thoroughly. The day started off with some bad news though; the jeep broke down so unfortunately we were stuck at the hotel, but we used this to our advantage and cooled down.
The jeep was fixed later that day and we used it to visit Aziz’s compound, where all of the Badminton team were. The party ate into the night and everybody was there. I saw many people for only the first time, including Tall Ohms and Yaro. If I was going to be honest, it was the funniest night of my life! Mind you, it’s hard not to be when Tall Ohms and Deputy Vulture (Joseph) are about!
As the night sky grew, we got closer to the hotel; we invited Es for the night. As the jeep drove slowly to the hotel we said goodbye to Samba and Amadou. Les and I had tears running down our face, tears filled with emotion, hoping that this would not be the end of our journey.
The next day, Es and Sexy waved goodbye to us at the airport. A picture that stays in my mind everyday. I have met some of the kindest friends in just one week. For such deprived people they welcome and treat you like family. Es, Alou, Amadou, Samba, Pa, Yaro, Omar Jallow, Omar, Tall Ohms, Joseph, Alvaro, Cherneu and the rest. They gave me the best week of my life, not to mention the friends I have made in Tim, Tom and Lesley. And for those who haven’t experienced what I have, money doesn’t matter, but to see the whitest smiles of the Gambian people, that is what matters. When happiness is there, nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing.
My View of the Gambia was that it was an incredible, friendly country and without Tim, Les and Tom this wouldn’t have happened. So thank you!
Leo