Passengers

It's going to be a sad sad day when I have to hand over the keys to my trusty bike!

You won’t get far when riding a motorbike in The Gambia without having to take a passenger. That’s just a fact of life. For me it is at least. As I approach someone who is flagging me down my head is usually saying don’t stop don’t stop! but my heart is saying its hot, that person is going to have to wait an age to get a vehicle, they’re old, I have a space on my bike, I’m going there anyway etc. So today was one of the many occasions when I ended up with an unexpected passenger. This time it wasn't really a choice though. We had just come from our workshop in Kaiaf. I had passed the checkpoint but Ellie had been stopped by the policeman and was taking ages. So I just pulled over and was looking behind me to see where she was when an old lady, must have been about eighty came running up, plonked herself on the back and said “Toniataba” (which is a village near Soma) . She took me by surprise so I just drove, chuckling to myself. She clung on to my back pack for dear life as we went bumping over pothole after pothole. When we reached the turning for the village it was obvious that she was expecting door to door service. So into the village we rode, slipping and sliding our way through the sand. She didn’t seem fazed. When she got off the bike we exchanged names and she pointed me on my way on the back road to Soma. I just smiled to myself all the way home it was one of those priceless Gambian moments!