Tobaski or Eid-al-Adha

Ashley, Lucy and Max - under a Mandarin tree.

We left Soma early on Saturday morning for Kombo - again I would get the big green bus. As we waited for the bus to depart the last few Tobaski rams were loaded onto the roof. We then departed 45 minutes early (or maybe we were 45 late last time?) and I thought "excellent we'll get there for lunch". As the bus hit full speed you began to feel sorry for the poor rams bouncing on the roof above. We soon learnt to keep the windows shut as the rain and hail wasn't coming from the sky! I then heard a huge bang a couple of feet in front of me - one of back tyres had just exploded! The bus slowed to a stop, stranded on the dusty south road without a spare. The driver informed us that he had given his spare to another bus the day before and that we shouldn't have to wait much longer as the 6am bus from Banjul would pass us within the hour. Three hours and three green buses later (some slowing down just to look at our plight) we were beginning to get concerned. Stoke City were due to play Liverpool that afternoon so we had to get to Fransisco's in Fajara to watch the match. Luckily a truck with a spare finally did arrive and we ended up in Kombo only four hours late with plenty of time before the match. The bus driver was very apologetic and took us almost to our hotel door (well a junction called "Traffic Lights" - named because they were the first in The Gambia).

I think we need a new tyre?

Whilst watching the game I also decided to indulge myself with the finest British cuisine - fish and chips. Fransisco's is a watering-hole for many expats and has a good selection of pies etc. - they even do a Sunday roast! Stoke ended up comfortably beating Liverpool 2-0 with goals from Fuller & Jones. I don't think Liverpool had a shot on target (you can correct me Keith) - a fine end to a long day.

Tobaski celebrations were held on the following Tuesday - we were invited to the compound of a Filipino VSO's friend, Max (we have VSO volunteers from Uganda, UK, Holland and The Philippines). By the time we arrived the ram had been slaughtered (phew) - most of it's carcass had been butchered with just it's head left to be put in a soup the following day. In true westerner style I have to admit that my appetite suddenly dropped when I saw the kids cleaning out the intestines near where we were going to eat. One of the top honours is for the head of the compound to eat the fresh liver - this was shared with us, fried with spices and onions (very tasty). We then ate various "bits of meat" before having the main shared food-bowl meal. The slaughter of the ram is carried out in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son to God, who at the last minute exchanges Abraham’s son for a ram.

The remainder of the week we spent relaxing at various hotels in the Kombo area - I also managed to fit in a good beach/cliff walk from Fajara (near St Paul's church) to Cape Point. We were joined on the outward part of the journey by a chap who we suspected to be a "bumster" (tourist pest). At first he didn't ask for money and we began to wonder if he was just a very friendly local (he walked a good 5 miles of the route!). We managed to shake him off for the return leg but as we approached our hotel we could hear Jimmy the Fixer (the name was in hindsight a big clue) calling out our Gambian names (I'm also known as Alkali Jawneh - which means village leader, a sensible choice I think made by the head of our neighbouring compound). He now wanted a 200 dalasi donation to his reggae band! Bumsters usually disappear pretty quick when we mention we're volunteers or use a bit of Mandinka - Jimmy got the message that we wouldn't be fixing his bands financial problems anytime soon!

All good things come to an end - we had to head back to Soma at the end of the week. I decided to use the south road (the same way we had arrived) but this time to save on an early morning start we'd use "gelleh-gellehs" (shared mini-buses similar to collectivos). The first part of our trip to Brikama went without incident - we then had to change gellehs. As we had started the journey later in the day we also had the problem of a longer wait for the vehicle to fill. Eventually we started (although the vehicle needed a bump start - always a bad sign) and quickly got to the point where the tarmac ends and the road turns into a dusty, pot-holed track. On these roads vehicles don't really stick to the left or right (The Gambia drives in the right) - instead drivers pick the route with least holes. This often leads to chaos and the occasional crash! Soon after our start we had to pull in as we seemed to lose something off the vehicle - the gelleh boy was sent back down the road to find the fan belt (I think it was this anyway). We then carried on before again stopping as the front wheel was making a funny noise. This seemed more serious as the 12 year gelleh boy now turned mechanic needed to rebuild the brake mechanism! We also noticed oil dripping on to the real wheel from the axle - I was beginning to have major doubts as to the vehicles MOT status (yeah right)! When we stopped ten minutes later the twenty or so passengers decided enough was enough and we undertook a gelleh mutiny! Seemingly out of nowhere an empty minibus (with proper seats) appeared and a deal was done to carry on the journey. The unpaved roads are unbelievably tough out here - drivers still try and get up to 40-50mph though which puts a huge stress on the suspension and wheels. Our new driver was no different and guess what - after thirty minutes one of our rear wheels started to fall off! This time we got as far as Kalagi, just into our Lower River Region. We're not entirely sure what happened next but another empty gelleh arrived to complete our journey - luckily just before it got dark. Total time for return journey eight hours - the same as the outward journey the previous Saturday! Record for the north road, less than three!

Kate leaves the mutiny behind her!


Kate inspects gelleh number two!


Inside our final gelleh - great travelling companions!

