Up early and headed toward Georgetown. Buba and Miriana are quite a pair teasing each other and laughing all the time. Buba said, "If you're looking for trouble, you will have it with a Gambian woman." Miriana says Buba is a naughty boy…but a good dancer. They told us some of their tribe traditions. Buba is Fula. His 5 yr old son recently got circumcised and there was a huge celebration.. He then took him to a month-long school with 10 other newly circumcised boys. They will lay quietly with loose clothing for days listening to rules about proper behavior…especially respecting others. They won't bath while there. He says his son cries a lot but he calls him every day and looks forward to him coming home with good manners. Miriana tells us how important family is to her Mandinka tribe (& other tribes). They live together in compounds with wives joining their husband's. It's illegal to marry before 18. A man can marry up to 4 wives & he is careful not to favor one. He stays with a different one each week and that week she cooks lunch for the entire compound. Works for them!
About 11, we pulled off the main road & into a Fula family compound with. Mud houses/thatched roof, well, outdoor fire cooking area and no electricity. A pile of kids rushed out to meet us and soon surrounded us. We were escorted into a home which was filled with beds made of ceiba seed fiber. There was a woman pounding couscous to loosen the husk and be made into porridge for breakfast, a man who'd purchased a large bag of sugar & was making small bags for resale. Buying one day supply of most everything is all most can afford. Another made with a baby on her lap was shelling peanuts. She gave us a big bag & we slipped her some $$. Being Fula, she had decorative marks burned on her face & lots of earrings. Miriana brought out a bag of suckers & cookies and was mobbed as she passed them out. When that excitement died down, I blew up a ballon and tossed it up. The wind carried it & the kids chased it hitting it back up when it came down. Hearing that they would get no education made me a bit sad but how would it change their culture if they did? Is it right to think that would be best for them? Miriana says education is better than gold or silver.
Our next stop was Wassu round stone circles. Basically a grave for past chiefs. We drove on passing many broken down vehicles on the side of the road, meeting big trucks from Senegal and over loaded taxi vans. Amazing how high they stacked the loads on top. One even had two goats on it! When we arrived at River Gambia Nat'l Park, we braved the rickety dock to climb into a boat and head to Bamboo Island where chimpanzees are being relocated. We saw a few of those big boys up in the trees. We made a quick turn-around when we spotted 6 hippos. Bigger boys! We gave them plenty of space to put on a show for us. Buba teased Miriana saying we say 7. She got him back later saying he had chicken muscles. We continued east turning off just before Georgetown. The road was barely a driveway with massive holes & overgrown brush. Where were we going?? Monkeys greeted us as mud huts came into view. Our hotel. Even more scarce. No electricity. No water. We watched the monkey's antics for a bit and visited with a couple from Holland. They had spent the day visiting the family the man had lived with 30 years ago through Peace Corp. He was a U of M grad! They started cooking supper but since I'd been fighting a cold, I just ate a piece of bread with my peanut butter & crashed. For breakfast, they had fresh donut holes which were delicious & omelets. We fed the monkeys some peanuts & slowly made our way back to the main road. The ferry to Georgetown was close by so that's where we went. Georgetown is an island city. So many others with bags of stuff bought or ready to sell at the market. Horses, donkeys, goats & sheep mingled with women dressed so colorfully & elegantly many with babies tied around their waist. When the ferry arrived, Buba drove on & then all the passengers loaded. A short ride & we were there…right next to the building where slaves were held & sold. A guide led us down into a dungeon & told the story. Here they were for 14 days, chained if aggressive, a hole dug to low tide sea level used as water source. During high tide the water & all their waste was up to their chest. Food was shoveled down holes at the top. More than half died & were fed to the crocodiles. Those who survived were weighed & that determined price. Women's tits were squeezed for firmness. Teeth were examined. The purchased slaves were loaded on boats where another half would die. Slaves from Africa were more valuable because of their strength. Slaves from India were much weaker. Of course we knew this story….but sitting in the dungeon with the great grandson of someone who'd probably been there was a chilling experience. Letter we would talk to Buba & Miriana about it. They said what is past is past. Africans were to blame as well. They captured people from other tribes to sell for tea, metal, jewelry and mirrors. Mirrors to admire themselves in. How sad. They said in a way, there are still slaves today as nephews are often made to work for uncles without pay.
A little ways down the road, we came to the first Methodist church in sub- Sahara Africa planted in 1824. Nothing impressive. Actually the sign was rusty, bent over and barely readable. But it gave me a warm feeling the Methodist love reached this island where such deployable acts took place. It also made me sad the my own Methodist church has chosen to split from that founding church. A school was built in 1927 for the sons of chiefs and later others. The boss of our tour is currently building a huge hotel/conference center here in Georgetown so we stopped to see it. Such a huge dream1. Big restaurants on the roof top, elegant stairway & a pool. He plans to encourage boat trips from Banjul to here on mini cruise ships. You look around at all the crumbling, undeveloped surroundings and wonder, how is this dream going to be a reality???
We had a long ways to go so we made few stops but talked lots…about even politics and religion as freely as anything else. Gambia just ousted a president who'd ruled for over so yrs who was actually doing lots of good things like paved road, bridges, more women rights, better litter control (which they desperately need)—but at the expense of freedom. Many people just disappeared. No one felt they could disagree with anything. Senegal armed forces were invited to protect the president's home region where green flags flew everywhere in his support. He made it known he wanted to be named king & have his family continue reigning. He didn't accept the election results & was forced to flee the country. The new president is not getting as much done but the people are much happier. Gambia is mostly a Muslim country & every town has a mosque & you can her them calling people to pray 5 times a day. Many kids go to Muslim schools where they mostly just learn the Koran. Muslims don't drink alcohol so that eliminates lots of problems. Miriana's take on Christians vs Muslims: One God. Same. Same.
The country that surrounds them, Senegal is called a sister country and they have the same 7 or so tribes. Borders between them is open as most have family on both sides. Senegal is more developed.
We were getting close to where we'd booked an Airbnb so Miriana tried the contact number we were given. After several calls & a bit of arguing, she finally got it the right person with the right directions. Again we took what was barely a driveway quite a distance in search of our Airbnb. Actually found it…on a gorgeous beach. The caretaker hadn't got the message we were coming until a bit before we arrived and had no room vacant. He quickly re-did their store room that was almost finished.A bed, couch, table & chairs soon appeared and walla—a room for us for the next 5 days. toilet, Wi-Fi, water are usually working so we're happy. We were served almost cold cokes & since we had some left over bread, we ate pb sandwich & welcomed a most softer bed!!
