A Day in the Life

 

We are woken at 6:40am every morning, not because Zack’s alarm goes off but because our cat is sitting under our bedroom window crying for food. Since we’ve adopted him he has transformed from a skinny outdoor cat living on small bony smoked fish to a chubby fluff ball that needs constant attention and tinned tuna. As Zack gets ready for work I usually sleep or read my book, preferring to read Jane Austen repetitively rather than start my essays on community planning.  Zack leaves around 7:45 – despite having the same routine every work day, he is always running late – I put on the kettle and turn on the computer, wondering how long I can procrastinate before starting my work (in truth this can sometimes be hours). The time difference to Australia is pretty good so many mornings I Skype my parents or friends who are usually having dinner before I’ve even had breakfast. Around 9ish I often wander over to the crazy lady in the tiny shop across the street, she's actually very friendly but did not want to smile for the photo. Every time I go over to buy tapalapa (baguette type bread that is sometimes so fresh it is still warm) we have the same conversation that generally consists of smiling, laughing, nodding and mumbling – I speak no Fula and she no English but we generally get the gist since my purchase never changes. After my usual yogurt, fruit and vegemite tapalapa I retreat back to my study where I stare blankly at my computer for a while before managing to get some work done. My work and study schedules are pretty flexible so every day seems the same but different – simular tasks in varying orders. 

 I also have a project with WWF (as previously mentioned) so during the week I periodically wander in and out of the office, sometimes just staying for a couple of hours to chat with someone other than Slobs and eat the lunch. Every day at the office a big silver bowl arrives around 1-2pm. Inside is always a mound of rice topped with various Gambian sauces, mostly comprising of palm oil and msg flavouring, sometimes good sometimes not so good. My favourite is domoda, the peanut butter based sauce. We all sit around the same bowl and eat, I only catch bits a pieces of conversation which is generally in Wolof and often the food gives me a stomach ache but I enjoy these lunches and I think I entertain the others by asking stupid questions such as “what exactly are we eating?”. 

 

Zack and I are not organised enough to do a weeks (or even 2 days) worth of food shopping at once so nearly every day I visit the vege stands and supermarkets. Food shopping generally takes a while, especially if I need something particular, every supermarket is only slightly larger than a 7/11 and a product seen one week may never appear again. So the combination of having to visit many shops, chatting with the vege sellers and making sure to always have enough cash, makes food shopping a much longer, drawn out, partly entertaining, partly tiresome but always interactive activity than simply going to wholefoods!   

On days when I meet Zack at the embassy we sometimes go to our favourite local bar. Bakau Guesthouse is not really a bar it’s more of a deteriorating restaurant and hotel that is perched precariously on a small cliff overlooking the Bakau fish market. Arriving soon after 6pm, our timing is usually perfect to sit on the balcony with a Jewlbrew and watch the fisherman come back with their daily catch. The market at this time is a crazy mash of noise, colour, smell and more noise. As the small wooden boats come in, kids run into the waves to collect the fish for selling, or sometimes stealing! Women sell and cook fish to locals, expats, restaurant owners and tourists. Sometimes if we’re feeling brave enough we venture up the tower, a long dark winding staircase that takes us past floors of half open hotel rooms, decrepit hall ways and squatters quarters to the open roof where we can see to the horizon in all directions and watch as the sun sinks into the haze. 

Other days Zack gets home around 7ish, usually in time to walk down to beach, carefully ignoring the bumsters, before making dinner, watching TV and going to bed. The next morning Slobs dutifully wakes us up with his pitiful meows and we start all over again!

It's nearly been a year since we arrive in Gambia and I've barely written on my blog!