Video Club Regular

Our lovely new secure router box - the paint is now dry


I'm now settled in to my pattern of work - word has spread amongst the local community that I can fix PCs so I'm always busy rebuilding a laptop or two for school principals, staff and friends. I have also started my training courses - every Friday at 10am. So far attendance has been a little disappointing - hopefully things will improve otherwise I'll have to offer free biscuits! Friday is the best day for cluster monitors (the guys who check the performance of schools in our area) as they're usually office based - but as it's a half day due to prayers sometimes people are busy elsewhere.

We've been experiencing quite a few Internet problems in the last few weeks (hence a lack of blog posts) - it appears our 3G signal (all rural Internet use mobile phone connections) has reduced dramatically to the extent that we can't get a signal anywhere indoors. Fortunately I can get a very good signal if I sit under a tree in the car park (people think I'm being lazy) but this involves disconnecting from the network first! Today I've managed to hang the dongle from a fire extinguisher and we're all getting a good signal again. We've also just had a special box installed to securely house our network switch and Internet router. For some reason the guy who built it tried to attach it to the wall when the paint was still wet - I was underneath holding it when it slipped and landed on my head. I almost had another haircut emergency - luckily most of the paint came off when I stuck my head under a nearby stand pipe!

I'm also now a regular at our local "video club" in Soma - this isn't quite the same thing as back home. For 10 dalasi (25p) I can watch live Premier League football matches with about 50 other cheerful Gambians. Recently I watched Stoke City play Manchester United. Stoke unfortunately went a goal down quite early on (and against the run of play). When Man Utd scored the shed erupted but I kept my stony silence. Then in the 80th minute Stoke's Turkish striker Tuncay scored an absolute cracker of a goal. He curled the ball in from the edge of the penalty area just past the out stretched hands of Edwin Van der Sar! I jumped off the bench to celebrate together with a local guy five rows ahead. To my disappointment it turned out that he wasn't a fellow Potter just someone who supported anyone but Man Utd! Stoke then switched off thinking that the point was secure - in the 85 minute the Red Devils snatched their winner and I went home unhappy.

As it's Tobaski next week (for most Gambians this will be their Christmas) the office will be closed. I'll be heading down to Kombo for a week's holiday - if I get chance I'll pop into www.cocoocean.com (I've called in here before and it's very nice). When we return we only have a couple of weeks before returning to Banjul for our week-long educational conference. Christmas (which is observed in The Gambia) will then arrive the following week - before I know it we'll be in a new year. It'll be my first Christmas outside the UK - I'll be back home in early February so the turkey and Christmas pudding will just have to wait. Anyone who would like to ship-out a festive hamper is more than welcome - Marcus Briggs c/o VSO, PO Box 677, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa (no pressure).

Gambian Wildlife

A Golden Silk Spider - their silk really is that strong


Though most large game animals such as elephants have been hunted to extinction a long time ago hippos can still be found in the protected area of the River Gambia National Park. Only last week a hippo was sadly shot when it entered the town of Basse during floods. The country has a diverse bird population which is unusual for its size. Over 560 species of birds have been recorded including a family of swallows that life above my front door. The mammals which are most often seen are baboons and monkeys. The species of monkey to be found are the western red colobus, patas and the callithrix. There are also small antelopes such as the Maxwell's duiker, sitatunga and bushbucks. Other animals to be found in The Gambia include aardvarks, hyena, nile crocodiles, warthogs, bushpigs, monitor lizards, chameleons, geckos (many in my latrine), puff adders, spitting cobras and green mambas. Bottle nose dolphins can be seen near the entrance to the river from the Atlantic Ocean on the Barra ferry. Spotting any of these is a major event - most creatures maintain a sensible low profile.

You do see a large number of domestic animals in and around Soma. Goats, sheep, chickens, pigs (something of a surprise), donkeys, packs of stray dogs (which don't actually look too badly off) and cats will be seen most days. We're heading towards the major Muslim festival of Tobaski (also known as Eid) - the tradition being that all family heads will slaughter a ram outside their compound - less goats/sheep in December I suspect! The sound of a donkey's bray first thing in the morning was one of biggest surprises and most alarming - the noise fruit bats make in the evening is one of the eeriest!

Apart from birds The Gambia also excels with the number of species of insect - this country really is bug central! If you're outside around or after dusk (or first thing which doesn't happen to me!) without 50% deet then you'll be eaten alive. We're all concerned about mosquitoes and the risks of catching malaria, but the majority of bites appear to be from other flying nasties. We rarely hear the tale-tale Mosquito high pitch shrill - but we will always know where we forgot to spray! Any food that is left out will be consumed by ants within minutes - usually by a miniature species - they also have large biting soldier ants, but these appear rarely. Large grasshoppers/crickets frequently jump out of the groundnut (peanut) field in front of my house and force entry under the front door. A gang of geckos/lizards patrol my latrine area so things aren't too bad - I do find quite a few Praying Mantises on my mesh screen though. The fly situation surprisingly isn't too bad - we're all looking forward to the dry season (which is starting now) when the temperatures drop and the number of insects declines dramatically.