An Epic Day!

So we decided that we should ring out our last Saturday in The Gambia in style. We had looked a few weeks ago at doing a few different tourist trips, but after taking part in one and feeling like we were little more than sheep being herded around and given a dog and pony show about what 'true african life' is supposedly like, we decided to forgo the second 2-day trip that would have seen us leave from Banjul, drive to Ferrefenni, take an overnight boat to Georgetown, then drive back to Banjul. We were a little depressed that Megan and I especially, would not be able to see more of the country, so we hatched the idea for one last hurrah, and managed to break about 6 national laws in the process (most completely of ignorance, and by accident).

On Friday night we rented a 4x4 car and readied for a roadtrip to end all roadtrips. We decided we would drive ourselves to Georgetown, and if it could work, take a fishing boat to see hippos.
We left at 6 am to try to catch the first ferry across from Banjul to Barre, but when we arrived, were told the biggest of the 3 ferries was broken down, and, with a bribe of $20 we might be able to get on in 2-4 hrs. We decided, rather than wait around doing nothing for hours, we would all rather drive, and opted to take the south bank road... which pretty much meant we were no longer going to make it to Georgetown.

Now you need to know a few things about transportation in The Gambia. There are, in all honesty, 2 roads in The Gambia. One runs along the North Bank, the other along the South Bank.
At one point, nearly 35 years ago, the South Bank road was paved nearly 3/4 of the length of the country, and the North Bank road, paved about 15 years ago.
Another thing to know is that road construction is relatively impressive in The Gambia.... road maintenance on the other hand is functionally incompetent. Needless to say, after nearly 30 years of utter neglect, the South Bank highway is little more than a heavily pot-holed, frequently washed out, completely unmarked dirt pathway curving its way throughout the country. This is the road we choose to drive on.

It was absolutely a day about the journey, not the destination... so much so, that as we started off, I nearly passed right by the first police check point I came to. I wasn't able to stop until about 50 m past the line, and had to reverse back to the waiting police officer, who luckily, had a sense of humor about the whole thing.

We travelled along the south bank all the way to Soma, stopping along the way at about 10 police checks, as well as the village of Kolali; to try to see a game park that the president has on his personal grounds, as well as Brikama for some breakfast.

Once arriving in Soma, we took the ferry across the river to the North Bank, and the village of Ferrefenni. Anyone who earlier looked for where Njawara was, it's midway between Barre and Ferrefenni. We stopped in Ferrefenni for lunch, which consisted of a street side hut, with a large bowl of completely raw beef pieces (surely not one cut, I think i ate liver at some point, as well as some gristle, and i'd guess at least 3 different cuts of beef), that they pick up (bare handed of course), and throw into a waiting hot wok to fry it together with some seasoning and onions, then serve it to you to eat with your bare hands.
I think when we first got here, I would have politely (I hope) declined the offer, but time cures all fears, and I was hungry, so dove right on into one of the best meals I've had since arriving in the gambia, and surely one of the cheapest... at only $1 for the plate of food, I was a happy man.

We then loaded back up into the car, filled up on gas and kept heading East. We had set 4 pm as the 'turnaround time', the point at which, in order to catch the last ferry at Barre, and make it back the same day, we'd have to turn around. We figured we'd just drive from Ferrefenni Eastwards until 4, still in the direction of Georgetown, but without really expecting to make it there, then turnaround and head back.

Until this point, all of the police checkpoints were of no problem whatsoever. The worst we had was (aside from teh one i nearly ran), was one cop who suggested that I drive a little slower. I had driven the entire way to Farafenni, having rented the car on my licence, and being the only person on teh trip with an International Driving Permit (not absolutely necessary, but recommended). In Ferrefenni I was feeling tired, so Jordan offered to drive. At the first checkpoint he drove up to, he got stopped and asked for his drivers licence and insurance. We produced these, and the officer asked for his Gambian permit (essentially was asking for the IDP)

As 4 pm approached, we rounded the north bend of the river and came to Wasso. At the police checkpoint in Basse, I think the officer had either a chip on his shoulder or felt like giving us a hard time. He asked for Jordan's licence, which we provided, and insurance, again, no problem. Wanted to find out something else, then looked at Megan and said "Come with me."
At this point we all got our back up just a little, and adamently outright refused. We asked what he needed her for, then looked at her and said "What are you dressed like this for?" (she was dressed as any 21 year old female would at home, but i guess he was offended by it). We still refused to answer him directly. Megan was in the back and Jordan was now standing outside the drivers seat. He then asked to see our passports, and shortly afterwards told us to go. Needless to say it was a bit of a harrowing experience.