So as most of you know, Zack and I have just returned for our very belated honeymoon in Italy. I know it's difficult to believe but we were hanging out for a holiday... all this sand, sun and warm weather really gets to you after a while :) Zack has been working hard for the past year and I've been busy with my various essays and projects so it was nice to have a break and catch up with some friends and family back in DC.
A couple of months ago I started a volunteer project with World Wildlife Fund. The director was a little vague on exactly what it is he wanted me to do (something about dolphins, turtles, education, fishing etc.) so I have decided to (attempt) a project to increase marine education in the fishing villages along the  coast. It's actually pretty exciting because I am designing and organising the program myself which is something they would never let a random volunteer do in large WWF offices. So with the help of a local ranger and a very good artist, I organised some classes with school kids to increase the marine awareness (or "sensitize" as they say here) in schools. Despite living at the beach very few people - adults and children - know much about the complexity of a marine environment or the role that different animals play in the ecosystem. I was a little nervous about how the kids would respond to the classes but they seemed to really enjoy the games, did pretty well on the homework I set and with the help of Njogu (the artist) they drew some really wonderful pictures of different marine species.

So this is just a short blog to let you know what I've been doing but I PROMISE to write a more detailed one very soon!

Basse

OK I know I am probably the worst person to have a blog because I never get around to actually writing it (I just think about what I could write). So this blog is for the Bright people who told my mum to make sure I remember to update it, thanks for reading :)

As the land cruiser barrels into a thick cloud of red dust I hope that Coolie (our driver) has some sort of special x-ray vision that allows him to see what's ahead of us, because I certainly can't. There must be a car ahead somewhere because our headlights are unable to penetrate the cloud of dust it leaves behind. The sun set about an hour ago and since then we have been driving at 100km/hour into dusty nothingness. Every so ofter we are suddenly confronted with a Gelli - an old beaten up mini van carrying more people and luggage than is physically possible, how they don't fall apart at every pot hole must be a feat of magic. The Gellis are invisible to us until they are about 5 meters away, when we are forced to swerve quickly into the ditch. I suppose the Gelli driver doesn't want to risk stopping as it looks quite possible that the van will never start again.

We are on the road to Basse, the most eastern town in Gambia and a major thoroughfare for many people heading down to Guinea Conakry and beyond.  The embassy has made various donations to surrounding villages and Zack has been sent to check them out. I tagged along just for fun (or something like it) as I hope to see as much of the country as possible while we are here. Now we may live in Africa but as other embassy staff say, this is "Africa light", no war, no famine and a reasonable climate. We live in a peaceful country and although entertainment may be limited we have access to pretty much everything we need - I even found vegemite the other day! So going all the way up to Basse is quite an adventure for us, no tourists come up here, there are no supermarkets, very little power and we had no idea what it would be like. Zack made me pack boxes of food, sleeping bags, antibiotics and more bug spray than you can imagine! Despite our wild imagination, Basse was not like driving into the depths of the Congo Basin and we were staying in an apartment on the MRC compound (British Medical Research Center) that was nicer than our house. Although I have to say, for an organization that does so much malaria research you would think they would have mosquito nets and fly wire screens on the windows.

Although Basse is about as far away from Kombos as possible in Gambia, it is probably only a few hundred kilometers in distance. Yet the drive takes anywhere between 6 hours (driving at break neck speed) and 8-9 hours (if the ferries take a while). We drove up the north bank to avoid the terrible roads on the south but this involves many ferry crossings. Bridges here are rare and although they add hours onto a trip, ferries are the usual means of transport across the river - even if it is only 30 meters.

One of the main reasons we were up in Basse was to attend an opening of a community project to assist with education in sustainable farming and other such activities. In typical Gambian style it started 3 hours late and went for 4 hours but on the whole it was interesting - especially hearing about their plans for improving agriculture and industry. We spent the remainder of our time visiting villages which were recipients of embassy projects such as milling machines - grinding cous can take women hours by hand. To show off the new machine we were offered some freshly ground cous which is served with milk in a large communal bowl. Now I am very happy (and surprised) with the variety of food here but the one thing I really miss is fresh milk. Well this is proof that I should be careful what I wish for... this milk was so fresh that the cow was still tied up outside! Now you all may be accustomed to drinking unpasteurized milk but I am not and sipping fresh warm, sour milk (made slightly lumpy from the cous) out of a giant spoon was an experience. I hate to sound ungrateful for the kind generosity of the village but I am now much more appreciative of our imported long life milk from Belgium.

