It is difficult to explain exactly how excited we were to have some visitors from home at last, all the way from Finchley!
We are slowly recovering our spirits following the departure of Jeanne, John, Alessia and Marnie as we had a fabulous time. It soon became obvious that with four girls aged five and under the more adventurous plans (dawn bird watching canoe trips, forest hikes around Makasutu) were going to be put on the back burner and we concentrated on the more child friendly activities that involved lots of sand and water.
The highlight of the sand/water play was a trip to Footsteps, an Ecolodge near the southern border with Senegal. The owner organised a beach fishing trip for the boys while the many girls (plus one token Brazilian male not so into fishing) stayed around their freshwater pool. I cannot do justice to Aubs’ excitement around the fishing and current his disappointment that the fish he caught were whisked away so quickly by the chef so you only have our word for the size of captain fish that he managed to catch.
There were also some wildlife adventures. We were all educated by John who actually had a “bird book of the Gambia” with him and so we finally learned the names of the birds we see on a daily basis (though we over 550 species there are quite a few to remember). We re-visited the reptile farm where Alessia (aged 3 years) surpassed Amelie’s previous bravery by diving straight into the python cage to emerge with a striking reptile necklace. This also gave Elise a chance to show that she has grown more courageous since our last visit – not quite brave enough to have a snake round her neck, but she was very happy to stroke the non poisonous ones and salmonella ridden terrapins (much to her father’s horror!). Jeanne and John did what we have failed to do in 4 months and made it to the sacred crocodile pool that is less than 5 mins drive from our house. Their descriptions have left me torn – they reported that the crocs are really very approachable and very well fed (aka docile), but some concern lingers as there are apparently several hundred crocs in close proximity to where we live that appear to escape into the local sewage system with alarming regularity.
The second half of November has also been a time of holiday/festivities with lots of time off school! The middle of November was Tobaski, the Muslim holiday remembering when Abraham’s son was spared as a sacrifice and replaced by a ram. It is a very family oriented time with people travelling back to be together for the holiday. Poeple also splash out on new outfits keeping the tailors very busy. Most strikingly it is marked by the killing (DIY style at home) and cooking of a ram – the bigger the better. Amelie embraced the getting dressed up part of the festival, but wasn’t so sure about the ram side of things. She spent a lot of time the day before Tobaski trying to persuade me to rescue, and bring home, the large ram that was tied up in front of the administrative buildings at the MRC for the day.
Last week was Thanksgiving which Amelie celebrated in full through her American School. She was a bit happier with the food there (everything apart from the cranberry sauce I think). I am still in awe of the teacher who managed to get hold of and cook a turkey for all the children and staff. Unfortunately, we were slightly lacking on the dressing up front. Amelie was cast as a pilgrim, but we discovered that a five year old’s wardrobe is not abundant in dark coloured, plan, long dresses – she may have been the first pilgrim to have been seen in pink leggings.
We are now starting to look forward to Christmas, though this has brought one of my stranger experiences in the Gambia: a local shop with a huge fake Christmas tree adorned with tinsel and Christmas pop tunes blarring out. So it looks as if we will have a tree after all this year!
