The Gambia Part One- Jangjangbureh

We left for The Gambia at 8 am on Friday. Ana and I took a cab to school where we met John, our sept-place driver, and Jenna and Matt. We had been a few minutes late, but we figured that wouldn't be a problem as everything here runs on "West Africa Time." Boy were we wrong. John was really mad that we were late, and he kept reminding us about it all through the 6-plus hour drive. There was also a ton of traffic because of the celebration for Mohammed's birthday, which happens to take place in Kaolack, a city we had to drive through to get to the Senegal/Gambia border.

Despite John's complaining and the intolerable heat inside the car, we made it to Farafenni (the border city inside The Gambia) without any real problems. Then, we had to find a car to take us to Jangjangbureh, a small island out in Eastern Gambia. Because of the holiday, we were charged double by the sept-place driver, but there was really nothing we could do about it since we couldn't spend the night in Farafenni and the ferries stop running to Jangjangbureh at 8pm. Eventually, we made it to the ferry, where we were met by Banna, the proprietor of Talamanca Lodge. He took us across the river in his boat and we got settled into the hotel. It was small, with a little bar and restaurant, but it was comfortable and Banna was really helpful. After we put our things away, we got dinner and crashed for the night.

The next day, we got up on the early side to go for a boat tour with Banna. We went out to Six Junctions, which is a part of The Gambia River where you can see a lot of wildlife. While we were out we saw a ton of different birds, some monkeys, lizards, and three hippos!! It was so exciting. Hippos are super cool... and dangerous. We spent a few hours on the boat and then came back to the lodge.

One of the coolest things we did in Jangjangbureh was go see a traditional wrestling match in a small village called Jamally Babou. We arrived and were taken into one of Banna's friend's compounds. There, we drank ataya (absolutely delicious tea that people drink in Senegal and The Gambia) and talked with some of the people that live in the village. Then, it was time to move to the wrestling arena. This was an outdoor ring, enclosed by a large solid fence. We sat down with a bunch of the village kids and watched as the women ran in with each wrestlers yelling and dancing and playing music. It was very exciting! Then, the wrestlers did a bunch of dancing and not too much wrestling. However, it was really fun to watch. The wrestlers all had great names, such as "Mint Fress" and "Passport" and these guys were HUGE. Passport was the best wrestler by far. He kicked a whole bunch of ass that night. Once it started to get dark things started to get a little bit scary. I am pretty uncomfortable with guns in general, and there were at least 10 armed military and police security personnel in the arena. Apparently, wrestling can turn really violent. Fights often break out amongst the crowd and the wrestlers, so the armed guards are there to scare people from misbehaving. People started getting a lot more intense once they could no longer really see anything, but we left before any real fights started.

On our last night in Jangjangbureh, we were sitting in the bar at Talamanca Lodge when our friend Bass showed up. He had come over to our side of the island to find some palm wine, which he drinks like water, when he had heard about a huge wild boar that some hunter had killed. Naturally, he thought of us and invited us to come over and grill up some bush pig. Of course, we jumped on the chance, and Jenna, Ana, and I got into Bass's car and headed over to the hunter's compound. There, we found an entire, enormous wild boar cut in two on the ground. We picked out our leg, watched the woman hack it off of the pig, and then threw it into the back of the car.

Then, it was off to get the rest of the pig-roasting supplies. First, we went by Bass's compound. Here, we met his mother, who we affectionately call "Mama." She was the sweetest woman I have ever met and immediately welcomed us into her home. After getting a brief tour and picking up the grill plate, we went to one of the boutiques to pick up onions, black pepper, Jumbo (a little brick of spices), mustard, and mayonnaise. We also met up with Matt here, and all of us went over to Maxé's compound together.

When we arrived at Maxé's compound, all I could hear was reggae music. We walked in and Maxé, apparently, had no idea we were coming. But it was fine. He and Matt immediately got to work butchering the giant leg, while Ana and I prepared the onions with Bass. Then, Jenna and I helped light the fire, and we all got cooking. It took an impressively long time to cook half of the meat, as there was so much of it, so I took this time to get to know everyone better.

First, there is Maxé. He is a 44 year old man who owns an amazing compound, where he is in the process of building a lodge, bar, restaurant, and stage. He is also an artist and performer, although his art isn't that great. Basically, it appears that he spends his days getting high, making art, working on his compound, and drinking palm wine. He was a really cool guy and he was lots of fun to talk to.

Then there was Keba. He is a musician who had just returned from playing at one of the camps in the area. When he arrived, he was clearly already drunk. He didn't stop drinking until he promptly passed out half-way through cooking. He was hilarious and, once he woke up again, was super fun to dance with.

Fodé was there as well. We had met him a few times, and he really, really liked me. But he turned out to be an okay guy. Although he was nowhere near as interesting as the other guys we were with, he REALLY wanted to be remembered. Every time I saw him, he would yell "Abbey! It's me! Fodé! From the other day! Remember?" to which I would reply "Yes Fodé, I remember you." He's also an entertainer. He dances and drums.

Lastly, there was Bass. Bassman was our best friend in Jangjangbureh. He was absolutely hilarious, constantly drinking palm wine and smoking joints, and is really one of the best guys I have met in West Africa. Most men we encountered in The Gambia were immediately interested in us as sex objects since we were white women. Bass, on the other hand, was interested in being our friend, protecting us from unwanted attention, and having fun.

So, after we had finished cooking, we all sat down to eat together. The meat tasted delicious, but it was so tough to chew. I discovered that the key to eating wild boar is to eat the smaller pieces. They are way easier to chew and your jaw wont hurt nearly as much. After dinner, it was time to "digest" as Bass called it. That meant we all had to get up and dance to mbalax music. Mbalax is really fun. Everyone should look up Youssou Ndour and Jaliba Kuyateh. After a while of fun dancing, the very drunk men we were with started getting a little too handsy, so we decided it was time to leave.

I absolutely loved Jangjangbureh. It was so much fun and we really met some amazing people. Plus, we got to eat wild boar and see hippos!