FRIDAY, APR 30TH--BANJUL, THE GAMBIA

We arrived in the port city of Banjul at 10am. We both went to the gym in the morning as we had a “Banjul Highlights” 4 hour tour that began at 1pm. They warned us that the tour buses would not be air conditioned and they weren’t. Luckily it was not a really hot day and humidity was not bad either. It did get stuffy when on the bus but there was a pleasant breeze when outside in the shade. We left the port area on a very rough road and drove through the city of Banjul. Our tour guide spoke very good English as that is there national language. It did not take very long to see that The Gambia was a VERY poor country. It reminded of the living conditions in Haiti. Hopefully you will see the poverty reflected in my photos. Our first stop was at a jewelry shop. It was so small and with two buses dumping 60 people out it was pretty much a waste. The shop was on a back street. I overheard a woman behind me say, “This is the jewelry store?”. Next we drove to the much larger city of Sierre-Kunda where we visited a tie-dying demonstration that really was a market place selling tie-dyed materials so was more of a shopping stop. Back on the bus for a short ride to a little open air restaurant for a soda, local beer, or cold water. Here I met a young man who was wearing an interesting cap. He was very friendly so we talked for quite a while and then he led me a few doors down from the restaurant to his music shop. He proudly displayed a collection of old 78 LP records. He even had a record player for them. He tried to sell me his cap and the jewelry he was wearing--he would sell me ANYTHING. Next stop was at a small market with local crafts and souvenirs. After some shopping time we boarded smaller buses for a ride down narrow streets to the museum and crocodile pool. After reboarding the small buses that took us to the larger bus we headed back down the highway to Banjul. We made brief photo stops at a mosque and Arch 22 before heading back to the ship. The whole pier had became a huge market place with wood, leather, jewelry, and clothing products. We were shopped out and had to get ready for our 6:30 reservation in Prime 7 for dinner with our friends, Cynthia & John. Our day in The Gambia was very interesting for sure. It was a dirty place with dust covering everything, open sewers running along some streets, and garbage everywhere. Despite the poverty and dirt, the people seemed very friendly and happy. It would be interesting to see Gambia 10 years from now to see if things have improved. I hope so!