Chilling out in Tumani Tenda

Tumani Tenda Village Project, Gambia.

I arrived here around lunchtime today, the journey wasn’t that far in miles but it took a couple of hours, the last few kilometres was on a sandy dead end track into the jungle.

Arriving at the village which is a small group of mud houses in a circle around a mango tree. Lots of villagers sat around in the shade and as a arrive I’m welcomed to the compound. They ask if I’m looking for the Eco Camp, which of course I am and readily direct me down a single track path through the jungle which passes through palm and mango trees with crops planted in the understory.

Birds of paradise fluttering about in lovely bright yellow and red colours and hornbills doing their best to collide with me again!

The track is lovely and I pass a couple of local pedestrians as the Eco Cam comes into view, this looks like a very nice place and Im immediately at peace.

I’m welcomed to the camp and sit down as much is being served, I ate earlier so don’t eat but I’m given watermelon which does a good job to quench my thirst.

I ask for a price list and see that it’s not worth pitching my tent as it’s a bout £.50p more for a room so I opt for that. When I’m ready and the room has been prepared I’m showed up to the lodge, it’s simple and has everything I need so I bring up the bike and settle in.

So I’m having a conversation with one of the staff today about the construction of the tourist lodges. The whole village was involved with the construction of the camp buildings which are basically round houses. They are made with mud and use the same construction methods as we do in the uk for building cob houses. They will build one course of mud from the ground, about 18” then allow the mud to dry, second course happens in the same way and so on.

The single storey roundhouses are about seven courses then they cut rosewood from the forest to form the flat roof bearers, these are very irregular, similar to the old Devon longhouses but are strong and long lasting. Above this the locals cut mangrove from the river and form a lattice to close the flat roof.

Following this the mangrove lattice is then coated in a thick layer of mud, this finishes the basic construction, the whole thing then has a further structure to carry a tin roof which forms a heat barrier from the sun and waterproofs the whole thing from rain.

The mud construction is then painted inside and out, using burned and crushed oyster shell which gives bright white shellac finish to the project.

Curtain rails are bamboo, but I did spot some bits of plywood to hold the rails in position, I did ask where they grow the plywood which raised a laugh or two!

It’s about as basic a construction as you could get but serves well for their, and my accommodation. It’s a blast from the past where housing was constructed from materials locally available and it’s incredibly calming to lie here inside my mosquito net enjoying the relatively cool shade of the jungle.

The night in a bed for a change was lovely but it was pretty hot after the sun of today.

Got up before dawn and watched the sun rise over The Gambia river, it was so beautiful and tranquil with lovely colours, fishermen were bringing in the nets by hand that they set last night, Its was not a very impressive catch with fish about the size of your hand.

The fishermen work with paddles and muscle power, to catch bigger fish they would have to go to deeper water down river but explain that they would need and engine to reach that area, they don’t have one so they stay local and work hard for very little reward but share their catch in the village as with everything else here.

Good breakfast this morning and saw off the German cyclist group of 6, who wished me safe travel. Just me here until a local Landrover Discovery arrived with a flat tyre, they are busy fixing that now. Walked out on the mangrove area West of the camp to see wildlife and fishermen.

Lovely peaceful and hot again! The tide is coming in and the mangroves are flooding, I don’t want have to swim so I made my way back to camp.

There’s no school today due to some public holiday so I chat with the local kids, most of which want to go to the UK. Six year old boy keeps touching my hairy chest and poking my belly button whilst looking at photos of my family! They want to see photos of my sheep and where I live too. Spent around an hour talking to them by a boabab tree. They ask if I have swimming goggles but I don’t so I can’t help them with that.

Walked over to meet local women who were collecting small shells for making jewellery, one was very forward and friendly and spent the whole time being welcoming and laughing, she must be the local entertainer! She was lovely, the other wined quietly working away in the shadow of her character.

It’s so chilled out here and no one pushing for anything just interested in who you are and your family, this place is a must visit if you are in The Gambia.

Later in the afternoon I decided to go for a swim, the river was still and pretty calm so I edge in over the sharp oyster shells and swim in warm salty water, it’s so lovely and I decide to swim to the other bank which is covered in mangroves. The swim over was long but calming and I reached the other bank, probably 1/4mile to meet a strong current which pushes me a little further down river. I’ve never swam in a river like this before and realise that I can’t get to the opposite bank due to the density of the mangrove cover. So I set off back to camp. What I didn’t realise is that the tide was now going out and this continued to carry me down river, I try to swim against the tide but it’s no use so I head for the bank and hope to get on land or reach slower water when I get there! No such luck, the tide is stronger there too, so now I have a bit of a map of the channels in the river in my head and I realise my mistake, I’m down stream by maybe 1/2 mile and the tide is in full flow.

