Kuntaur

1 december 2022

Frequently my days end and start with deep rich conversations with other people staying in the guest houses where I'm located. Today was no exception. Meeting Cecelia and Sandra, two intrepid experienced world travellers, was a joy and totally enlightening. A fantastic start to the day.

I took the ferry back across the river to the taxi rank and took a shared taxi to Wassu for D100. I asked the driver to drop me off at the Baobao tree before Wassu where a track leads south to the river and the village of Kuntaur.

I walked to this village along the main track which winds through the rice fields and past small lakes covered in lilies and occupied by herons. Kuntaur is a small trading post and still has some of the original British colonial buildings from when it was used as a centre for the trading of rice and ground nuts. I found Kairoh Garden Guest House next to the river and checked in. Rooms D700 and dinner D400. This is a really well kept guest house owned by seasoned hosts of Gambian and Dutch heritage.

The guest house arranges a number of activities on request for reasonable prices:
1. The boat trip to Baboon islands
2. Bird watching trips by boat or land
3. Fishing trips
4. Donkey taxi rides
5. Walking and hiking trips
6. Bike rides
7. Local culture, music and dance activities
8. A visit to Janjanbureh

Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project:
I decided to take the 1-2 hour boat trip for D1500. An additional D150 is paid to the park ranger. The boat trip took us along the river towards the islands inhabited by the chimpanzees.(see additional blog for more details). On route we picked up the park ranger from the river bank by the National Park. He then explained about the chimp project and also helped to locate the colony. I got very close to two adult chimps and their babies. A fantastic viewing from the boat. Although we didn't see any hippos, we saw the white kingfisher and many other birds. Well worth doing.

Rice production:
I spent the afternoon walking through the local villages and rice fields. I managed to piece together the reasons why the rice harvesting is now done by hand by the local young people using the hand scythes. They explained that the partnership which used to run with a Taiwanese NGO had now closed and the machines, accompanying training and expertise had been withdrawn. In 2005, the rice mill in Kuntaur closed when government funding was reduced. The villagers are now on their own, finding ways to grow and harvest rice for their own consumptions, only selling their surplus when available.

Wassu Stone Circles:
I walked to this UNSECO heritage centre site from the village. Seeing it at sunset was magical. There is a small museum, numerous stone circles, a walk through the surrounding area to see the burial mounds and area where the stone was quarried from. The archaeologists have dated the burial mounds as being from 927 - 1305 AD, although it is not clear whether the burial mounds were constructed before or after the stone circles. The circles are very impressive and you can only imagine the purpose and reasons why they were constructed in this form and location.