My driver Backary invited me to the Ngente for his niece. Here you see the preparation of the baby girl by shaving her head. An Aunt is holding her (I got to hold her before this). By custom, she was only 8 days old. Since Ramadan had just begun, however, the party after the ceremony [...]
How cheerfully he seems to grin How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws! Lewis Carroll
I made sure I did not feed the crocodiles, but I did agree to pet a couple for a photo op. While the croc I am petting looks mean, he's just trying to stay cool. The other croc you see waddled by me to head for the pool to get cool. This Kachikally Crocodile Pool [...]
While the monkeys of this forest are not so shy (this woman had a hard time getting rid of this big guy), we were lucky to see the red guy in the photo on the right. It is the Western Red Colobus Monkey. It has been overhunted to the point of being endangered. I was told [...]
As you walk into the Monkey Forest there is a giant sign warning you "Do not feed the Monkeys". A reasonable explanation for the rule followed. To be fair, the workers at the site stood right by the sign offering to sell you food for the monkeys. To be fair, the workers at the site [...]
Calamari traps and harvest. This also demonstrates the challenge of the internet here. The photo on the left will not load sufficiently to rotate it.
The age old process of smoking fish to preserve it has not changed much.
Once these women realized I wanted to take their picture they were all smiles. This was the exception, not the rule. Alex kept telling them I was working "for the government", not a tourist. That got me off the hook with most, but not all the villagers. In those cases I just did not take the [...]
Gambians are friendly in general. Some will greet you on the street. Others will linger longer. That is usually a sign they want something. I let my guard down on this beautiful afternoon on the ocean. Alex is a commonly used English name in The Gambia. People who work in the tourist industry take on [...]
On Fridays the law school closes early in observance of the holy day. My driver is a very nice man who works hard and sometimes long hours. He said he wanted to be "done with you" by 1:30 so he could attend prayer services at 2. So he picked me up before 1. I am [...]
