Almost 10 years ago on my first visit to The Gambia, (Aussie) Pete Ray and I made a 4 day trip up river. We were keen to visit Wassu Stone Circles - a neolithic burial site dated to be around the same period as Stonehenge. As fate would have it, we arrived at the stones as the sun was going down making the red rocks glow in the setting sun. With no provisions or anywhere to stay that night we gratefully accepted an offer from the 'keeper' of the stones to eat and sleep at his compond.
And he is still there! Morro was as welcoming and keen to show us around as ever - and yes, he did remember the time two backpackers arrived at the site 10 years ago as he was locking up for the night!
We spent a wonderful evening with the family in their new compound and, just as 10 years ago, a huge bowl of delicious meat and rice appeared as fires and the sound of distant drumming and singing began to fill the night.
5 comments:
Hi Sanna ! Hi Jonnie ! What a journey so far ! And how refreshing to hear tales from a region so rarely explored by the global tourist ... fascinating ! Hope everything is going to plan ... well, as reasonably as can be expected ... although i sense plans aren't particularly the name of the game for the next few months. Looking forward to following the adventure on a more regular basis from now on. so please keep the entries coming ... we need to keep our spirits up as it's all doom and gloom over here ... economy, english cricket, english rugby, all going to the dogs ! Look after yourselves, James B
Hi James! Lovely to hear from you. Jonnie says at least we won the football (against Germany) last night!!!
Oh Bless him (Morro that is!) I bet he'd only just recovered from your last visit knowing what a voracious appetite you and Pete have!! Hope you bought him a goat to say thank you...Missing you and keep with these updates!! Char Chris and Lana-Roo xxxx
I guess it beats going to visit Avebury on a wet sunday afternoon. We love the blog, following it closely. We enjoyed the Barrister programme. Still engrossed in lots of DIY. Wish you were here (especially Jonnie!) to help out! Juliet and Nick
Oh, lucky, lucky you!!! I had hoped to visit the stone circles, but never got around to it. We didn't even make it to Casamance in our two years! (at least, Marion and I got to see Touba, which was really worth the trip)
I see you didn't describe our common encounter with the Saint Louis policeman! (would have been a bit long to transcribe, too *grin*). Did you get to get your legs waxed in SL, Sanna?
I also see that we scared you from taking the road to Tambacounda. Will you go to Niokolo Koba at all?
We're well into our count-down. In 24 days, our Senegalese adventure will be over and we'll be freezing in France. *shudder* To make the transition easier *g*, our maid stole from us and took off (short version of a long story), now we're getting used again to doing dishes, cooking and ironing ourselves...
Looking forward to your updates and hoping to see you in Toulouse one day (on your way back, maybe?).
Patricia & Pascal
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