Monday (Day 3) Bring on the schools

An earlier start this morning as lots to fit in. Ginger and Sol usually have to use the gilly gilly to get around, this can be any type of vehicle that holds as many hot sweaty people as humanly possible but as I had paid £40 to hire a car for the week (a Mercedes no less) it meant we could range much further afield and carry many more goodies. At the first school we gave out 'School in a Bag' backpacks.
This is a great scheme where people can sponsor a bright red backpack full of much needed supplies, including books, pens, pencils, math sets and a lunch box and water bottle.

Each bag is numbered so those that have donated can see who ends up with their bag. We then headed back to the ranch to restock with book bags for the next school, each one had a knitted teddy in it courtesy of the ladies of the W.I. We also collected reading books, exercise books and games.
We also collected Sol's best friend Sidat (now there was room in the car for him) as he was coming along for crowd control. The second school was a new one for S4K and the headmaster was thrilled to be told there would be more donations in the future. To say thank you we had some songs sung to us in English, accompanied by a very cool teacher and pupil combo on drums.

After the hard work of the morning we went to Lamin Lodge for lunch. Sol and Ginger don't normally have time for lunch and carry a pack of biscuits to keep them going but in honour of my visit and because the car was making their progress quicker we decided to treat ourselves.

 The Lodge is a rustic looking wooden building on the banks of the river among the mangroves, all very beautiful and tranquil. First we had to cross a very rickety bridge over the water and then climb some very wonky stairs to the third floor that was open on all sides to catch the lightest breeze, sheer heaven. 

We sat waiting for our food and watching the lady oyster collectors along the banks. I noticed that there were 2 other groups eating with an interesting dynamic, both groups were white but had one black person with them. Ginger explained this is the new style of 'bumstering' the government had clamped down on the men bothering holidaymakers on the beach so now they 'befriended' them and acted as unofficial guides. I guess if it is mutually beneficial it is harmless but over the course of the week I saw many young women with one, two and even three men in tow, this made me even more grateful to have Ginger and Sol by my side. As I sat there with Sidat by my side I did wonder if it looked like I had fallen into the same trap!

I ate ChickenYasser with rice, a traditional dish of mainly chicken, onions and mustard and very tasty. I also had my first 'Julbrew' which is the government lager, winner of many gold medals and pretty much the only option available. 

After dropping Sidat back at the gym he runs we visited Sol's family compound again, I was beginning to feel like family already and was welcomed like a long lost relative, the kids all running over to say 'howaroo' I felt a little hand in mine and it was Fattie just standing there claiming ownership. We only stayed for a few minutes because Sol's sister told him of a little girl, Aja, who had an infected finger. Her mum, Isatou does Sol and Gingers laundry at well above the going rate and this helps support the 10 people living in their compound, which is really just the empty shell of a building. When we got there Ginger cleaned the wound and applied some antibiotic cream and a finger
bandage. I had noticed over the previous couple of days that Ginger never went anywhere without a rudimentary first aid kit, comprising all sorts of bits and bobs, but she was very careful not to leave any medications with people unless they knew exactly what to do with it. For example one lady had painful knees and she was given some Ibuprofen cream to rub in 4 times a day. Also a boy we regularly saw on the street was being treated with Blistex whenever we saw him, from a nearly empty tube, this was particularly frustrating as I had left a full one at home. Anyway, back to Aja, we had a bag of clothes for her in the boot and she was thrilled to bits to receive a few new outfits and a Beany Baby.

By this time it was getting a bit late and we started thinking about food, it is not very easy to plan ahead when you don't know what will be available so we headed off to the fish marked with a loose plan to have butterfish. When we got there the butterfish was gone but some nice looking saltfish was available, head chef Sol had never cooked this before so as the fish boy was filleting away another lady talked him through the recipe.

I watched for a while then retreated to the car which was parked in the shade. Ginger and I sat chatting for about 30 minutes (Gambia Time) and then Sol wandered over with the fish boy, who proceeded to tell me how much he loved tall women and that he couldn't concentrate on his filleting because I mad his brain go crazy....he then offered me his bracelet and made me promise not to forget him! So that was my first experience of being 'bumstered' although I like to think I bumstered him right back as I had been admiring his bracelet and had planned to buy one, so he saved me a few delasi.

While Ginger was editing her photo's and I took a cold shower (heaven) Sol started preparing the fish, soon after Denba turned up and we tucked in to yet another wonderful meal. An hour or so later while we were relaxing I looked over at Denba and he had fallen into a deep sleep, so being the responsible adults we were we piled many things onto his head in a weird parody of Buckaroo and took many photos.

By now I was thoroughly knackered and crawled off to my bed....