So we survived and enjoyed our adventure to Basse... times like these remind us of why we love living in such a different place, strange milk and all!

Dog Blog

Yesterday we adopted a dog, ok well not permanently (to my disappointment). We have offered to dog sit over Christmas for a couple that live around the corner and yesterday they brought Daffy (a lovely black lab mix) for a trial sleepover. Now it is no secret that I love dogs, especially Labradors. I still miss Poppy, the wonderful golden lab that we had until I was 12 – yes it was 11 years ago but I still think about her. However Zack is not so enthusiastic about animals, although I have to say he is coming around, our latest post-foreign service plan is to have a puppy farm in upstate New York (and an apartment in Manhattan of course). Anyway I am getting totally off track with the present story. So yesterday afternoon Max and Nola dropped off a very excitable Daffy. They had repeatedly said that Daffy was a low energy dog who preferred to spend her days sleeping (much like our cat), so I was not prepared for the next 20 hours...

3:00pm            
Daffy arrives at the house, tail wagging and tongue dripping

3:05pm            
Max and Nola manage squeeze out the door without Daffy escaping and I am left alone with the dog

3:05:02pm       
 I look down at the big slobbery wriggling pile of fur on the floor and she looks up at me with big wet eyes that just scream excitement, "hmm" I think to myself, "this should be interesting"

3:05:03pm       
 and she’s off... as fast as she can. With her paws slipping on the tiles, Daffy explores every nook and cranny of the house (she is an indoor dog that loves food and hates exercise so in reality it’s more of a lopsided waddle)

3:05:04pm        
as I stand there, wondering what to do next, a loud barking starts echoing around the house. Apparently Daffy is not content to just sniff everything, she also has to bark too... "so much for being low energy" I tell her. For the rest of her stay Daffy barks at everything... Lamin, the guard, the trucks on the road, the water filter... everything that makes a sound within a three mile radius has her barking like we’re under attack. I guess she would be a good guard dog - well that’s if the burglar was afraid of being licked. 

3:05:30pm       
 having never been in this situation and not knowing what to do I decide to chase her, my plan is to play with her until she gets tired and falls asleep

3:06 - 3:10pm 
we run laps around the house, Daffy in the lead, tongue flapping and drool flying, she thinks this is a great game "see Zack I'm great with dogs, my plan is working perfectly"

3:10:03pm       
six minutes of running prove too much for Daffy and she flops on the floor panting, seemingly exhausted. My plan has succeeded... until she spots the cat...

OK I think you get the gist. Thankfully I had already thought to keep the dog and the cat separated but that didn’t stop them from watching each other closely. They sat on either side of the glass door, staring at each other with death in their eyes (Slobs outside, Daffy inside) looking as if they were in an old western movie, ready for the shoot out. Yet despite the running, jumping, licking and barking, we all survived the night. Although at 5am this morning I was woken by a wet nose attached to a very excited dog trying to lick my face – 5am!

Will's Thanksgiving Visit

Thanksgiving week was one of the best we have had in Gambia. Our good friend Will  traveled all the way from DC to stay with us for 7 nights (although after his 10 hour delay in Dakar it was more like 6). He was our very first visitor and  I think we were more excited than Will. Unfortunately Zack had to work but I had managed to get all my work done the week before so I was completely free to show him around. The week was pretty jam packed with activities so I’ll just share with you the highlights. 

Since Will arrived at 5am on Monday morning, half of the first day was spent sleeping. When he had recovered in the afternoon we walked along the beach to my favourite place - where else but Coco Ocean! Walking on the beach has improved significantly since the resorts have cleaned up all the rubbish for the tourists and the bumsters are less persistent now they have more people to hassle. We met Zack after work and went to watch the fishermen bring in their daily catch. There is a small guesthouse where you can sit and watch the market below before braving the crowd to haggle over the fresh fish. 

