Bansang Quarry, Gambia - 9 Nov
I woke up at 9.30am (having drifted on & off all night due to being too hot then too cold and then woken up by bird songs as of 4.30am even though I was wearing ear-plugs) and managed to make myself "decent for viewing" by 10.15am.
When I first saw myself in the mirror actually I laughed because it was so humid that my hair looked like a lion mane. In fact, I'd never seen my hair so high on my head since the early 90's when perms were in fashion ! I even took a picture as I was a rather funny sight. I had to keep my hair in a bun to look 'reasonable'.
Thankfully by the time I got to the area where we all sit down and eat there was some left over for breakfast so I dug into the French bread, mango home made jam and made myself a latte with cold milk (considering it was already quite hot, I didn't mind). Watermelons were in season so we also had lots of those every day. I didn't use to like them much (too 'watery' as the name suggests !), but they are so common in so many countries, I've kind of developed a taste for them now... and they are refreshing, it has to be said.
My guide, Ibraham, who was a keen bird watcher (taught by his best friend as a kid) was waiting and asked me what I wanted to do as he'd been hired to look after guests, so it was all up to me really. He'd already taken the other couple for an early bird watching tour so he was on my shift now, so to speak. I suggested the same, going for a walk to look for birds.
We didn't really see much at all, as it happens (too late in the morning already, there were on siesta number 1) but we discussed relationships and arranged marriage and wedding ceremonies and I found it more interesting than bird watching. I mentioned that everywhere I go in the world the first question I am asked is whether I'm married or not whereas in Europe, it's quite ok to be single late in life and we value independence too. He said that in Gambia it'd be a bit shocking because 99% of people want to settle down and have a partner to do life with, someone to look after or vice versa. He said 'in fact, most people would find the nights boring without a partner', I said 'in my country most people would find nights more peaceful without a snoring partner'... he said 'well, can't you find one who doesn't snore?'... I then mentioned that in the UK it's cold in the winter and people also fight over the duvet and then I kind of lost him :) He was genuinely intrigued and puzzled and I tried to 'enlighten' him in my own way but obviously I'm an island :) I assured him I couldn't speak for *every* white woman...
We then went for a dip in the very green pool. Some crystals had not arrived to separate the sediments in the water (the crystals help break them down and drop to the bottom where they can be hoovered). However, the pool was chlorinated so it was safe to go in. It didn't even smell bad and the water looked very clear when you had it in your hands. However, quite a few bugs had committed suicide overnight, and some small frogs too so the first thing to do was to go on a cleaning mission. Ibraham had a kind of rake with a net and I went in and waved the bugs off in his direction and tried to rescue as many as I could who had not breathed their last breath yet.
After that, it was time for lunch and I was itchy to send some emails but it was 1.5opm and lunch was due at 2pm so I thought I wouldn't be impatient... when at 2.30pm there was still no sign of lunch (nor any smell of it either, for that matter) I enquired to the kitchen and was told 'lunch would be soon'... well, that didn't really tell me if it was worth logging on-line or not but I figured that on their GMT, it could take a while. So I asked Mark (who runs Hidden Gambia) if he could set me up on the spare laptop and started to type away. Good job I did as food wasn't ready till 3.15pm. However, since it was so hot, I wasn't really hungry, so could happily wait... but still managed to eat two portions when the dishes were actually on the table. "L'appetit vient en mangeant" as we say... and a true French person cannot resist good food. Binta was a good cook, simple but delicious. And I never got sick which is a blessing as the Bradt guide said 'if you can't peel it or cook it, forget it'.
In the afternoon we headed off to Bansang quarry where they have a colony of red-throated bee-eaters now protected by the Gambian Bird Society. I'd seen pix of the bird in the Field Guide books and they looked gorgeous. I love bee-eaters anyway, they are some of my favourites, though the shot I was after was of them cuddling up to one another on a branch, sometimes up to 10 in a row, but I never saw anything like that.
