Serekunda is een stad

Greetings from Gambia! Or The Gambia, to be precise. I guess The
Smallest Country in Africa has something to prove. Legend has it that
the British sailed up the river, fired off cannons to either side and
drew the boundaries where the balls fell. Even today, this small strip
of Anglophone Africa stays afloat in the middle of French-speaking
West Africa with the support of its former colony. British tourists –
and particularly women – like to come here “to have a good time”. This
has resulted in a rather unfortunate reputation for European women
(and those who look like them). An entire industry has sprung up to
service these needs, and in military attire no less – all rather
intimidating, really. I will sit alone with my hibiscus juice in the
morning, but will not feel comfortable doing so with my JulBrew (a
local beer) once it’s dark.

Some of the delegates had dinner together tonight. I’ve had enough
shop talk for the day and decided rather to join a fellow traveller
from Sierra Leone for the African-themed buffet. So instead of shop
talk, we had small talk. And the Number 1 small talk topic among
semi-strangers in Banjul? The route you took to get here. Unless
you’re a British tourist, The Gambia is really difficult to get to.
Many of us now know what it’s like to transit via Nairobi, Dakar,
Accra, Freetown, Monrovia, Casablanca...

I started reading a book on my way from Cape Town, but struggled to
get into it. So, on recommendation of some famous author, I bought
another at ORT. At first Jeff’s pulpy exploits in Venice (pas de
sentiment, beaucoup de sentimes) seemed the ideal distraction for
hurrying-up-and-waiting in aeroplanes and airports. But then, it ended
oddly with the ex-journalist going off the rails in Varanasi! I’m not
sure I enjoyed it, but without much else to do, I finished it anyway.
On the way back, I think I’ll try to figure out the workings of my
first mini music device (MP3 player).

But first, I’m looking forward to seeing some more of This Gambia.
We’re going on a “field trip” tomorrow. I’m not sure where to, but it
will surely have something to do with fishes. I hope we’ll go wherever
via Serekunda (just because it’s in that Stef Bos song). Might go out
dancing, too (but only if my newest South African friend agrees to be
my on-call boyfriend/fiancé/husband for the night!)

Funny how travelling can be at once so exotic and so tedious!

(September 2010)