Off the Beaten Track in Banjul (pt 1)

Our 8 hour tour in Banjul, Gambia began with boarding (by ladder) an open air truck ride to Tanje where we visited a museum. Flying down the highway, I couldn't help but notice all the signage. At first there were numerous signs at regular intervals with messages like "Don't forget to pray" and "Prays Allah" (yes, that's how it was spelled) and "Alla is the one true God." Over and above those for miles and miles were signs advertising cell phone services.

The museum was….let me just say it was not what I had pictured. The building itself was run down and dirty. But there were displays of bugs and leaves, snake skins, pictures of birds and reptiles and also of traditional instruments. We also walked around the grounds and peeked inside some very rustic African-made huts for maybe 20-30 minutes, then re-boarded the trucks for an hour and 45 minute ride to Tuejereng.

 

Welcome

Welcome Tange Village Museum

display of African drums

traditional African instruments

Like Senegal, there is so much poverty, at least by American standards. Sooo many people, cobbled together housing, garbage everywhere, stray dogs, cows and goats eating trash, tall, thin boys and men on foot, women with babies on their backs, children playing in the dirt, older women carrying produce on their heads – all just going about their daily lives. They are so poor, but surprisingly many if not most of them have cell phones! Most people walk, but there are many cars– all dirty and covered with red sand, as is everything in Gambia. It's hard to tell which cars are operational and which aren't. Many have tires that are buried at least one fourth of the way into the sand.

trash and garbage everywhere

shopping for produce

every day is shopping day

busy market

a quick glance off the main street

carrying wood on head, baby on back, bags in hands

 

After arriving at Tuejereng, we were offered a plastic cup of palm wine inside one of the nicer traditional family compounds. In Africa, the extended family lives together under one roof – grandparents down to the youngest. The grandparents take care of the children when the parents work. Our guide told us that in Gambia, 85% of the people are Muslim. Only 40% of the children attend school. Education is neither free nor mandatory and many families cannot afford it.

 

our guide visiting with some of the family

beautiful children

 

Some of the ship passengers gave the kids chocolates, which they gobbled down while throwing the wrappers down on the ground. Speaking of trash, I thought Indonesia's trash was bad (and it was), but I do believe that Africa may have them beat!

 

young moms served palm "wine"

We saw how the palm tree is tapped to draw out the liquid (which they call wine). I didn’t taste it but it smelled really bad. I heard some discussion by some of the other guests as to whether or not it was actually fermented. I think it was their "gift" to us for our visit. We saw lots of mango trees, cashew trees (interesting!) and papaya trees. We learned about the baobab tree, which has many different uses in Africa and can supposedly live up to 5,000 years. The African people believe that the souls of their ancestors reside in the large trunk of the tree. If someone didn’t like their “wine” they could give it to the ancestors (pour it out on the ground).

 

guide demonstrating how the palm tree is tapped to drain its juice

papayas grow in clusters

cashew fruit (nut is inside brown case on bottom)

head of the family sitting on his mother's grave in courtyard (photo credit: Ronnie)

African "tree of life" - baobab tree

By example, the children have been taught to ask visitors for money. I gave them some gum that I had in my purse and their mother asked for some too. Later, the children followed me around and one little boy held my hand and kept saying “wundula” to me. I replied “wundula? what is wundala?” I had no idea. It wasn’t until later that I realized he was asking me for ‘one dollar!’ 

Ronnie was walking around the yard and saw the two graves. He took a picture of the father sitting on his mother's grave and the man asked if he would give him something to help the family. In addition to the "wine", they offered us small bags of raw cashews ($2 each). And there were even more opportunities to give them cash as we made our way back to the trucks. It was obvious that the family is used to hosting tourists.