Look! You just learned that a country existed inside of Senegal!
Megan’s Short-attention Span Guide to the Gambia: The Gambia is a tiny sliver that wraps around the Gambia River and houses its capital (Banjul) where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean. English and Wolof are the predominant languages spoken here (no French!), and you can see traces of British influence. The Gambia gained independence from Great Britain in 1965, and in 1994 a coup d’état brought a 29-year-old Army Lieutenant named Yahya Jammeh to power. Since I’m still in The Gambia, I’m not going to say anything else about the guy except that he’s an interesting dude with interesting outfits and ideas. Even back in Washington D.C.,I had heard that people here don’t like to talk about him, let alone even mention him by name. Since arriving here yesterday, I have already heard him only referred to as “The Big Man”. Interesting.
We crossed the border no problem, and all of sudden I was visiting my second country on the African continent (just a really leeetle one). Our destination, Banjul (the capital), is located on the southern side of the river, so we had to take the ferry to cross.
We got to the ferry area, and greeted the gate guard in English “How are things going?” A funny change from the typical “Ca va?” question and response, a little more honesty in this British-influenced country. “I’m trying to have a nice day” he told us bluntly. How refreshing! I loved it. Anyways, another worker (not sure what he did exactly, escorted our car to the waiting pen area on the pier:
Have you ever wondered what those handles were for on cars? I finally figured it out.
Here is where we waiting for the ferry to show up. Lots of people stopped by our car, selling stuff, asking for stuff, or telling us that they were sick, just had a baby, or had a baby that was sick. Everyone’s got a story, everyone’s looking for money.
Foodstuffs that were being carried off of small boats that had made the journey across the river.
We were the last car to make it onto the ferry, and the sterngate latched shut a bit too snugly behind us for my liking. After the hour-long crossing we got ready to go, only we didn’t. Guess which vehicle on the ferry broke down and impeded our ability to drive off of the ferry?
We made it to our hotel! It is quite beautiful…the government is affording us a rate that many other people cannot access. I did get outside the hotel, but I am lazy, and am taking a spa day.
