Sights around Bakau

You may remember that I mentioned the crocodile pond in recent pust.  Well here is the warning picture that was posted next to the pond.  I guess it doesn't need any words other than BEWARE  -- it speaks a universal language.

I thought you might be interested in observing the Gambian president's full title in a billboard celebrating the 48th anniversary of Gambian independence.  His full name including the title is (ahem) His Excellency Sheikh Professor Dr. Aih Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh. Whenever they write about him in the newspaper his bull title is always included at least once in the article.

I have already posted a couple of pictures of Sukai, the daughter of the compound owner, but I thought her latest hairdo merited another  inclusion.  The Gambian women spend a lot of time and money on their hair.  Most of the hairdos start with braiding extensions into their own hair and many women wear wigs.  But Sukai went above and beyond with this hairdo.  The front part of her hair was braided into an elaborate pattern.  Then she had a large bun of braided hair using both black and dark blonde braids, and  waist length dark blonde and black braids were trailing from the bun. It was all rather awe inspiring.  I would hate to say how long it must have taken her to get it done.

Football(soccer to those of you who are out of step with the rest of the world) is huge in Africa. I live about a 10 minute walk from the national stadium which is pretty big. They love their own team but  also follow European football very closely.  Shops with a satellite dish will post the matches that they will show and will get good crowds in attendance.   Some of the satellite dishes here will have 700+ channels available so they have their choice of many games.

AIDS reduction and education is a big thing all over Africa.  The Gambia has a relatively low level of infection compared to some countries in Africa but it is going up.  There is a lot of educational material in the country and while they still recommend abstinence they also provide condoms.  This was brought home when I walked into the ladies bathroom off the UN conference room.  Since I follow the abstinence route, I resisted the urge to take any.

In a recent post I said I was trying to get a post of a truckload of people. Well, I was finally able to get a somewhat decent example.  We were driving in traffic and I saw a truckload of people ahead.  Since we were also moving I had time to get my camera out and take a picture.  Since it was taken from behind and they went a different direction before we could pull alongside, I could not get the full effect but I think you get the idea.

Hope the Portland summer is starting.  We have had a couple of good rains here but I don't think you can really say that the rainy season has started here.  I have to be unselfish and hope that it does get started.  The farmers here really depend on the rainy season for their main crops and when it is a bad rainy season people go hungry.