(Typed and submitted on Sunday, June 15, 2008. Dates and times reflect actual writing of post.)

We left Bajakunda yesterday morning. Just as we were beginning to think about getting on the bus, the rain started. Our early morning daze became a flurry of activity, loading our luggage and two-inch foam mattresses on top of the bus. Once everything and everyone was in place, we left behind the friendliest village we’ve been to yet. Some of the inhabitants of Turrehkunda, the compound we stayed in, braved the downpour to wave us goodbye.

We closed the windows to keep ourselves dry, but the air in the bus became almost stiflingly close. The road to Bajakunda has seen better days, and it was terrifying in the rain. The potholes turned into lakes, the ditches turned into rivers, and our very top heavy bus leaned precariously as we rumbled along.

Eventually, the weather cleared and the roads improved. We stayed last night in Janjangbureh at a hotel with overpriced drinks. We were all pretty wiped out and went to bed early. The other guests evidently wanted some entertainment, so some local drummers showed up just as I was arranging my mosquito net for the night. The Gambia is doing wonders for my ability to sleep through anything, and the drums incorporated themselves into my vivid dreams.

In the morning, we piled into the bus once more, but we quickly got off again to board a boat to take us downriver. We spent five hours on a boat too tall for its keel. We began by staring at the banks hoping to spot wildlife, but grew bored and settled in to read and play cards. (Which was not to say there wasn’t wildlife. We saw a group of baboons, some monkeys, lots of birds, and half a dozen hippos.) I am getting really good at Crazy 8’s, which is evidently the only card game played here. Pulling out a deck and asking “Crazy 8’s?” will make you friends regardless of language barriers.

Once we were back on dry land, we stopped to see the stone circles at Wassau. The site was moderately interesting, but it was right around noon and therefore too hot for us to get much out of a touristy pit stop. Visitors place rocks on top of the stones to have their wishes granted. I like making wishes. I think I wished four times, but it was always for the same thing. We also stopped at village, which I believe was called N’Jau, where a women’s group makes bags and purses out of old plastic bags. I couldn’t resist buying a couple. They also make tie dyes, and I bought one of those, too. It all goes to a good cause, anyway. They use most of the money to fund the school and community projects.

When the sun was beginning to look tired, we pulled into Albreda, where we are spending the night. I took a walk along a lovely beach, which Liza says the old men of the village shit on by night, and contemplated the human perception of large bodies of water as beautiful.

My notable accomplishments of the night so far have been accidentally missing a motivational speech from Bill (I was taking a shower) and killing the biggest spider I have ever seen. It scurried along my floor and hid in the folds of my discarded skirt. When I prodded the fabric with an unlit candle, the spider attacked the wick. I figured it was him or me.