One of the popular places for both tourists and locals to visit in the Kombos is the crocodile park. Locals go because crocodiles are meant to bring good luck in fertility (or something like that) and tourists go because where else can you get so close to hundreds of 6 foot crocs! Now I come from Australia where the crocs are merciless, they grab you, drag you under the water and roll on you before devouring you whole… so I think I’m justified in feeling a bit nervous when there is nothing between me and a giant croc. Lamin was nearly in hysterics when he saw how scared I was patting the sleeping croc, but in my defence Will also looked quite worried. Especially when a particularly large one started walking right towards us. 

The highlight of the week would have to be Thanksgiving day. The new ambassador hosted a wonderful dinner  (I even ate celery a real rarity here!) at her lovely residence overlooking the ocean. However, the really great part was taking the embassy speed boat out on the river. That morning Zack, Will and I met the  driver at the dock where we piled onto the boat with a large cooler of drinks. I never thought much of boats because I get seasick but this was awesome! We zoomed through the small winding rivers boarded by mangroves before entering the open water of the River Gambia, which is more than 3 miles across at the mouth. We were heading up to James Island and Juffure village where there is an old British fort and the previous heart of the Gambian slave trade. I have just finished Roots (a wonderful book which I highly recommend) and this is where much of the book is set. The island and museum was interesting and heartbreaking but set up for tourists, at one point there is an old food storage room which has obviously had fake bars attached to make it look like a slave dungeon.  We were alone on the small island so we were free to explore all the old ruins, which includes many large cannons. Although it has the sad slave history, the area was first “discovered” by the Portuguese and then the fort was used to guard the British ships and colonies from the French and many battles were fought there. How lucky we are not to live in those times. As we sped back down the river the sun was shining and the water was glistening - good friends and cold beer what else could you want!

Saturday, Will’s second last day, bought warm sunny weather, of course that’s all there ever is this time of year! We drove down the coast to have lunch on the beach near the boarder with Senegal. The beach down here is clean and empty and we spent a lovely afternoon body surfing in the waves and relaxing in the shade. Some days in Gambia can be slow and (to be honest) kind of boring but it is weeks like this that remind me of all the great things we get to do living here. Sure there are no cinemas or cocktail lounges, things move sooooo slowly it is frustrating and it is often too hot to do anything but there are also many great aspects too. Will keeps thanking us for a great week in Gambia but I need to thank Will for reminding me how much fun we have here. So in the week of Thanksgiving I am thankful for how lucky I am to have such an exiting life that I get to share it with great friends like Will and my wonderful husband Zack.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Tobaski!

Every year in November, corresponding with the time of the Hajj to Mecca, there is a big Muslim holiday called Tobaski, the Festival of Sacrifice. It celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Isma’il to Allah (however Allah intervened and gave Ibrahim a ram to sacrifice instead). Thus, husbands are expected to buy a ram (usually one for each wife). The ram is then slaughtered and the meat is divided into three parts, one part for the family, one for friends and relatives and the final to give to the needy.  In a way I suppose it is sort of the Muslim equivalent of Christmas. Most Gambians took a few days off to travel to their villages and feast on the ram with their friends and family. 

We were very privileged to be invited to spend Tobaski with the family of an embassy driver who lives in the area. We met Coolie at noon (making sure to miss the ram slaughtering which is in the morning) and he directed us to his family compound which was in the maze of small dirt roads that dominate the residential section of the Kombos. Upon arriving we were warmly greeted by Coolie’s wife, three brothers, sisters-in-law and more children than I could keep track of.  Being vegetarian I was not expecting to benefit much from the feast but Coolie’s wife very kindly prepared me some of the most delicious fish I have ever eaten. At first we felt a little awkward sitting around the small living room making small talk - which was pretty limited considering we don’t speak any Mandinka, Wolof, Jula or Fula. It was a long afternoon of sitting, eating and watching. This may not sound very interesting but once we relaxed it was very enjoyable, Coolie‘s family were very kind and they did everything they could to make us comfortable. Pulling our chairs out on the street we all sat around drinking endless cups of ataya (very strong, bitter sweet tea made out of green tea, mint and a bucketful of sugar which is served in small glasses), discussing life and greeting the people who walked by. 

