Banjul, The Gambia, Africa

From my 2023 voyage, our stop in The Gambia holds many fond memories so I searched the list of possible excursions diligently for something new and different. The winner was "Lazy Day Cruise". As described by our Destination Services this seemed to me to be the most fitting choice as it required very little exertion on the part of its participants except for the getting onto and off of the "very basic, partially covered, open-air boats featuring benches, sunbeds, and unsecured plastic chairs. Access may involve steps depending on the tide. . ." A very apt description.

Some twenty or so of us boarded a not-so-bad, bordering on nice bus for a fifteen minute ride to the Gambian River to embark on our cruise. There were police checkpoints on this short trip - explanation of these checkpoints: "The President is in residence now." Okay, it's not like we were any threat to him or anyone else, so we were allowed to pass with very little delay. Shortly thereafter, we reach the dock where our ride of the day, SUMA DOMINDA, awaited. Sure enough it was the highest of high tide. Translation: in order to board the elevated boat, it was necessary for me to bring my right foot above my waist, in order that I could then sit on the railing with one leg in, the other outside the boat - at least until I literally picked up my left leg and pulled it across the ledge and into the boat. Success! First hurdle cleared - Yay!!!! I haven't done that many contortions since mounting the camel back in Cabo in 2020!

I chose a shaded seat on the bottom deck and proceeded to have a delightful time. True to its billing: a lazy, relaxing, fun, informative, entertaining four hour cruise, complete with: coffee and scones in case we missed our breakfast, Mimosas to quench our thirst, a very tasty family-style lunch (at first I was a bit skeptical of the food, but after tasting, I went back for seconds), beer, wine, water or soft drinks of our choosing, and finally, yummy crisp cookies for dessert ensued.

The Gambian River runs through hundreds and hundreds of acres of nothing but mangrove trees. Upon noticing plastic bags tied to low hanging branches of the trees, a fellow passenger inquired as to whether they were not litter and thus should be removed. The prompt response was, "those bags are Gambia's version of GPS devices for the oyster gatherers." This "explanation" made absolutely no sense to me... until our return trip at low tide. Then, I was amazed to see the bazillions of tiny little oysters attached to all the mangrove tree trunks, just below high tide level. We were told that, as in the States, oysters are not good in months lacking an "r", and theirs are not good in... either rainy or dry season (Don't remember which, since I personally don't think they are ever good).

Since none were foolish enough to take the opportunity to jump off the boat to swim in the waters of the river (even if one dared to jump off the boat, reentry would have been highly problematic!) we were instead given baited hooks to drop into the waters. I happily took them up on this offer and "fished" for awhile. I, nor any of us, caught anything. My patience quickly exhausted, I relinquished my pole to another shipmate.

As luck would have it, seated next to me was a lovely couple from Point Venture whom I had not previously met. Small, small world after all. Our arrival back at the pier occurred at low tide; thus exiting the boat was much, much easier than boarding. No contortions required! Yay!!!

Great day! Great time! I still have a warm spot in my heart for The Gambia!

Today is Someday! Revel in It!