Our truly cultural adventure began on Monday at 7 am. Buba, our driver picked us up and soon we picked up Miriana who was our guide. She was chocked full of information which she freely & rapidly shared with us as we drove along the main E-W road which was only paved 8 yrs ago. It was very smooth sailing except for slowing down for speed bumps, Irish crossings (valley built in road), town barricades (tires & anything resembling a gate), police stops, military stops with weapons showing, donkey carts and cattle, goats & people crossing the road. We drove through many congested market areas later stopping at Farafenni Market just to immerse ourselves into that experience. We passed lots of mango, orange & baobab trees and though they had huge bundles of sticks and piles of bags stuffed with charcoal made from wood, Mariana was quick to note that Gambia know the value of trees and there were many rules about cutting them. Most irons have an opening to put hot charcoal in. The rice and peanut fields are dormant now and used for grazing cattle and goats. In the rainy season they will flourish. Peanuts & fish are the main export crops. We arrived at Tendaba camp around 11, settled into our pretty sparse rooms & ate some breakfast left in the buffet. Then we climbed into the back of a 3 wheeler with a box behind for seats. A guide from Tendaba joined us and we got jostled about for almost an hour before arriving to a water hole in Kiang West Nat'l Park. We soon heard bamboos parking & then saw a large family in the distance. We headed to another water hole where we saw a herd of bush hogs. As we walked around, we scared up an antelope. Another bumpy ride back and I could hardly walk to my bed. Not sure I'd recommend that safari to anyone. Lunch was fried chicken/ff for me & yassa for Rog. Around 5, the Tendaba tide met us and we climbed way down a precariously old ladder into a boat & crossed the wide Gambia River. When we came to an opening in the mangroves, we turned into what was bird paradise! Thousands of them! Kingfishers, cormorants, spoonbill, storks, purple & great white heron, egrets, ibis, terns and so many I can't name but admired their brilliant colors. The funniest was the snake fish that dis look just like snake when it was swimming! On the shoreline, we saw crabs, a crocodile & a mongoose! I didn't want it to end but we headed back just as the sun set. Perfect. A dinner buffet was set up as there's a health conference being held here at the lodge with about 50 people. We slept on a hard bed under a mosquito net. The real Gambia experience.