Coolie’s compound is next to the local mosque so it was a busy area. A local charity had donated a cow to the community and Zack was lucky enough to watch the cow slaughtering (I stayed back and drank more ataya). We left that evening feeling content after a day of good food and good company. 

The Shocking Return

Despite the post date on this piece this is my belated post from October (post South Africa)

At 10pm on a Saturday we stepped off our Air Mauritania plane feeling quite relieved to have survived the flight down from Dakar - it may have been a short journey but in a tiny Mauritanian propeller plane it felt a lot longer than 20 minutes. We were greeted at home by a very excited Slobs and a house that had electric current running though everything, including the water…  now I know I’ve said our house has had a many minor problems but this was new. After being shocked by everything we touched I finally convinced Zack that we should go to a hotel. Having excess electricity running through the house was not fun (especially when I had two major essays due) but I’m not going to lie… four nights at Coco Ocean was awesome! Zack had to get up and go to work every day but having minimal internet connection I had no choice but to relax by the pool and read magazines (we are very grateful for our subscriptions to Vogue and National Geographic). By the end of the week they had pretty much fixed the problem, we still occasionally get shocked by the shower but I try not to think about that too much.

By this time I was way behind in my course so the rest of October was consumed by catching up on my work and preparing for our Halloween party. When we first moved to Gambia we decided we would host a party to get to know people in the area better … and let’s be honest, we were trying to win over new friends by supplying them with free booze! As the party drew nearer I started to get a little bit worried, we had been meeting people at lots of events but how many people were actually going to come to our party? Luckily there was a big Dewali party at a local Indian restaurant the night before where we ran into lots of people we knew (and made new friends) all of which were invited and actually came! So in the end we had about 40 people and I think everyone had a good time - the punch I made helped that along. The highlight would have to be the Halloween piñatas we made, they were a hit!

So with only the occasional electric shock the rest of October and the start of November passed by quickly. I somehow managed to complete all my assignments and finished out the year with pretty good marks. Previous excitements and those little Gambian idiosyncrasies  such as haggling over fabric prices, bumster encounters, avoiding crazy taxi drivers and seeing people riding pushbikes carrying a 10 foot poles and ladders (it happens more that you would think) are beginning to become daily life - Oh who am I kidding those things are always interesting (and frustrating). I think we could spend 5 years here and still be surprised by crazy occurrences every week. Finally, I am happy to report that the weather is finally starting to cool down (slightly). It hardly ever rains and the humidity has dropped significantly - don’t get me wrong it’s still really hot but at least I feel as though I can go outside again.

Safari Part Two

Before I begin with the second part of our Safari story I want to briefly reflect back on our time here so far. We have been living in Gambia for five months now and I like it here, our house feels like home (most of the time). I think the general ease at which I have settled into the area is thanks to my good friend Jen, who I was lucky to meet within the first week of arriving. She has taught me how to fabric shop without being ripped off, shown me the best tailors for getting clothes made, introduced me to the joys of Coco Ocean and just been an all round good friend. Last night we dropped her off at the airport and to say that I am sad to see her go is an understatement. I am really going to miss the lazy hours chatting by the pool, our hilarious attempts to learn yoga and the hot afternoons haggling over fabric that we really didn't need. With Jen left her lovely husband Doug, her sister Anna (who has also become a good friend over the past month and I am very sorry to see go) and two very cute cats. They are heading to Hong Kong where Doug has been offered a wonderful job and I know Jen will be very happy. Although they will be missed here in Gambia, I look forward to our already planned visits to Hong Kong and I know that we will remain friends despite the distance.

