Motoring up the river

LAT 13°34.161 N

LON 15°22.411 W

Speed: 4.9kn

Course: 357°

UTC Time: 12:09:39

UTC Date: 25-11-2011

It’s the 3^rd day we’re going up the river. So far, we ran aground twice, the first was me, when we tried to reach Lamin Lodge, near Banjul, and the second was Frank, the new crew member who I met in France on our way to Lisbon.

Fortunately the river bottom is composed from mud and sand, so we usually laugh at that.

So far everything’s good, we’re having fun even though the effects of the anti-malaria pills are quite obvious on some crew members. But except the occasional mood swings I think we’re doing great.

The locals are also fascinating. Opposite to Dakar, here no one wants to sell you anything and even the few ones who want to, they do it in a very relaxed way so you don’t get the feeling that you’re just a walking wallet for them.

Yesterday we reached the Elephant island and went to visit the Bambali village, where we’ve been welcomed from the chief of the village and later invited to the post electoral party. The party wasn’t really what I was expecting, but it was still very nice. The electricity is a big thing in that village. They have a generator and it runs only in special occasions such this party. And the electricity was used only for the sound system. The sound system itself wasn’t really big, it was basically a pimped hi-fi tower with some bad ass speakers.

I also noticed that there was virtually no women that night, which I guess is normal in Muslim countries.

About hippos, crocodiles and all the super wild animals we’re constantly looking for, we didn’t count many. We’ve seen some huge dolphins the second day leaving Lamin lodge and a wanna be crocodile, that revealed to be a bird in the end. But now it’s the joke of the Gambian leg of the trip.

I’m sleeping on deck now, because as the youngest on board (or some other mysterious reason) I have to donate my place to every new member that joinig us. So after a 3 time berth swap I ended with the shortest (180cm) berth that is nearly impossible for me to sleep in. I manage to sleep about one hour then it starts to feel like I’m Gulliver in a can of sardines.

But, looking on the bright side, this gives me the chance to see the stars, wake up ultra early (and then move to sleep in the under deck) and most importantly, I hear all the crazy sounds of the jungle. I guess if I was sleeping in the same place, but on ground in a tent or so, I would be completely freaking out. At some points of the night it gets very loud and you can hear deep hauling that makes you think of something huge. In the end it must be a harmless monkey, but it still sounds awesome.