"It's nice to be nice". Gambia, police checks, and robbery!

The Gambian coast

"Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes". Imelda Marcos

"Hey, how are you? Are you selling your car?". This seemed to be the standard Gambian greeting upon arriving the the seaside suburb of Bakau, Gambia. 

Everyone wanted to be our "friend". The area we had chosen to stay in was inexpensive, and had lots of what many locals called "gangsters". While it was not the best part of town, it was nice, close to restaurants and bars, and had a very relaxed atmosphere.

Romona guesthouse

Bakau streets

Bakau

Sewer crocodile in Bakau

We spent a few days relaxing, taking showers, reading, doing laundry. We applied for our Nigerian visas as well, and got to meet the high chancellor who said he would give us the visa. We had heard this was a difficult one to get, so we were very pleased. We could pick it up on Tuesday, and it was Friday when we applied, so we had the weekend to go exploring.

Our car was having alternator issues again, and we took the opportunity to get a new, used, one. Our car was working great again! We decided to drive upcountry, to the east, and see what Gambian life outside the capital was like. Our goal was the Stone Circles, near the town of Wassau.

Leaving Banjul, we passed tiny villages with grass roofs and wandering goats. We came to the second of four ferry crossings in the country. We decided to see if we could cross, as the stone circles we wanted to see were on the north side of the river. "You should easily be able to cross by evening!". It was 10am. No way, not again. We drove further east. We camped on the outskirts of a tiny village, the locals waving as they walked by.

Gambian market

Gambian roads are good

Spotted this guy in a wildlife sanctuary near Banjul

Typical Gambian highway scenery

We continued east, reaching the third ferry crossing in the country. We were in a sleepy town named McCarthy. There was about five large trucks and a few cars waiting for the ferry. It looks promising. We asked about the ferry. It could carry one truck at a time. They thought it would take about 4-5 hours to cross. It was a narrow crossing as well, we could see the other side. No thank you. The ferries in Gambia are a challenge. It is very surprising in a country dominated by a river. We decided to simply head back towards Banjul.

The third ferry in the country

Got some great new seat covers in McCarthy

We drove off the road and made camp that night. Around 1am I awoke to a pouring rain, and about 2 inches of water inside my tent. I opened my tent and found a small lake had formed where we had set up camp. I packed up my gear and abandoned the tent. I slept in the car. The morning was wet. We had somehow chosen the absolute worst spot to pitch our tents. We were lucky and got some sun to dry out our wet gear. We packed up and made for Banjul.

Lake camping

Camping outside a small village

Driving in Gambia is nice, the country is lush and green, and the roads are good, but it truly incredible how many police checkpoints are crammed into such a tiny country. They all wanted to see something different, passports, insurance, drivers licence. Every other one would ask for a gift, "What have you brought for me?". We were polite and just smiled, never giving anything other than a smile. The drug police searched our car again, saying my Tylenol was illegal, then shut the door and said we needed to "negotiate" a way we could resolve this situation without calling their boss. We played along for a short time, but quickly grew tired and started to offer to make him coffee. Confused, he gave me back the pain killers and said he enjoyed how we had negotiated the situation, and sent us on our way. All in total, in about 500km, we had 70 police checks over two days. Very impressive Gambia.

We arrived back in Bakau, checked back into the same hotel, Romona guesthouse, ready to pick up our Nigerian visas the next day, and try for the Ghanna visa after.

After taking a shower, I went out to pull money from the ATM. None of the three in the area were working, so I drove to one. Thinking back on this, I must have been watched, as none of the ATM's were inside, just on the outside wall of the bank. I drove the car to a bank further away, and pulled out money, then slept early that evening.

We woke up to the night security worker, Noah, telling us that our room door was broken and two of our car document bags were outside. We lay there for a second, confused, then got up to investigate. I immediately saw that my money pouch I keep on my belt beneath my pants, was open, and papers were scattered about. I looked through it, and all the cash was gone, about $1500, the money I had brought for visas in west Africa. My personal bag that I kept my wallet and camera in was also gone. I told Noah we had been robbed, and he said he had found one more bag, my personal one. The camera and wallet were there, but all the local cash was gone. I thought it could be the Noah who stole it, but changed my mind quickly. It dawned on us that someone had broke open the door quietly, came in and taken our stuff from the room while we slept. They knew exactly what to take, and where it was. Noah had never seem my money pouch, but someone on the street had, most likely when I was getting out my bank card at the ATM the previous day. I had tried to be stealthy about it, but obviously was not.

We dressed, checked the car, and went for breakfast. Afterwards we went to the police station. They took our statements, looked in our hotel room, and got our contact details. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the car and just feeling low.

The next day we picked up our Nigerian visas and searched for the Ghanna embassy. After searching and searching, we found a house where the embassy should be. An elderly woman informed us that the embassy had "died", about 20 years ago. So we gave up on getting the Ghanna visa till Liberia.

Leaving Gambia was easy enough. When entering Senegal, a very angry border guard tried to tell Chris and Jess that they needed a visa to enter Senegal, even though they had been stamped in before without one. He was very insistent that they return to Gambia and get a Senegalese visa. We waited around, smiled lots, and soon he made a phone call, and eventually stamped them into the country, saying we knew nothing about crossing international borders.

Back in Senegal! Our goal was the southern border with Guinnea-Bissau, and continuing our voyage down the coast!