Still, getting to the quarry was quite a trek as it was 16kms away. We had to drive up to the North of the island and then wait for the ferry to go on the main land. We were actually first in the queue but 3 cars of government officials arrived and they got priority so we ended up stuck for a good 45 mins. Then men had to pull the ferry with their hands as it was all man-powered, no engine ! We killed time looking for birds and gheckos or lizzards....
We then had to drive another 20 mins or so, pass lots more police check-points and more villages and eventually reached the quarry where the bee-eaters had made lots of nests in the mud walls. The holes are actually quite deep (longer than your arm) so they feel quite safe in there and tend to go back in at dusk before the hawks come out to get them.
The couple I was with had a telescope and we could really appreciate their true beauty through that. You miss so much when you just have standard binoculars or even a 300mm zoom lens. In fact, we could even take a shot of the birds through the telescope with my compact camera. It worked quite nicely as 2nd-best since a zoom lens that would be 500mm or more would probablyl cost in excess of £4,000 ! You'd need a seriously heavy tripod too and I prefer to travel light to spare my shoulders.
We then drove all the way back via the ferry crossing and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset... just as I started to frame my shot a bunch of egrets flew into the sunset and made the picture extra special. I think that God was thinking 'hang on, I can make this better still, watch this'... and into my frame they flew :) I was so grateful & so chuffed. I have never believed in coincidences, only in God-incidences, as you know.
Dinner was supposed to be served at 8pm but there was no sign of it at all when we arrived. I went to see Binta and she said 'soon'... I said 'does it mean 9pm then?'... she just smiled. Hum. Back on the computer I went... good job I'd had a leisurely morning as I wasn't as desperate to 'hit the sack' early.
Food was gorgeous when it arrived... at 9pm exactly. Mark had tried pitta bread for the first time. He said he found a video of it on YouTube of 'how to make pitta', showed it to his chef and said 'watch this and see if you can make some too'... it worked. It was quite good ! :)
I woke up at 9.30am (having drifted on & off all night due to being too hot then too cold and then woken up by bird songs as of 4.30am even though I was wearing ear-plugs) and managed to make myself "decent for viewing" by 10.15am.
When I first saw myself in the mirror actually I laughed because it was so humid that my hair looked like a lion mane. In fact, I'd never seen my hair so high on my head since the early 90's when perms were in fashion ! I even took a picture as I was a rather funny sight. I had to keep my hair in a bun to look 'reasonable'.
Thankfully by the time I got to the area where we all sit down and eat there was some left over for breakfast so I dug into the French bread, mango home made jam and made myself a latte with cold milk (considering it was already quite hot, I didn't mind). Watermelons were in season so we also had lots of those every day. I didn't use to like them much (too 'watery' as the name suggests !), but they are so common in so many countries, I've kind of developed a taste for them now... and they are refreshing, it has to be said.
My guide, Ibraham, who was a keen bird watcher (taught by his best friend as a kid) was waiting and asked me what I wanted to do as he'd been hired to look after guests, so it was all up to me really. He'd already taken the other couple for an early bird watching tour so he was on my shift now, so to speak. I suggested the same, going for a walk to look for birds.
We didn't really see much at all, as it happens (too late in the morning already, there were on siesta number 1) but we discussed relationships and arranged marriage and wedding ceremonies and I found it more interesting than bird watching. I mentioned that everywhere I go in the world the first question I am asked is whether I'm married or not whereas in Europe, it's quite ok to be single late in life and we value independence too. He said that in Gambia it'd be a bit shocking because 99% of people want to settle down and have a partner to do life with, someone to look after or vice versa. He said 'in fact, most people would find the nights boring without a partner', I said 'in my country most people would find nights more peaceful without a snoring partner'... he said 'well, can't you find one who doesn't snore?'... I then mentioned that in the UK it's cold in the winter and people also fight over the duvet and then I kind of lost him :) He was genuinely intrigued and puzzled and I tried to 'enlighten' him in my own way but obviously I'm an island :) I assured him I couldn't speak for *every* white woman...
