11th October 2011

One thing that I realised I haven’t mentioned about my first experience of The Gambia was the smell. Everywhere around the Gunjur there is a special type of plant, they look like nettles and smell like a cross between mint and eucalyptus. It smells absolutely wonderful and as you get further down towards the smoke houses on the seafront you also get a fabulous rich smoky scent drifting across the roads. This smoky scent isn’t a false promise either the fish from the smoke houses is amazing. It’ll take you a while to get all the tiny bones out but it’s well worth persevering! Back to the smells of The Gambia; I didn’t have preconceived ideas about what this part of Africa would smell like but I never expected it to smell so lovely. I suppose I’m used to the stale, exhaust fume aromas of Manchester and hadn’t considered that I would actually enjoy the smells around me.