Last impressions on Gambia - 13 Nov 2009
I spent my last morning just leisuring around Farakunku... took a tip in the small pool to keep cool, enjoyed watching the Senegal parrots on the palm-tree where they'd nested... and chatted to Heather some more as she was so lovely.
My big regret is that I didn't get to go on a bird-watching tour that a friend of theirs organises where he rings the birds. He sets up a net very early in the morning and catches anything that gets trapped, measures the wings and rings them and releases them... it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have fantastic close-up photos of the colourful birds and considering how difficult it'd been to take any decent shots, it'd have been quite nice indeed - and quite unique too.
We had another delicious, healthy lunch and I must say I was relieved to have finished on a high note because my impressions of Gambia had not been hugely favourable up to this point. Heather also made me 2 sandwiches as a 'packed dinner' for later as I wasn't due to land at Gatwick before 10.30pm.
Muhammed came back to pick me up at 1pm and it was a good 45 mins drive to the airport. The whole week I'd been desperately trying to see a blue bellied roller as they are the ones I'm most familiar with since they have 2 pairs at London Zoo that I can picture quite easily and regularly as they are so tame, but I'd failed to see ONE. I'd been sooo disappointed.
And then... on the way to the airport, at the 11th hour, literally, on the telephone wires by the roadside, I saw two... I was SO happy as I felt it'd brought closure to my quest.
Muhammed then gave me a copy of an African music CD (one we'd listened to a lot in his car) and also a copy of the Coast-to-Coast by West Life which we'd also played quite a bit and he didn't even want me to pay him for the favour. He just asked for my email address, but 2 weeks on, he still hasn't emailed me (neither has my other driver). To be honest it's better this way because I really can't keep up with the number of people that I already know so adding some more to my list of contacts just to make small talk can seem pointless...
I got to the airport 90mins before departure, checked-in ok, managed to secure an aisle seat (a must really considering there's pretty much NO leg room on Thomas Cook flights) and thought nothing could go wrong now.... but how naive I was !
I went through passport control and thought I could relax at the cafe outside, taking my last dose of sunshine before heading for cooler Britain... but instead I was incessently pestered by the guys who did the security check and then by the head of security who just wouldn't stop following me around... He was such a dreadful bore and yet so persistent, it was embarrassing. I could see people around me cringe and think to themselves 'poor girl, she's just not gonna get a break'... He was adamant that I had to contact him next time I come to the Gambia, that he could show me around in his car, that I could stay at his place or in a nice flat because he had connections, etc. etc. and it didn't matter whether I said I was "in a relationship" / Christian (when he was Muslim) / 10 years older, etc. he just wouldn't take NO for an answer... I tried every angle I could think of to discourage him except 'you'd never be my type in a million years' (even the white of his eyes was grey !!!)... because I'm too polite to be that blant but boy, was it draining. 1 whole hour totally wasted. He even waited for me outside the toilets, he waited me outside duty-free... insisted on buying me a drink at the cafe and because he was so high up in rank, I couldn't really be as rude as I was tempted to be because I didn't really want to stay in Banjul overnight !!! Anyway, this kind of pestering was the last straw for me.... I just thought I couldn't handle Gambia again as a single traveller. He didn't pester any woman who was part of a couple, only targeted the ones who looked single. It seemed so sad that people could be so desperate... and so flipping arrogant too.
I was glad to be seated on the plane at long last... I even had 3 seats to myself, a big luxury !!! I enjoyed the movie and amazingly, we landed one hour early due to strong winds pushing our tail in the right direction. One hour early makes a massive difference that late in the day. I was also very lucky to have my train within 2 mins of buying my ticket (they run every 20mins) and to catch my bus to St Johns Wood within 30 seconds too (they run every 15mins at that time). It was 11.30pm when I got home (thankfully it was quite mild and dry as I didn't have a spare hand to hold an umbrella) but it could have easily been 90mins later if we'd landed as scheduled and if I'd missed my train & bus connections and had had to wait a while, so I was most grateful.
Overall though I'm not sure I'd go back.... it's not a 'must-see' country, that's for sure... I managed to put a reasonably nice album together (65 pages) but compared to East Africa and its glorious wildlife and varied scenery it really doesn't have an awful lot to offer except to bird watchers. Plus, as I stated earlier, I was hugely frustrated by the fact that people do not like to have their photos taken and that is something that would really make me think twice about going back ever again as photography is a HUGE part of my travelling and taking records of what I see is such a part of my identity.
However, to end on a positive note, it is a cheap winter break and the fact they are on GMT is a blessing as you are 'on your feet' instantly + 6 hours on a flight (5 on a good day) is a breezer compared to the 24H to Australia or 18-28H to South America (with the wait for connections).
I'd definitely research tours better next time though and not rush into the first thing I find... lesson learnt and lesson shared. Hope it helps whoever goes next if anyone of you fancy it...
The next big adventure will be Northern TANZANIA as of mid-February. It is my favourite country in the whole world.... and I haven't been since 1997 so I'm wildly excited !!!! (before that I'll be in France for Christmas from 19 Dec - 2 Jan but I wouldn't call *that* an 'adventure' :).
