We are leaving Banjul, Gambia and headed for Dakar. Things I saw or learned while walking through town today: 1. Locals proclaim heartily that they want to be your friend, and attach themselves to you as guides whether you ask for their company or not. When you tell them you do not wish to hire a guide, they airily state that they are only in it for the companionship. But after a time, if money doesn’t change hands, they are not so friendly anymore. Given the economic disparity between them and us, I doubt that a true friendship could be entered into through such a meeting. 2. Flies and rats, especially flies, everywhere. On the food in the market, on the children, in your face. 3. Vultures circling by the dozens, waiting for the slaughterhouses next to the market throw out the offal from the day’s kill, when I am told they descend like a screaming black cloud. 4. Gambian women of very dark black skin, have black nipples as well. Solid black. 5. Locals do not like you to take pictures, especially of women. 6. There are few places where smells are as intense as here. 7. The British, colonizing this land, left their mark here, although decades later their infrastructure (roads, buildings, sidewalks) is crumbling away. 8. Goats are popular to have, even in the middle of town. 9. You would have to enjoy eating strong smelling fish to live here. 10. I am not sure I need to return to Gambia.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:09:53 +0000
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