I rest holding onto the mangroves and contemplate my position whilst watching crabs climbing through the mangroves. I can’t get to the bank as the cover this side prevents access so I have to make my way against the tide. Swimming hard against the tide isn’t easy, but small bursts of energy and frequently resting by holding on to overhanging branches gradually moves me closer to camp. It’s important not to panic in these circumstances so I made a plan and stuck to it and eventually, (and it did take some time) I made it back to the camp.

I had thought I could just get out and walk on the bank but believe me that was not going to happen.

When I arrived back at camp, apart from an annoying huge black fly that took a chunk out of my back as I got out of the water, it was great to be back on dry land. The German tour guide said ‘you are a very strong swimmer, you swam so far’ I am a good swimmer and I do swim distance but the most important thing today was having a plan and keeping a cool head to stay safe. I made a mistake and I have learned from that. When I arrived at camp it was nice to be welcomed by the German lady but to be honest I just needed to jump in the shower and go and have a little lie

down.

Note to self, ‘use your head Max’

I can’t currently post as the Africellnet is poor and I just can’t get on line at all. Only comms are via messenger or WhatsApp.

After my big swim yesterday I learn that actually there are crocodiles in the river but thankfully you don’t see them very often! That would have put a whole new lean on yesterday’s wild swim I could have been eating croc for tea...

Whilst swimming yesterday I also cut my foot and spent some time making sure that the damage is clean and covered using my Lifeventure Explorer First Aid Kit, the kit is adequate for the job, it had everything I needed and it feels better that the cut is now clean.

It’s really important to look after cuts in this environment as infection can set in very quickly and due to the dirt and heat can be hard to control. It’s the first occasion that I’ve had to break out the first aid kit so far, good to see it works and had the right kit to do the job.

Washed some clothes today and set them out to dry, I may leave some here as space is a premium and I’m carrying a little more food than usual which is more important at this point in time. I think some local chap will be able to use my t shirt and long trousers, I was supposed to ditch them earlier but didn’t really get around to it.

It’s amazing how little stuff you need when travelling, I run very minimal gear anyway when travelling but I still have too much, so passing some good quality clothes on to someone who can use them here will feel good. I’m eyeing up prospective candidates.

Yesterday at the back of the kitchen area the staff were feeding the vultures, I will try to approach today and get some good shots. There has been a decline in the vulture population recently, partly due to the poisonings of feral dogs, they do this to control rabies but the vultures then find and eat the carcasses which in turn kills the vultures. The government are aware of this and I believe are taking measures to control the dogs in other ways. There is also some problem with the loss of habitat, the vultures need larger trees to nest and roost in and lots of these trees have been harvested for wood in this area the locals are trying to preserve and grow new forest, they work hard to ensure that the young forest is not destroyed by fire cutting the undergrowth by hand with cutlasses. Again the whole community work together and they have the long term sustainability of their lifestyle in mind. It’s great to see this here, it’s a world away from Senna Gambia, the touts, the tourists, the traffic and the plastic ridden city streets. I think I will stay another night here!

Earlier on I get a visit from one of the camp volunteers who says he is going off for Friday prayers, the fridge is not locked and I can help myself. So I’m alone in camp, there’s not a soul to be seen and after a few hours of total peace I decide to go for a walk, maybe take pictures of birds of paradise or something!

I walk out of camp on a different track and meet some friendly goats, as you do. Eventually I approach the main village from a different direction and notice a sort of low level humming noise, there are kids playing but there’s some kind of meeting going on.

Well it wasn’t a meeting in that sense it was the funeral of a village elder and now there’s me, right in the middle of it all! What’s amazing is that I was welcomed and had the proceedings explained to me as they were happening. There was literally the entire population of the village in attendance, men in one circle then groups of brightly dressed women in various gatherings around the main courtyard area.

I was blown away to be honest, I wish I knew though as everyone was smartly dressed in traditional clothing and we went through various ceremonial speeches and offerings. I ate cous cous and rice kind of sweet balls of dough and Salam biscuits too, they tasted a little like Farley’s rusks, remember them?

After the event a young man came to my lodge to say that the village understood that I didn’t know what was happening and they still welcomed me into the fold as I showed great respect and didn’t interfere and they appreciated that. It was his grandmother and he was sent by the elders to thank me. How humble is that.

The young man who came to tell me all this was the guy who I had eyed up for my surplus clothes, he was really pleased and liked them so I gave them away at last, he was my size too, which was a huge bonus for both parties.

People are arriving from the village event now, they gather here to appreciate their beautiful location each evening, I can hear music and singing from the village, what a superb, honest and welcoming community.