Bisous, Sylvie xxx
I spent my last morning just leisuring around Farakunku... took a tip in the small pool to keep cool, enjoyed watching the Senegal parrots on the palm-tree where they'd nested... and chatted to Heather some more as she was so lovely.
My big regret is that I didn't get to go on a bird-watching tour that a friend of theirs organises where he rings the birds. He sets up a net very early in the morning and catches anything that gets trapped, measures the wings and rings them and releases them... it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have fantastic close-up photos of the colourful birds and considering how difficult it'd been to take any decent shots, it'd have been quite nice indeed - and quite unique too.
We had another delicious, healthy lunch and I must say I was relieved to have finished on a high note because my impressions of Gambia had not been hugely favourable up to this point. Heather also made me 2 sandwiches as a 'packed dinner' for later as I wasn't due to land at Gatwick before 10.30pm.
Muhammed came back to pick me up at 1pm and it was a good 45 mins drive to the airport. The whole week I'd been desperately trying to see a blue bellied roller as they are the ones I'm most familiar with since they have 2 pairs at London Zoo that I can picture quite easily and regularly as they are so tame, but I'd failed to see ONE. I'd been sooo disappointed.
And then... on the way to the airport, at the 11th hour, literally, on the telephone wires by the roadside, I saw two... I was SO happy as I felt it'd brought closure to my quest.
Muhammed then gave me a copy of an African music CD (one we'd listened to a lot in his car) and also a copy of the Coast-to-Coast by West Life which we'd also played quite a bit and he didn't even want me to pay him for the favour. He just asked for my email address, but 2 weeks on, he still hasn't emailed me (neither has my other driver). To be honest it's better this way because I really can't keep up with the number of people that I already know so adding some more to my list of contacts just to make small talk can seem pointless...
I got to the airport 90mins before departure, checked-in ok, managed to secure an aisle seat (a must really considering there's pretty much NO leg room on Thomas Cook flights) and thought nothing could go wrong now.... but how naive I was !
I went through passport control and thought I could relax at the cafe outside, taking my last dose of sunshine before heading for cooler Britain... but instead I was incessently pestered by the guys who did the security check and then by the head of security who just wouldn't stop following me around... He was such a dreadful bore and yet so persistent, it was embarrassing. I could see people around me cringe and think to themselves 'poor girl, she's just not gonna get a break'... He was adamant that I had to contact him next time I come to the Gambia, that he could show me around in his car, that I could stay at his place or in a nice flat because he had connections, etc. etc. and it didn't matter whether I said I was "in a relationship" / Christian (when he was Muslim) / 10 years older, etc. he just wouldn't take NO for an answer... I tried every angle I could think of to discourage him except 'you'd never be my type in a million years' (even the white of his eyes was grey !!!)... because I'm too polite to be that blant but boy, was it draining. 1 whole hour totally wasted. He even waited for me outside the toilets, he waited me outside duty-free... insisted on buying me a drink at the cafe and because he was so high up in rank, I couldn't really be as rude as I was tempted to be because I didn't really want to stay in Banjul overnight !!! Anyway, this kind of pestering was the last straw for me.... I just thought I couldn't handle Gambia again as a single traveller. He didn't pester any woman who was part of a couple, only targeted the ones who looked single. It seemed so sad that people could be so desperate... and so flipping arrogant too.
I was glad to be seated on the plane at long last... I even had 3 seats to myself, a big luxury !!! I enjoyed the movie and amazingly, we landed one hour early due to strong winds pushing our tail in the right direction. One hour early makes a massive difference that late in the day. I was also very lucky to have my train within 2 mins of buying my ticket (they run every 20mins) and to catch my bus to St Johns Wood within 30 seconds too (they run every 15mins at that time). It was 11.30pm when I got home (thankfully it was quite mild and dry as I didn't have a spare hand to hold an umbrella) but it could have easily been 90mins later if we'd landed as scheduled and if I'd missed my train & bus connections and had had to wait a while, so I was most grateful.
Overall though I'm not sure I'd go back.... it's not a 'must-see' country, that's for sure... I managed to put a reasonably nice album together (65 pages) but compared to East Africa and its glorious wildlife and varied scenery it really doesn't have an awful lot to offer except to bird watchers. Plus, as I stated earlier, I was hugely frustrated by the fact that people do not like to have their photos taken and that is something that would really make me think twice about going back ever again as photography is a HUGE part of my travelling and taking records of what I see is such a part of my identity.
However, to end on a positive note, it is a cheap winter break and the fact they are on GMT is a blessing as you are 'on your feet' instantly + 6 hours on a flight (5 on a good day) is a breezer compared to the 24H to Australia or 18-28H to South America (with the wait for connections).
I'd definitely research tours better next time though and not rush into the first thing I find... lesson learnt and lesson shared. Hope it helps whoever goes next if anyone of you fancy it...
The next big adventure will be Northern TANZANIA as of mid-February. It is my favourite country in the whole world.... and I haven't been since 1997 so I'm wildly excited !!!! (before that I'll be in France for Christmas from 19 Dec - 2 Jan but I wouldn't call *that* an 'adventure' :).
Bisous, Sylvie xxx
posted by Sylvie at 8:31 PM
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