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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 10:36:37
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I intended setting off early for Tendaba......but several Gambian style hold ups before we could depart..... The hotel had to send out for money to change my dls. Took ages for man from Badala to come down. He looked pregnant?! Then I realised he had money stashed inside his coat!!! Most of what I changed was given to me in 25dls notes which I had to put in a carrier bag. Felt a bit like the mafia.
Anyway, money sorted I met my guide Lamin Dibba and his friend who I call ' The minister of the village'. I was impatient to set off.... but first we had to hunt for petrol (which I had asked him to get the day before!)Then we had to go to Brikama to buy a phone charger and then finally we set off...or so I thought!
The road passes by Pirang and we couldnt go by without saying hello to family and friends. A 'quick' stop turned into half an hour.
Gambia is teaching me patience, but I still have alot to learn. 
Then we really did set off. The road soon runs out of tarmac and the dust starts to swirl in the heat of the day. I drink at least two litres of water on the journey. Now I do the journey twice a year I start to recogise little land marks along the way and I watch the villages go by and look at the progress on the map. Everything was going fine until we reached Sibanor. The policeman there decided to pull us over. It was right in the heat of the day. I attracted a crowd of people . STAY IN THE CAR...is what my guide tells me. Not for my safety, but so I dont punch the policemen and make things a whole lot worse!! It makes me so ANGRY that people supposedly serving the public are corrupt. (Perhaps they should be paif more so they dont feel the need to be this way?)
Anyhow I am stuck in the car with a crowd of people round me...mainly children. They are good negotiators.....in the sace of the next half hour or so they wear me down into agreeing to bringing them a football next time we pass that way. They doubt me when I say yes......But I dont promise anything in Gambia that I wont deliver. False hope is worse than no hope at all.
After an hour at the side of the road finally we are let by when my guide gives the policeman 100dls. £2!
What I said in the car cannot be repeated. Lamin just shrugs and says its the gambian way. I said just give him the 100dls straight off next time then I dont have to wait in the heat for an hour! He said no, if I did that he would want more and more.........
From there in was a smooth journey to Kalagi (I think) where the trees are petrified. It is a wonderful landscape. We were stopped there by the army. He searched my bags and asked for a gift. We gave him some pencils, which he was very pleased with, and were allowed on our way.
Next stop Kwinella..... I called to see the nursery headteacher and take him a few things for the nursery. Kwinella nursery is one of the poorest nurseries I have seen. If anyone ever goes to Kwinella from the bantaba PLEASE visit and take a little money or pens and pencils. Or if anyone is considering sponsoring a nursery this one really needs it, and the man in charge is a really good guy.
From there we went to the health centre to see my good friend Sheriff Drammeh, she is a midwife and is a feminist, so we have alot to talk about. Interesting, because of social pressure, she got her daughter circumcised. She is extremely intelligent and sees the consequences in child birth, and yet still gave in. This fight has a long way to go.
Then, exhausted about 6 hours after setting off, we arrive at beautiful. peaceful, heavenly tendaba. i get the key for my room, and go and sit in my round hut. The journey falls away and I am happy.I have arrived at my favourite place on earth.
When I die I would love to be buried there.
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anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2006 : 14:24:53
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Yes, isn't it lovely! I've been there several times myself and Sajor Touray always welcomes us as if we are good old friends. When we were there last January we invited my mother-in-law to stay there with us. She had never been in a place like that, even though she has lived all her life in a small village nearby (Jattaba). She had the room next to ours (we always are at the waterfront, very nice too - you might see pelicans and white herons when you open the door in the early morning) and i could hear her talk and laugh with the staff on her little terrace early in the morning and she loved to sit by the pool watching me splash about. My Gambian man was happy to see her there, looking around all day (and in the kitchen!) laughing and careless, making friends with the waitresses (aren't they nice too, i especially like Mariama a lot). He was saying all the time 'oh my, she will have a lot to talk about when she's back home, gossiping with the other women!'.
I always think that this is the place to go to when you need to recover from whatever hardship or bad times! The peace and quiet of it .........
But it is a great pity that the road to get there is so, so bad. In fact it seems to get worse every year now. This last year my partner was so fed up with the road that i took him to have an extensive lunch in this luxury resort in Kanilai (forgot the name) when we were halfway. Very remarkable that the road to drive into Kanilai is just perfect! Well, we had a lunch at a very beautiful place, very big and also very empty! But give me Tendaba anytime! |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
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