Days Out With Visitors

A lovely Dutch family visited our meetings so we took them preaching and out in the afternoon.

A cool python round your neck on a hot day.  What's not to love!

 When we'd had our fill of snakes we went for a walk on Boboi Beach and dinner at the Lodge. Somehow the best times with friends always involve food.

Another day we preached in the morning then went on studies.  I took the girls on a couple of mine and we finished with Ndateh so we invited her along with us.

We were told of a place called Lamin Fish Farm which is in the town where we live.  I'm amazed I never heard of it before.  It was small and cheap but very pretty.

I couldn't get a good picture but they kept Indian peafowl and some were leucistic (similar to albino but they don't have pink eyes).  I don't know if this one was semi-leucistic or was the result of cross breeding between the two.  I've never seen one before.

Ndateh was fascinated by the ostrich.  She'd never seen one before.

The guide told us they did have four but three died.  What happened?  The got their heads stuck in the gate.  You would think that after the first one died they would do something about the dangerous gate but no.  "This is Gambia."

In the next cage were two ducks.  The guide told us they had lots more but they died.  What happened?  Ants.  The ducks were in a large run but were put in smaller cages at night and the ants came and ate them alive.

Moving swiftly on . . . .

There are fish tanks in the middle with lots of different fish.  All managing to survive.

But the very best part was this beautiful lake.  I don't know how long we stayed there but I could have moved in.  It was so pretty and green.  Gambia is very brown in the dry season so to find this oasis was wonderful.

They keep fish in here too, catfish and tilapia

The owner had joined us by now and produced a fishing rod for anyone who wanted to catch a fish and throw it back.

Maresa caught a big one . . .

Terry was hoping to catch some supper,

 but only caught a tiddler.

We finished the day with a meal at Blue Kitchen

Their holiday ended with a meeting.  We'll miss you guys. Xxx

Birds and some random Gambian scenes

Watermelon season is a great time to see birds.  I spike pieces on the fence near my back door and sit and wait to see what happens.

African Thrush

Western Grey Plantain Eaters

They're such happy looking birds, always look like they're smiling.

This is Black Necked Weaver

And her mate

Our fence is a bit ugly so I put these bright cups with seeds in and suddenly the brown fence is full of colour.

Grey Headed Sparrow

I'm not sure if this is Mum or Dad feeding the chick but it was lovely to watch.


Beautiful Sunbird

The male is far more striking but I can't help falling in love with the female.  She's very pretty and dainty.  Sunbirds are the African version of hummingbirds but as far as I know they don't hover.

We sometimes meet monkeys when we preach near the nature reserves.

This baobab tree is huge, it must be hundreds of years old.

Typical preaching scenes

This isn't very typical.  A sister and I go out to territory that is assigned to our congregation but has NEVER BEEN WORKED.  Its so far out in the bush it can't be done on foot and many of the brothers don't want to work far from the highway even when I offer to take them in the car.  There are many Catholics in this area so it makes a change from the mainly Muslim territory where we usually work.

The little bumps on this termite mound mean it's full of termites.  They're constantly repairing and extending them.  During the rains they get washed smooth again and if there are no repairs by now it means the colony has died.  Some mounds only have small areas of these bumps but this was covered, there must be millions and millions of termites inside.

Terry going out to Bible studies on his bike.

We went to visit with some friends who have a vegetable garden so they trap animals who are eating their crops.  While we were they caught a Gambian Pouched Rat which isn't really a rat.  This one was so cute they decided to keep it.  They named it Mango.  This picture was taken in the trap but don't worry, he won't stay in there.

We're in the dry dusty season now.  The Harmattan winds blow down from the Sahara Desert.  It's hard work trying to keep the house clean and it plays havoc with your skin but it's great for drying the laundry.

This was a recent sunset at the beach.

Gambian fishing boats

The fishermen aren't allowed to sell juvenile fish so they catch them, bring them in and leave them to die on the beach.  Even the animals need the Kingdom.