We then went for a dip in the very green pool. Some crystals had not arrived to separate the sediments in the water (the crystals help break them down and drop to the bottom where they can be hoovered). However, the pool was chlorinated so it was safe to go in. It didn't even smell bad and the water looked very clear when you had it in your hands. However, quite a few bugs had committed suicide overnight, and some small frogs too so the first thing to do was to go on a cleaning mission. Ibraham had a kind of rake with a net and I went in and waved the bugs off in his direction and tried to rescue as many as I could who had not breathed their last breath yet.
After that, it was time for lunch and I was itchy to send some emails but it was 1.5opm and lunch was due at 2pm so I thought I wouldn't be impatient... when at 2.30pm there was still no sign of lunch (nor any smell of it either, for that matter) I enquired to the kitchen and was told 'lunch would be soon'... well, that didn't really tell me if it was worth logging on-line or not but I figured that on their GMT, it could take a while. So I asked Mark (who runs Hidden Gambia) if he could set me up on the spare laptop and started to type away. Good job I did as food wasn't ready till 3.15pm. However, since it was so hot, I wasn't really hungry, so could happily wait... but still managed to eat two portions when the dishes were actually on the table. "L'appetit vient en mangeant" as we say... and a true French person cannot resist good food. Binta was a good cook, simple but delicious. And I never got sick which is a blessing as the Bradt guide said 'if you can't peel it or cook it, forget it'.
In the afternoon we headed off to Bansang quarry where they have a colony of red-throated bee-eaters now protected by the Gambian Bird Society. I'd seen pix of the bird in the Field Guide books and they looked gorgeous. I love bee-eaters anyway, they are some of my favourites, though the shot I was after was of them cuddling up to one another on a branch, sometimes up to 10 in a row, but I never saw anything like that.
Still, getting to the quarry was quite a trek as it was 16kms away. We had to drive up to the North of the island and then wait for the ferry to go on the main land. We were actually first in the queue but 3 cars of government officials arrived and they got priority so we ended up stuck for a good 45 mins. Then men had to pull the ferry with their hands as it was all man-powered, no engine ! We killed time looking for birds and gheckos or lizzards....
We then had to drive another 20 mins or so, pass lots more police check-points and more villages and eventually reached the quarry where the bee-eaters had made lots of nests in the mud walls. The holes are actually quite deep (longer than your arm) so they feel quite safe in there and tend to go back in at dusk before the hawks come out to get them.
The couple I was with had a telescope and we could really appreciate their true beauty through that. You miss so much when you just have standard binoculars or even a 300mm zoom lens. In fact, we could even take a shot of the birds through the telescope with my compact camera. It worked quite nicely as 2nd-best since a zoom lens that would be 500mm or more would probablyl cost in excess of £4,000 ! You'd need a seriously heavy tripod too and I prefer to travel light to spare my shoulders.
We then drove all the way back via the ferry crossing and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset... just as I started to frame my shot a bunch of egrets flew into the sunset and made the picture extra special. I think that God was thinking 'hang on, I can make this better still, watch this'... and into my frame they flew :) I was so grateful & so chuffed. I have never believed in coincidences, only in God-incidences, as you know.
Dinner was supposed to be served at 8pm but there was no sign of it at all when we arrived. I went to see Binta and she said 'soon'... I said 'does it mean 9pm then?'... she just smiled. Hum. Back on the computer I went... good job I'd had a leisurely morning as I wasn't as desperate to 'hit the sack' early.
Food was gorgeous when it arrived... at 9pm exactly. Mark had tried pitta bread for the first time. He said he found a video of it on YouTube of 'how to make pitta', showed it to his chef and said 'watch this and see if you can make some too'... it worked. It was quite good ! :)
posted by Sylvie at 7:48 PM
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