Now to some more Safari talk...

The last post left off just as we arrived at the lovely Kwenga Lodge. We barely had time to put our bags down before heading out on our first safari. Needless to say I was quite excited. Zack and I had been discussing what we most hoped to see and I had decided that although lions and elephants would be amazing, what I really hoped for was a giraffe. I was in luck - well actually our guide Willem told us that it would be impossible to miss them. Sure enough on our first morning there was the giant, long legged, long necked creature bending down to nibble on the top of a 12 foot tree. They are the most

fantastically awkward yet cute creatures I have ever seen, with their looooong necks and funny patterns- what was Mother Nature thinking?! At 5am that morning we had staggered out of our little cabin and into the safari truck. With temperatures during the day reaching up to 40 degrees the best animal sightings are early morning and evening. At about 7am we stopped amongst a family of giraffes grazing next to a heard of zebras for our pre-breakfast tea stop. So there we were sipping our Rooibus tea and eating rusks (a strange South African biscuit) as the giraffes and zebras watched us from only a few feet away and I should make it clear that these are wild animals- I'm not kidding it was fantastic!

With the safari drives in the early morning and evening I imagined we would have plenty of free time. However, once we had eaten breakfast, played some scrabble or pigs, taken a short nap and then ate some more, we had to get back out there! Mostly we would trawl the bush in the truck but a few times we ventured out on foot (with a large gun). Although I was grateful for the exercise I'm not going to lie, it was scary! When faced with a large rhino or heard of buffalo I think I prefer the false sense of security in the vehicle - even if it doesn't have walls.

The second afternoon we drove to a larger reserve that is part of the great Kruger national park. There are no elephants or lions at our smaller reserve so we were extremely lucky to see both on this aft. As we rounded a dusty corner we came across two male lions lounging right next the road. Content and sleepy after a big kill they couldn't care less about us - thankfully. As they began to move one looked right at me and with a scornful look that clearly said "what do you want?" it walked right in front of the car, so close that we could see his whiskers. Later that evening we also came across two families of elephants, both with babies, and a hippo, quietly watching us from the water... Good thing we weren't considering a swim!

On our final evening, after watching a baby rhino learn how to "wallow" in the mud, we stood in a grassy plain watching as huge bolts of red lightning fork across the sky. Forget the fact that there was a known leopard lurking nearby, now I was a little concerned about bushfires in all the dry shrub. After 10 minutes of imagining I could smell smoke, I gave up worrying and enjoyed the spectacular light show.

As the final morning arrived I was surprised to find that I was quite sad to say goodbye. Although we had only been at Kwenga Lodge a few days we felt rather attached to the place and the wonderful animals. In the end we had seen nearly every animal possible, except for the elusive leopard. There were a few times when we knew they were close but remained hidden from of sight. Oh well next time - perhaps when we own our own private reserve (and win the lotto!).

This has been a rather long post so I'm going to leave it here but please stay tuned because I will soon update you on life back in Gambia - it has been an interesting week!

The Journey

It was 2:30am on the morning of our scheduled departure to South Africa. The Safari was booked and we were supposed to be sleeping soundly, dreaming of the animals we were to see. Instead, Zack was lying on the couch drenched in sweat and sporting a 100^oF fever. We had both been feeling unwell off and on for the past week and despite the numerous doses of antibiotics (which in retrospect may or may not have been real) the bug refused to leave us alone. Poor Zack was miserable and I am sorry to say that I was a little cranky at the prospect of missing our trip. Knowing that some people wait for years to go on Safari we could hardly believe our luck when the opportunity arose. Zack’s conference in Johannesburg was scheduled to start on the Wednesday and we were leaving nearly a week early to enjoy the animal reserves north-east of the city... who cares about the conference, I didn’t want to pass up the chance to see a wild giraffe! Neither of us slept much that night but as morning came Zack’s fever dropped slightly and after a good sleep he was ready to go... Hooray!

