No Problems in the Gambia

We embarked on our vacation dreaming of drinkable tap water and air conditioning, but we had a few obstacles to overcome before checking into our ‘five star’ luxury resort in Kololi on the Atlantic coast of the Gambia. After pulling an all-nighter since I couldn’t miss the opportunity to go out with some locals on the first weekend after Ramdan we embarked on a bus trip of unknown duration. Usually when you begin a journey you have a general idea of what time you’re going to arrive in your destination. Due to the nature of the roads between Dakar and Barra we didn’t want to even try to speculate our estimated time of arrival. The bus trip that should take only 3-4 hours took 7 hours, but the view out the window was pretty amazing. One of my fellow travelers referred to it as driving through the lion king; only the wildlife we saw was limited to donkeys, goats, horses, and cows. After the bus ride we took a ferry from Barra to Banjul and then got in a cab to take us to the Kairaba hotel, our final destination where we would remain for the next 8 days. So this was enough African adventure for us and it saved us a boatload of money considering it cost each of us about $12 to get there. The rest of our vacation mostly involved us sitting by the pool trying to escape Africa, but we soon discovered that even while staying in a five star resort locals still hassle you and the power still goes out every once in a while. It's just something we're going to have to come to terms with. We did thoroughly enjoy the free breakfast buffet and tea time. We ate dinner on the Senegambia strip every night and despite choosing a different restaurant each night we had the same options available at every one. Each menu had pizza, pasta, Lebanese food, and local dishes (which of course we avoided since we get enough of that at home). We became convinced that all of the restaurants shared a kitchen at the end of the strip.

As a group of young American students we were an oddity in the Gambia. Most of the tourists are European middle-aged men or women seeking out prostitutes. We were usually mistaken for Peace Corps volunteers. It was interesting because we are so jaded from our time in Dakar that we feel as though anyone trying to help us is also trying to take advantage of us. While this is still true in the Gambia most tourists don't have the same negative attitude so a few of the locals were very turned off by our chilly demeanor. One even said "White monkeys go back to your country." Funny how you pick up on all the insults when it's in your first language. So you can understand our reluctance to leave the resort. We did go to the market in Banjul and to the Katchikally Crocodile Pond to take some pictures. According to legend anyone who takes a picture of the crocs in this sacred pond faces imminent death..we took our chances. The Lonely Planet guide claimed there were over 80 crocodiles but since it was the rainy season there were about three and a baby. We've come to learn that tourist attractions aren't always what they seem in Africa. We've become grateful for the experiences we have in Dakar since the Gambia is so centered on tourism it's true African-ness is almost lost. We had a great break (in the true sense of the word) and I'm reluctant to return to classes tomorrow.