24 DEC – When I got to the Air B&B I was hot, sweaty and tired so wasn’t entirely on the ball. Although the Air B&B ad had said on-site parking, the landlord said I couldn’t leave my bike outside the property and should put it inside the property, which meant taking off all the luggage to get the bike down a set of steps and along a narrow passage. By the time I got all my luggage upstairs I was perspiring heavily and was tired.
But, once I got into the flat the landlord said that he needed money for the electricity. As it was Christmas Eve and there are NO campsites in Serrakunda so I gave him the benefit of the doubt so gave him around £5. He also said there was no internet which really peed me off because the Air B&B listing said wi-fi. When he also said that the washing machine did not work. I more or less gave up as what else could go wrong… Deep joy…!
I was unhappy about the internet because I needed to upload video and I also wanted to do some laundry, but I decided I could use the bucket in the bathroom for my laundry and that for the internet I would extend my E-sim. Plan B…
After taking a shower – which was feeble to say the least – I went out to buy food – including chocolate digestives and Jaffa cakes. Things aren’t so bad when you can get Jaffa cakes… When back at the flat I then discovered that the oven, the microwave and the fridge were disgusting. Dirty and full of old splashed food. I also discovered that the bed was dirty – so I ended up putting my tent up in the living room and using that to sleep in – because of the giant-sized cockroaches that would wander around quite freely and aimlessly. The inner part of my tent is free-standing and is insect-proof, so it wasn’t a problem. Plan C…
25 DEC – There was a disco behind the apartment which played music until around 4am, and then the mosque opposite the apartment made their call to prayers at 6.30am so I got very little sleep last night. I spent today – Christmas Day – catching up by editing video. There was a TV, and hopping through the channels (about 240 of them) there was no English-speaking channels except religious channels. I don’t belong to the god-squad so I played my own music. Because the oven, microwave and fridge were so dirty I decided not to use them and ended up using my camping stove for cooking and making tea, so for my x-mas dinner I had baked beans on bread, with a tin of mixed fruit in syrup for afters… In the evening I broke open the chocolate digestives and Jaffa cakes, which went well with mugs of tea and sitting on the veranda watching the world go by.
After spending much of the day editing video, for amusement in the evening I began a game of catch the cockroach. There was a large bucket with a lid so each time I saw one of these monster cockroaches I would catch it with a dustpan and pop it into the bucket. This evening I decided I wasn’t going to stay here any longer so I went online and booked myself into an Auberge on the outskirts of Serrakunda for the following day. An interesting day, but at least it was around 38 degrees today…
26 DEC – Today I left the Air B&B in Serrakunda. Getting up early I packed all my luggage, got it all downstairs and outside near the gates and then wheeled my bike down the alley to the gate. It was about 7am and all was quiet. My next issue was getting the bike up the stairs so finding some small bricks I piled them on the steps to make it into a kind of slope. Starting the bike, I popped her in gear, aimed her straight ahead and let go of the clutch – and soon had her up the stairs and outside. Quite quickly I had the bike packed and was happily on the road. I left the bucket containing all the cockroaches in the middle of the living room – as a nice gift for the landlord.
It was still quite early and I couldn’t arrive at the new accommodation until 11am so I headed over the Bakau area of the city. After riding around for a while I found a café where I had some breakfast, coffee and cold drinks while waiting for 11am.
I found the new guest house – Ann’s Guesthouse – and it was brilliant. I wish I had picked this at first, as well as having your own room with a small patio, it also had a small swimming pool. Bliss. It was also scrupulously clean, and the host – Anne – was very welcoming and there was even tea, coffee and cold drinks available in the small kitchen. It felt so homely and comfortable that I would have liked to stay longer.
This afternoon I did nothing. Nada. Zilch. Except laze in the shade, read my kindle and do as little as possible. Oh yes, I also went for a swim and in the hot sunshine, and the cool water was complete and utter bliss.
27 DEC – Apparently there was an attempted coup in Sierra Leone yesterday and their main refinery for petrol and diesel has either blown up or been blown up. No one seems to know how, why or what. Because Guinea gets most of its fuel from Sierra Leone it seems that in Guinea they are running out of fuel and are limiting petrol for motorbikes to 5 litres of fuel per motorbike. Guinea was going to be my next port of call but as there is no fuel I don’t see the point of heading south, even though I’ve spent 45eu on my E-visa for Guinea.
27 DEC – Today I decided to go into Banjul but on the way into the town I knocked over a young boy. A bus had stopped so naturally I drifted into the outside of the road and as I was passing the bus a young lad just ran out into the road. He was so fast and even though I tried to avoid him my bike just clipped him, breaking one of my running lights. I stopped the bike, grabbed my first-aid kit and by the time I got to him there was a crowd of people. They had flagged down a car to take him to the hospital in Banjul and someone said it was my fault so I must follow him to the hospital. I didn’t want to get into an argument so I followed the car to the emergency room.
The boy was walking, with just a few cuts, and after about 30 minutes we saw a doctor who said he needed an x-ray – which I needed to pay for so I paid the doctor’s fee and for the X-ray, which came to around £10. After his X-ray the doctor said he was fine and needed some pain killers so I accompanied him to the pharmacy and paid for his pills, which cost about £2.50. By that time his mother and several other people had turned up. She spoke English so I showed her the video off my GoPro to show her son running out into the road and the accident. I also told her that if I had been driving a bus or truck her son could have died – and that’s when I left. I am so glad I had my GoPro running. I could have easily rode away, and I actually wondered about this, but on reflection I know I did the right thing.
After that I went into Banjul and parking was at a premium but I ended up parking on a pavement near some busy shops. Its very safe in the Gambia, and being daytime, I had no qualms about leaving my bike while I went for a wander. I spent a couple of hours walking around an amazing market which sold anything and everything. Even though it was very busy, dark and narrow in places, I never felt threatened, and if anything, just their curiosity to see a old bearded white guy walking around their market. Before leaving I needed more cash so needed to visit an ATM. There were several nearby but none were working. The thing to do here is to find one with a queue and get in-line and quite soon I found one with a large queue. Being British, I am used to quietly and patiently queuing but in Africa queues are an artform. There isn’t any protocol or patience except to use your elbows when you need to and to keep moving forwards – forcibly. It was a new experience..!
After the Banjul market I went to an Alligator farm to see the Nile Alligators – and actually got to touch one. Scary…! I asked the guide why they don’t bite, and he said because they’ve just been fed…! There was also a small museum where you can see lots of artefacts about local customs, including FGM – which thankfully they are trying to eliminate. There were many different outfits for the different types of ceremonies, as well of lots of memorabilia from colonial times.
Nearby is a large Boabob tree – which apparently is the oldest tree in The Gambia. It was completely hollow – but still alive, and apparently 300 years old. It cost around £10 to see the alligators (which pays for the chicken they eat daily) and to visit the Museum, which I didn’t mind paying as it was all really interesting. At one point while looking at some pictures on a wall in one of the museum huts I noticed some movement, and several green monkeys wandered through the room quite nonchalantly.
On the way back I stopped at a small shop to buy some food – as tomorrow I am back on the road again.
And what a day…!