Despite the fact that we were flying within Africa, the entire journey took about 20 hours. Not only is Africa huge (who knew?) but Gambia is fairly remote and flights are infrequent so we had to overnight it in Dakar, Senegal. We arrived in Joburg at dusk so by the time we finally got out of the airport (3 stressful hours were spent trying to pay the credit card bill online which we had forgotten about) it was dark and we could have been anywhere is the world. We planned an early start to pick up the rental car at 8:30am... by 11am we were finally driving Matilda the Nissan Tilda along M5 and we were on our way.

When Zack first suggested driving in South Africa I had visions of dusty potholed roads, crazy minivans driving erratically and animals all over the road. In reality it is nothing like Gambia and the drive actually reminded me a bit of country Australia. Small rolling hills with grazing cows in the dry paddocks and power plants on the horizon were a bit reminiscent of Gippsland, Victoria. Driving down the main street of the country towns I had an urge to stop at a bakery for a pink lamington. Well that was until we saw the barefoot kids playing on the side of the road and women sitting on the dusty sidewalk selling vegetables off a rug... "oh right we’re still in Africa".

Around dusk we rolled up to gates of the reserve. A small sign clearly told us to call the lodge on the provided radio and they would open the gate. We had finally arrived... well nearly. Upon entering the gate we were faced with four dusty dirt roads leading off into the bush, well what could we do but guess? As we blindly headed off it suddenly occurred to me just how vulnerable Matilda seemed, did I mention it was right on dusk and I’m sure I head a lion roar! After 15 minutes of driving around the scrub, guessing at every fork in the road, we finally gave up when we came to a roundabout.... a roundabout? Gee a sign would have been nice! We headed back to the gate - “Zack you remember the way right?” Back at the entrance everything seems simple, we’ll just get safely out (I’m sure I saw a rhino in the scrub) then wait for the owners to come and collect us. It seemed simple until we realised that they had abandoned the radio. So there we were, stuck with the Big 5 in a cheap hire car, screaming into a useless radio on a post. I was prepared to risk the barbed wire and electric fence just to escape, there were defiantly – maybe – some hyenas around! Just as the lions, rhinos, hyenas and buffalo (did I mention the buffalo yet?) were about to demolish us whole the gate slid open... “We’re free, we’re safe, we’re... in the middle of the bush in a strange country... now what?”

So as you already know we did eventually find the lodge. Our guide conveniently drove up just then and showed us the way – of course you turn right at the roundabout, isn’t it obvious?! After we had recovered we were very happy to see that we had randomly picked the perfect lodge. Until 2005 it was a private holiday retreat for a very wealthy family. Now it is a small 5 room lodge and for the weekend it was accommodating solely to us... our very own private game reserve!

Johannesburg

Well after only 3 weeks home in Gambia I have taken off to South Africa for 10 days, I love my life!

Zack has some boring economics conference in Johannesburg so I am tagging along and we are taking the opportunity to go on safari! After a week at a tiger reserve in India a couple of years ago, we have been anxious to experience more... the cold brisk morning air in the open top 4x4, the rush of adrenalin as we trawl through the bush in search of the illusive big cat and the stomach butterflies as a flash of fire orange passes through the long grass. So a partially paid (for Zack that is) trip to the land of elephants and lions was too much to pass up. After 3 wonderful days I am now back in Joburg, dreaming of owning a safari lodge. The African safari experience has been so much more that we expected - and expectations were high, but this is just a mini-blog to let you all know that when I get home I will post a proper blog with photos.

Bintang Bolong

A few weeks ago Zack and I decided to take an overnight trip to a small village called Bintang on the river - known as a bolong. The rainy season had started but the sky looked clear (there are no weather forecasts here) and we decided to risk it - besides what's a bit of rain anyway?

