The Gambia

So I haven't really properly described The Gambia yet. To be honest we haven't done a whole lot out here so far. This was mostly a visa stop for us. We have been very lucky to have been able to stay with our host out here. Mohamed is a great guy and we've had a lot of fun with him and he has helped us out so much. We have been getting the full hosting treatment and his wife is an excellent cook so we have been lucky enough to sample the traditional local cuisine. A spicy peanut sauce on fish and rice is our favourite. We are staying really close to the market area, or rather in it, since the boundaries are quite fluid and cover many, many square blocks. There have been a couple of semi-trucks park across from our place full loaded with bananas. I've never seen so many before. The rest of the market is as we've come to expect with two exceptions: 1. People here sell oranges already pealed. It's a bit weird because at first glance you think that everyone is selling onions. 2. There are a lot of shops selling second hand clothes and other things from the US or Europe. Ever wondered where all that stuff you gave away went? It's all here, but being sold, not donated.
Plumbing is a bit messed up here with usually only a couple of hours of running water each day so it all has to be stored in big buckets to be used the rest of the time. It has also been overcast on a few days so we haven't been to the beach. Actually the beach is a few km away and Mohamed has a nice tv and a lot of DVDs so we have been watching movies like crazy trying to get our yearly fix.
We've been successful in getting the visas we need here and are even ahead of schedule so we will be moving on toward Guinea Bissau and then Guinea next. We are looking forward to it as that will again put us off the usual tourist trail and into some more exciting geographical territory. The embassy personnel have been very friendly and if that trend continues we should have no major problems......
Ammon