Road trip: Gambia and Casamance
Hello you guys! How is it going in your neck of the wood?
Well, in my city it is raining lately. The entire city is a mess with pools of water, sewage leaking and mud. It is not fun to walk around but I do enjoy the rain because when it does, it is cooler.
Speaking of rain, it did rain during our entire trip down South. My brother told me that he wanted to go on a road trip down south since the beginning of this year. So we finally did and by we, I mean him, his wife and baby and my Dad. We drove down to the Gambia which is another country inside of Senegal and from there, we went to Casamance. The purpose of the trip was to introduce the baby to the family, my Dad's in the Gambia, and my Mother's in Casamance. The last time we did a road trip like that I was 13 and my brother was 7.
The trip was uneventful. It was a pleasure to drive in the country. We passed small villages, the roads were alright in most parts. The only time we were bothered was when we arrived in Gambia and had to wait 2 hours before taking the ferry to cross to Banjul. It was a bit frustrated that in this day and age we had to wait for a ferry to cross such short distance. I am hoping we will get a bridge someday. Anyway, we finally made it to my Grandpa's house in Serrekunda. The house is still the same with some changes here and there. My Grandmother and Aunt, welcomed us with open arms and snatched the baby away. She was passed around, kissed, hugged, adored. It was a pleasure seeing my family again. As usual they did everything to make our short stay magic: we had nice talks, they cooked the food we wanted and missed, they gave us presents. It is always a bitter sweet moment when I go down there because the house used to be filled with people but now it is almost empty.
After a sweet time in Gambia, we left for Casamance. The trip was shorter this time. What is beautiful when you drive down south is that everything is so green, with trees and mangrove everywhere. It was still raining but we did not let that bother us. We arrived in Ziguinchor, the capital city three hours after leaving Gambia. We decided to go to a guesthouse this time. We stayed in Amizade which was nice and perfect enough for us. It is a big house with three separate rooms. The rooms are spacious enough with a bathroom. I was so comfortable there. We went to visited family in Ziguinchor, my Mother's aunt and my Mother's sister. As usual they welcomed us the same way as our Gambian Family, with lots of food and gifts. The Baby was also spoiled. We did manage to visit Cap Skirring the following day. Cap Skirring is a resort area in Casamance with the beach and lots of tourists traps. We ate at a hotel there, we wanted to swim but the rain prevented it. We ended our day shopping for weaved fabrics at the market. Those fabrics are used by my Mother's ethnic group during events. I used to find them tacky but now I love them. I had to stop myself from buying the entire shop because everything was so beautiful. We ended the night visiting family again and having diner at my Aunt's house.
We went back home driving ever so slowly enjoying the view. It was raining, but it was beautiful. It took us 10 hours to reach Dakar. But we stopped by Kaolack to meet with one of my cousins who works at an orphanage. She let us visit and we saw so many beautiful babies. Most of them are twins. My heart was torn as I wanted to adopt all of them. But my cousin told me that since only their mothers passed away, I could not as their fathers are still alive and have parental rights I had to compare those babies to my own niece (some of them are the same age as her) and realize how cruel life could be. Still I am thinking of doing something, maybe donating food and clothes to them in the future.
The trip was fantastic but too short. I did enjoy it a lot, seeing family, meeting new people and just doing the things I love the most: eating, shopping, sightseeing. But we did rush a lot. Next time, if there is a next time, I think we need at least 10 days to two weeks to have enough time to slow down and really enjoy things. Maybe next year, God willing!
Well, in my city it is raining lately. The entire city is a mess with pools of water, sewage leaking and mud. It is not fun to walk around but I do enjoy the rain because when it does, it is cooler.
Speaking of rain, it did rain during our entire trip down South. My brother told me that he wanted to go on a road trip down south since the beginning of this year. So we finally did and by we, I mean him, his wife and baby and my Dad. We drove down to the Gambia which is another country inside of Senegal and from there, we went to Casamance. The purpose of the trip was to introduce the baby to the family, my Dad's in the Gambia, and my Mother's in Casamance. The last time we did a road trip like that I was 13 and my brother was 7.
The trip was uneventful. It was a pleasure to drive in the country. We passed small villages, the roads were alright in most parts. The only time we were bothered was when we arrived in Gambia and had to wait 2 hours before taking the ferry to cross to Banjul. It was a bit frustrated that in this day and age we had to wait for a ferry to cross such short distance. I am hoping we will get a bridge someday. Anyway, we finally made it to my Grandpa's house in Serrekunda. The house is still the same with some changes here and there. My Grandmother and Aunt, welcomed us with open arms and snatched the baby away. She was passed around, kissed, hugged, adored. It was a pleasure seeing my family again. As usual they did everything to make our short stay magic: we had nice talks, they cooked the food we wanted and missed, they gave us presents. It is always a bitter sweet moment when I go down there because the house used to be filled with people but now it is almost empty.
The border between Gambia and Senegal
Me at Hotel Coco Ocean
Hotel Grounds
Sunset
Suppa at my Grandmother's house. Suppa is a stew of beef, smoked catfish, okra and palm oil. I think Gambia's suppa might be the best!
Diner at The Butchers Shop with my twitter mates Juka and Aji
Chocolate pudding and home made vanilla ice cream
During our stay of four days, I still managed to indulge in some little shopping at the market to buy dyed fabrics, but also to some outlet shops for clothes. Everything seems cheaper there. I think I indulged a little bit too much. With the brother and his wife, we also visited Hotel Coco Ocean and the experience was amazing. The hotel grounds are beautiful and the service was alright. It was also so cheap compared to hotels in Dakar. I just want to go back and stay there for a long weekend. The final highlight to the trip in the Gambia was when I meet up with some wonderful ladies I met via Twitter. They took me to a restaurant I have been before and really enjoyed. We had a nice diner chatting about life in the Gambia. I was so happy to finally meet them after exchanging online.
View of Ziguinchor
Diner at my aunt's house
Cap Skirring
Weaved fabric at the Tilene market
My pink room at residence Amizade
We had to stop by Diourbel to visit some family but they were not there. Still we had to see the street named after our Great Uncle
We went back home driving ever so slowly enjoying the view. It was raining, but it was beautiful. It took us 10 hours to reach Dakar. But we stopped by Kaolack to meet with one of my cousins who works at an orphanage. She let us visit and we saw so many beautiful babies. Most of them are twins. My heart was torn as I wanted to adopt all of them. But my cousin told me that since only their mothers passed away, I could not as their fathers are still alive and have parental rights I had to compare those babies to my own niece (some of them are the same age as her) and realize how cruel life could be. Still I am thinking of doing something, maybe donating food and clothes to them in the future.
The trip was fantastic but too short. I did enjoy it a lot, seeing family, meeting new people and just doing the things I love the most: eating, shopping, sightseeing. But we did rush a lot. Next time, if there is a next time, I think we need at least 10 days to two weeks to have enough time to slow down and really enjoy things. Maybe next year, God willing!
View of mangrove between The Gambia and Casamance
Kankourang (or masked figure) that comes out to scare kids away
and protect newly circumcised boys
Giraffe at Hibiscus resort in Cap Skirring
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