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!