Janjanburgh

30 november 2022

Crossing the border from Senegal to Gambia on the route from Kaolack to Farafenni could not have been smoother.

Guide for crossing the border:
I took a set place taxi ride from the Gare Nioro du Rip to the border village (3200CFA). I then got a shared taxi to the border that terminated a Farafenni (1000CFA). This taxi waited whilst I got my passport stamped out of Senegal - a quick queuing routine, and then I was whisked to the front of the line for the finger printing and photo taking for getting into the Gambia. All was very smooth, quick and did not involve money transactions. Throughout, the taxi waited until all passengers were ready and we were off to Farafenni with no hitches. In Farafenni, I used the ATM at the Ecobank which is on the edge of the market area and has no queues. It's good to get a SIM card here too (Africell or Q Cell)

To Janjanburgh

I then got a set place in one of the bigger mini vans to Janjanbureh ferry terminal (D200). Immediately I was aware of English being the main language and the landscape was so much greener. We drove along the north bank road, through small villages and open shrub land heading east and up country.

At the terminal, I paid D50 to get across the river and then D1400 for a room at the Baobalong Guest House on the right of the ferry landing. Dinner here was D400.

I spent the afternoon exploring Janjanbureh and learning about it's history (see additional blog post). This involved seeking out the building landmarks, visiting the colonial cemetery, walking in the eastern country park and being shown round the Armitage Senior School by the "professor'. This teacher, showed me the classrooms, the dormitories, the food tech, metal work and carpenter rooms, the assembly hall and the canteen. A fascinating insight into the running of this school and life as a student. Students were attending lessons on the second afternoon shift. Later in the day, I had another visit to the school and a conversation with the vice-principal Musa Susso. Our conversation centred around the motivations of his staff; doing this as a vacation not to earn a good salary, and the drive to improve the wellbeing of the students (namely through improving the quality of the food provided) in order to support the students' academic success.