Gambia I

There's the Gambia for tourists and then there's Africa. The beach in front of our hotel regularly found itself traversed by a herd of local cattle. My daughter Hannah hasn't travelled much. We haven't actually spent an awful lot of time together over the last few years and since she was coming out to Scotland for Christmas the opportunity was there to take her somewhere hot and 'different'. Thomas Cook had some package deals for the Gambia so we booked some tickets. The country was wonderful - the hotel proved just a wee bit sealed off from the country. Relief came in the form of my colleague Kenny Macaulay from St Augustine's Church in Dumbarton in Glasgow Diocese who was coming down a couple of days later with his wife Linda. Kenny's been to the Gambia off and on now for a number of years - had his own wheels and knew his way around. So we got to see the country in the last four days of our trip.


We made a trip to Senegal. Bumped into a few fellow travelers from Scotland in the form of the Ospreys who were spending the winters in the mangrove swamps there. There's a Thought for the Day on BBC Scotland about this. The ferry ride across the mouth of the River Gambia was long and the return trip especially arduous and very hot. Shade was at a premium and Hannah managed to find herself a cool corner on the deck.

More pictures and stories later as I edit them and post them online