Day 20 - Gambian Story Collection Time

Started the day with a nice breakfast at the rooftop of my hotel with a nice view of palm trees under a deep blue sky ... the world is smiling : ) 

Today, was story collection time ... it helps that now most people speak English around here (not all) ... Wolof and Mandinka are more common. 

As I made my way to around the town to the crafts market and the beach ... I met a few great people.

At the crafts market, I met Bernadette, one of the vendors there, and we talked about her family ... her brother's name was Rene and lived in Senegal.  

Walked to the beach and met Kaddy, a police officer that gracefully agreed to give me the police patch on her arm, and told me about being a police officer at 28.  

Met Sarjo, a lifeguard for one of the hotels on the beach ... we talked about Gambian and Mexican music (his favorite song was Nna La Duwa (My Blessing), by ST Da Gambian) and about migrants boarding wooden boats right on this beach to make a trek all the way to Spain! ... in open seas, with only a handheld compass ... and the tragedies that often happen ... the universal plight to find better opportunities to help your family is everywhere ... he showed me some pictures on his phone ... silent tragedies.

After the long walks, found a cappuccino place and went on to try to find a bank to get some cash ... ran out of cash of any denomination (bad idea when traveling so far) ... but, after a few tries, found an ATM that worked 😰

After a good Gambian lunch, took my bike to get it washed to get it ready to be crated for shipment in Dakar.  And, there, I met Balla who ran a used car business off the sidewalk next to the guy washing vehicles.  We talked about adventures, life in Gambia, and migrations for a while.

Tomorrow, I head back to Dakar early ... dreading the ferry and the border crossings ... but looking forward to going through the Saloum Delta again.

A good way to start the day ... in Gambia ... at the rooftop of my hotel ... very civilized

Feeding the vendors at the crafts market as it was opening

My first glimpse of the beach in Banjul ... white sands, wide open, deserted

A few hotels facing the ocean

A side street view

The crafts market as it was opening

Apparently, The Gambia is a well know fashion center

Found a nice coffee house for a break mid-morning

The Convention Center

Kaddy

Sarjo

My hotel ... only 7 rooms ... great rooftop

Balla

Finally ... getting rid of 20 days of grime

The view from the rooftop of the hotel