5th May - Guess where?

Our day began with a call from Dad (this being Nicki's dad!) who told
us he had spoken to the British consulate in Mali in an attempt to get
to the bottom of the Mali visa situation. He told us that it is
apparently possible to get a transit visa at the border of Guinea and
not only this but it may be possible to get a week long one instead of
just a 72 hour one. So at least we know that a) we don't have to go to
Conakry so will avoid the centre of crime in Guinea and b) we don't
have to go back to the border with Senegal where we know we can get a
transit visa for sure. So that solves that issue, thanks Dad! Now we
just have to decide whether to go to the south of Guinea and possibly
Sierra Leone, a decision that can be made once we are in Guinea and we
will hopefully have learnt a bit more about the situation in that
region.

David just opened the blind and said 'It's raining!' to which I
replied 'REALLY?!' to which he answered 'No.' Very funny, how stupid
am I especially as we have the roof hatch open!!!

We had breakfast, a very exciting affair for me as we opened the
marmite to go with the usual bread and coffee. Saikou then showed
David how to play the drum, a traditional African drum made of goats
skin. He did pretty well and I also had a turn, though we were nowhere
near as good as Saikou of course! They then burst into a song about
us, welcoming us to Africa and Gambia, they later translated but at
first all we heard were our names - they could have been saying
anything! David took a video on the camera so everyone can see when we
return. I am currently sitting in a hammock writing this, everything
is done here on African time and we are fitting in very nicely to this
way of life. It is pleasant having breakfast not having to worry about
going to work or some other appointment within the next five minutes,
instead we leisurely eat and then sit around chilling to music and the
rhythm of the drum, with various herbal aromas floating around…

David: I decided to have a go at fishing. I borrowed one of Tony's
rods, with a weight and hook pre-attached, and wandered down to the
sea with some of our strong cheese. I thought I'd have a test cast
without any cheese, just to get a feel for the rod, and as I cast, the
weight and hook twanged off somewhere, never to be seen again… A bit
annoying as Tony brought the rods from Europe and doesn't have any
spare gear.

So, second attempt, with the other rod. I tried cheese, but it didn't
stay on the hook for long. Then I tried some bread with marmite, but
again, it wasn't a great success. Fansu came back from the market
with some fish to use as bait, so I had a go with that. Saikou came
along the beach with me. To get a good casting distance, I waded out
into the sea in my trunks, with the water at times washing round my
chest, but as the sea is so warm, it's a really pleasant experience.
There's something quite satisfying about standing around up to your
armpits in warm salty water, casting around to catch a fish.

We tried a couple of different bits of beach, and had some nibbles,
but no bites. As we walked to another recommended spot, we found a
ladyfish flapping around in the surf, so picked it up and nabbed it!
It's nearly lunchtime now, so we've come back, and I might have a go
later on. So despite no bites on the rod and line, we do at least
have a fish to show for our efforts.

The four teachers have come down to the beach and have swum a bit, but
are mostly lying in the sun, trying to get rid of some of the
whiteness. Nicki washed her hair in the sea; the shower has been
lying around in the sun all day, so the water in it is very warm.

Some young boys asked if they could wash the truck, for a negotiated
fee of 100 Dalasi (£2) – well, it's a big car, and I admired their
initiative! However, it wasn't such a good deal actually, as after
borrowing a bucket from Fansu, they used seawater to wash the car.
The body's aluminium, but the roll cage, plus things like the hinges
on the lockers, are steel, so it's not really ideal. I then gave them
one of our three jerry cans of fresh water to rinse the salt water
off, so we've lost 20l of fresh water in the process! Oh well. Let's
hope it rains when we get to Guinea!

Today's blog is a short one, because I'm going off to Brikama with
Saikou, to try to buy a drum, and then to Senegambia just up the coast
to change some money, and then we'll post the blog.