So we kissed Slobs good bye and set out in Gav the Rav for another adventure. We had heard the roads up country get pretty rough in the rainy season so we were pleasantly surprised when we found a newly paved road leading all the way to the turn off down to the river. After a (very long) 5km dirt track we had managed to avoid hitting any of the kids that tried to grab hold of the car while yelling "toubab toubab" and we rolled into our lodge in time for lunch. We had booked into a small lodge on the river. The lonely planet describes Bintang Bolong as "rustic". Well I'm not sure that "rustic" aptly describes the rickety cabins that jut out into the mangroves on spindly little stilts as well as "decrepit" would have. OK so I'm exaggerating a little, they weren't all that bad. I suppose they were almost "quaint" and they at least had electricity. Lunch was served in the small open restaurant (also on stilts) that looked out over the river and it was beautiful - the food and the view. We had booked a ride in a paddle boat at 5 so after lunch we headed out for a walk around the village.

Bintang is the type of village that looks idyllic if you don't have to live there. Small dirt tracks flanked by trees and fields give way to small housing compounds where men lie under the giant mahogany trees, kids play soccer in the yard and women prepare the afternoon meal.

Of course in reality it is stinking hot, the torrential rains cause houses to collapse every year and the kids are running around barefoot, but hey who lets the truth get in the way of a good story!

So after a pleasant walk around the area... assisted by a couple of local "tour guides" who felt compelled to show us the old Portuguese church - despite our insistence that we found the mosque much more interesting - we headed back to catch our paddle boat.

It turns out that a paddle boat in Gambia is not like one of those old boats with the big water wheels that you see on the Murray... in fact it's more like a canoe. This would have been lovely except that is was paddled by a boy who looked about 11. After a very slow 30 minutes we had traveled about 100 metres and the poor kid looked exhausted. So when we stopped for a break Zack and I took over the paddling, which was much more fun anyway (only once did we run into the bank and nearly decapitate ourselves on the low hanging branches). As we floated back down the river, paddle in hand, I tried to ignore the sinister column of dark black cloud that was rising on the horizon... what's a bit of rain anyway right? Then the wind came...

We were finishing dinner when our beer was sent flying across the table by a gust of wind that felt as though it could take down a house (I suppose it does). As the staff ran around trying to prepare for the storm the power flicked out and we were left with front row seats to the biggest storm I have ever seen (and ever wish to). We huddled in our room trying to ignore the precarious swaying of our cabin and watched tensely as the storm pass right over us, willing the stilts to hold. Sheets of lighting lit up the sky and for a second we could see as if it were day before we were plunged back into darkness (well we did have one small solar lamp). Needless to say neither of us slept much that night.

Just after 5am the sun finally shed an eerie blue light on the crystal clear morning. As we walked through the fields and watched the sun rise over the mangroves I felt that being awake all night was worth it to experience this fresh dawn. I guess the weekend turned out OK... oh who am I kidding we loved it!

Plus we got to meet this really cute baby donkey..

It has been nearly 2 months since I last posted on my blog and I am starting to feel a bit guilty because I really love writing. I spend so much time writing essays for uni - which are not nearly as fun as blogging - that I forget to update you all on our exciting adventures!

As many of you know I have just returned from 3 weeks in Australia visiting my family, enjoying the cold, eating my favourite foods and drinking good coffee. Well I have left the cold wet weather of Victoria and am now back in the hot wet weather of Gambia. Zack has informed me that I missed some great rains while I was home - the evidence of which is still running down my study wall and rapidly turning to mold. I had a wonderful time at home (my original home) I am happy to be back home (my new home), despite the possible hazardous moldy wall. It is wonderful to see Zack, Slobs and the pool at Coco Ocean (the first place I went on my return!).

I have many stories to share from before my trip home and I can't possibly cram them all into this blog. So... just a short post to remind you all that I am still here and will be updating very soon!

Now I'm off to pursue my favourite activity (apart from Coco Ocean)... fabric shopping!