We then were getting ready to turn around, thinking we were still about 1 hour outside of Georgetown, when we looked at the map and had somehow, in about 5 minutes, closed 3/4 of the distance between Wasso and Georgetown. None of us is yet sure if this was a cartographic error or we found a wormhole in the middle of the country, but 2 minutes later we pulled up to the ferry terminal at Georgetown.

Just before reaching Georgetown there is a military checkpoint. Police checkpoints are often nothing more than a sign on the road, and a guy sitting under a tree who, if you honk your horn twice as you approach, waves you through without getting up. Military checkpoints on the other hand never give the option of driving through. they are always manned by two men, one with an AK 47 in his hands while he questions you, safety off, but finger over the trigger guard, the other is sitting in a bunker on the side of the road with a full machine gun at the ready, and pointing at you as you drive up. At no time, in either direction is there more than one person in the checkpoint at a time. Jordan hasn't driven through one of these, and nearly followed the car in front of him into the checkpoint, until Megaan and I both started yelling to stop immediately! Again, luckily, the guard was pretty easygoing and just warned Jordan to give TONS of space at teh military checkpoints and absolutely not drive into or through one.

We made it to our destination. We didnt' have enough time to go into a boat and see hippos, but we made it all the way to Georgetown. Because we took the South Bank Road, and detoured to President Jamme's zoo, among other things, the trip there took us 10 hours. We now had 5 to drive back to Barre, but the North Bank Road is more like a country road in Canada, on which you can mostly drive 80 km comfortably, sometimes 100 km/h.

So after taking a few pictures, we hopped back into the car and started our return journey. None of the police check points that gave us trouble on the way there, bothered us on the way back. They did however start asking us if we had anything for them..... if we might feel it in our hearts to help them, maybe buy attaya, since they've been working all day. We had been warned of this previously, that many of the check points would either find some minor flaw (broken light, something in your insurance or some other missing safety thing) and suggest it could all go away right now... for a small fee, but we hadn't seen any of it yet. I had heard many people have to drop as much as 500 ($20) Dalasis on the North Bank Road, so we started having ready 10 ($0.40) dalasis at each checkpoint and after giving out, i think 5 total, we got pretty good at passing the bill by handshake. Along the entire trip i think we had to give out about 100 Dalasis ($4).

We decided, having a standard vehicle to try out, that Adam and Megan, if they wanted, could try to learn standard while we were driving. Adam took up the offer, so we put him in the front seat, and surprisingly he didn't stall it his first two starts. He was doing ok until he put it in 5th gear and apparently the force he felt overcame his ability to steer straight and we swerved a little violently for a second before he regained control, 500 feet before a police checkpoint. Again we were asked for licence and insurance, as well as having our fire extinguisher, lights and indicators all checked.

Adam did manage his first stall, as he tried to pull away from the police checkpoint, but recovered on the second attempt.

We got to Barre and crossed on the ferry without incident and in record time. As we were getting off of the ferry, i suggested we drive through Banjul for the last time we are here, and see Arch 22 one last time.
Another thing for you to know, NO ONE except for the President himself is ever allowed to drive under Arch 22. There is a pretty impressive road leading up to it, with a turn off about 300 feet before the arch itself.... i missed said turn-off, and convinced that there was a ringroad, actually drove up to, and under the Arch, right to the point they have a chain spread across the road to stop you from going through.... Again, luckily for me, the solider standing there had a sense of humor, and told me to turn around to go back.

From that point out, we had an uneventful 30 minutes back to the hotel, but all in all, it was a 16 hour driving marathon, in which we saw 5 of the 6 'provinces' or districts of The Gambia and broke more laws than I care to mention.

While it was surely more about the journey than the destination, it was pretty awesome that we made our destination as well.

We got to see all the country we wanted to see, take our own pace, live, drive, eat and talk with real locals, and did it all without a guide, without a driver and without a clue sometimes what we were actually doing.

I can't think of a better way to see the country, or to spend our last weekend in The Gambia. It was a way to go out on a high note, as we now prepare to pack our bags and head home.