Easter weekend

For the Easter break Kate and I felt that we needed to break away from the excitement of Soma for a few days! So we set placed it to Janjanbureh otherwise known as Georgetown or Macarthy island to go and see our fellow Kanifing housemates Pete, Liz and Phil. To get onto the island you get off at Lamin Koto and take the ferry across. The journey was uneventful apart from as we got off the ferry we were accosted by teenagers wanting us to give them money for their football team etc. There are quite a few lodges in Janjanbureh because being on the river it does get its fair share of tourists who come up on boat trips from Banjul. Pete and Liz had organized some accommodation for us in the forestry commission which was cheap and a peaceful spot right on the river so we were pleased with that. We took to Janjanbureh straight away. It has a very relaxed feel to it and there are a few little bars. Our favourite came to be Bendulas as the guys working there were very friendly and Kate managed to use her negotiating skills to acquire a discount on Julbrew! It was great to see Pete and Liz again and talk over our various work situations and everything that had been happening since we saw them last. Pete and Liz really spoiled us feeding us fried bean sandwiches, banana and chocolate pancakes, eggy bread, ommelette sandwiches, spicy coucous. It was brilliant! Kate and I were in our element having spent our whole time in Soma so far continually talking about food.
Pete and Liz live in a lovely little compound. They are now known in the community as Bakary and Hawa Darbo. There is some big Gambian joke about Darbo meaning man who eats too much rice. So every time Pete tells people his surname they chuckle and pat their stomachs. Also Bakary means goat so Pete is now thrilled to be the goat who eats too much rice. Next door to them lives the Jim’ll fix it of Janjanbureh, Muli. He seems to be involved in everything in the community, sits on various committees, supports the women’s garden project and is trying to find new ways to encourage tourism to Janjanbureh. The women do the majority of the gardening and selling at market in the Gambian communities.
We took a walk down to the site where they are building a new five star lodge but apparently the owners got conned out of some money and now are struggling to get the funds to finish it. It was a lovely location, a quiet spot on the river. The accommodation was partially built but looked like it was going to be quite plush. The swimming pool was working and they had partially built the restaurant which is going to have a rooftop terrace, looking over the river. There were some tents already constructed which had lovely bathrooms, sofa, table all done out in what looked like ikea furniture. So if it does finally get finished it will be a little haven. Admittedly not a lot to do other than swim and read and birdwatch. There are quite a few lodges already there which are ok but a bit run down.
On Saturday we were joined by several VSOs on their way back from a trip into the national park in Senegal. They had hired a truck and driver to take them there. Denise, Paul and their two children Abi and Bradley, Marielle and her sister, who was over from the Netherlands and Kanti who had joined them for the trip. So we all had dinner that night in the lodge and then breakfast in the morning. Apparently their trip was good but didn’t go quite as smoothly as they hoped. It took much longer to get there than they anticipated and they ended up missing the national park’s curfew so had to find somewhere else to stay. They had seen hippos and crocodiles and lots of birds so the children were happy but they all looked a bit exhausted.

On the Sunday we took a long and hot walk to Janjanbureh camp which is over the other side of the river. We had a drink there and there were monkeys all over the place jumping and playing on the bar and on all the tables. There is a chimpanzee rehabiliation place nearby but you can't really visit it. We paid a man in the boat to take us straight back across the river because we couldn't face another walk in the sun. We had dinner at Pete and Liz's again that night and played cards.

On the Monday morning we said goodbye and were on our way back to Soma. This time we share the ride with a chicken and no one else which was great. It was quite funny, we didn't realise that the chicken was there in the boot. Until it popped it's head up and squawked and frightened the life out of us.

Not much has been happening since. Work has been very uneventful, in fact everyone else seems to have gone awol and its just us there trying to find ways to fill our time. Hopefully things will get better next week when the schools are back. Kate and I have been keeping ourselves busy by naming all of the goats in our compound and a bit of excitement this evening as I found a baby scorpion under my luggage. I was a bit concerned that if there was a baby there was likely to be a mother aswell lurking somewhere! Apparently when walking out in the rainy season you have to take a torch to avoid stepping on the scorpions! I think I might be wearing my walking boots. I also think I have a mouse in my house! Oh joy! We did find out today that our rent is only eight pounds a month and our water bill was less than 50p for the month!

It is keeping us sane watching season one and two of the west wing. We are going to have finished them all soon though. Don't know what we will do then!