Banjul, The Gambia — 2024

     After three more sea days we reached Banjul on May 1.  The Gambia is a tiny country in northwest Africa whose land borders are completely surrounded by Senegal  Not only does The Gambia have about the highest visa charges on this voyage ($145 per person, if memory serves), but you have to pay it even if you don’t leave the ship and step foot in their country.  We saw a lot and had a very good time the first time we visited here in 2018, and you can read and see a lot more about this country in that blog episode.  https://baderjournal.com/2018/09/05/banjul-the-gambia/  But this time we decided once again to forego the badly overpriced excursions, none of which really appealed to us anyway, and stay on the dock.  We had thought about taking the shuttle to the market and walking around some of the city on our own (especially to see the library, of course), but we were warned this wouldn’t really be safe so we passed on it.

     We had a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room.  Sitting by the aft windows we had a very nice view of egrets and gulls in the early morning light sitting on a platform in the water to which our ship was tied up.  Beyond that we watched commuters piling into open boats called pirogues that would take them to their places of employment.

     From the ship we had a good view of the port area, which has a causeway over the water to reach the city.  It was a pretty foggy day, but in the distance we were able to see the towers of a large mosque and Arch 22, a monument to the coup in 1994 that installed a dictator who ruled Gambia for the next 22 years.  On the opposite shore was a large boat pulled up onto the sand and we also had a view of a street and houses located near the port.

     In addition to the pirogues there were larger ferries at this port.  One of them was named the “Kunta Kinteh,” which you may recognize as the main character in the book and TV miniseries “Roots.”  Kunta Kinteh was an actual person who was captured and sold into slavery from the Gambia.  There is also an island nearby that is named for him.

     As in Ghana, a large vendors’ market was set up on the dock in front of our ship.  You could buy just about any kind of African arts & crafts, from masks to carved animals to clothing to baskets.  Bargaining was very much in order, but the vendors were friendly and not demanding.  We went out on the dock for a while to explore the market.

     Also on the dock near the ship was a group of drummers and dancers.  They had a lot of stamina, performing pretty much all day with very little in the way of breaks (although the dancers took turns to get a breather).  We saw one passenger who joined in the dancing.

     The Banjul port is located up the Gambia River from the coast.  The river is 700 miles long but we docked near the beginning, maybe a mile or two from the coast.  But still, arrival and departure times here are always subject to the tides.  In 2022 we had to skip this port on our itinerary because of the tide schedules.  So when the tides were right we sailed away, probably around 5 or 6 PM.  As we sailed down the river we saw pirogues by the shore as in the morning, probably bringing back the commuters they transported in the morning.  We also passed a Turkish power ship.  We have seen these before in Africa so they must be a profitable industry for the Turks.  They sit stationary near the coast and provide electrical power for the local city.  After that it was clear sailing into the ocean after our last stop on the African continent.