26th September 2011
After an early start I landed in at Banjul airport just outside of Banjul at 3:15pm local time. I exited the plane to be greeted by a wave of heat,the temperature upon landing being 32°c, although I am sure that this was a conservative measurement. As I flew in over The Gambia I had seen, from above, the sun bleached green of the dense foliage and the corrugated roofs glistening like diamonds across the landscape.
At the airport I handed across my free visa application, a mere piece of paper you fill in on the plane then collected my luggage without a problem. I declined the numerous offers to help me with my luggage for a small fee.
I found, to my surprise, that as well as the luggage being scanned on the way out of the airport you also have to hand back the luggage sticker given to you at your luggage check-in point. After a few moments of searching I found this and they let me through the gates where Alagi, from the Gunjur Project, was waiting to take me to the project.
On the journey to the project, lasting 45minutes, I saw my first exciting glimpse of Gambian life. When we turned off the main road onto dirt tracks, through villages and past compounds, the kids shouted “two bob, two bob” the local name for white people, a throw back to when the Europeans were here and the currency at that time.
As I arrived at the project friendly staff greeted me and Jo showed me to my wonderful accommodation, basic but perfect. No sooner had I arrived, and changed in to clothes more suitable for the climate, I was invited to watch a meeting of the Village Development Committee (VDC). The meeting was held at the small Kajabang Community Nursery that was the focus of the discussion. The meeting started on GMT time, which I am informed, is Gambian Maybe Time. Sure enough, 40 minutes later than planned, the meeting started. In a mixture of languages, discussions were held about the development and management of the nursery. Visible during the meeting were the same factional divides, differences of opinion and disagreements present in any community meeting that I have ever witnessed in the UK.
After the meeting we drifted down into the fishing village to see the rows of smoke houses, smoking the days catch. Continuing further into the village the smoke gave way to a brilliant pink sunset, which we watched while shelling and eating fresh succulent peanuts.