A day to remember

Today we had what may be our last day off this trip so we decided to go birdwatching.
We went out with our friend Alex Drammeh and what a day we had. At 8am we started round Kotu Creek and by 10am we had seen 55 species, from Kotu to Tanji where we increased our total to 75 including an Osprey catching fish amongst the boats. From there we drove down to the Senegal border and wandered round the pools and along the beach bringing our total to 92, we were hoping to reach the 100 mark so drove to Footsteps Eco Lodge where over a cool drink we brought our total up to 101.
If anyone is thinking of coming to The Gambia for bird watching Alex is your man, not only will he find birds for you but he also knows the places of interest for the not so keen (wives ?). He has a comfortable vehicle, will take you where ever you would like to go and is a very good friend to the charity. He can be reached by e-mail at drammehalhagie@yahoo.co.uk or by phone on (220) 9800518.
Give him a call we are sure you will not be disappointed.

News from The Gambia

Hello All, We have had a buisy first two weeks here, Last week we visited Fass school and Nursery. The nursery is looking good, some of the tables and chairs from Bonner School are in place and the other equipment delivered and being used, the children look very smart in their new green check uniforms.
From Fass we went on to Chamin with the Massey family ( whose son Michael raised some of the money for this project) to see how the new nursery is coming along. What a surprise, we now have two classrooms and an office built up to roof level and partly rendered. We hope Nigel Oakes who donated the money to get this project started will approve.
We spent a day going round the schools where we only have one or two children sponsored, this should have been a straightforward day but being The Gambia nothing goes to plan, we arrived at Banjulinding school only to find that Ida had transferred to Brikama so we had to spend more time trying to find her new school but in the end we got round most of them.

On sunday we visited Jinack Island with the Massey family again, they sponsor two children here and had presents for them and their families. The day started badly when the ferry was late, our driver on the north bank was ill with malaria and we had to find another Land Rover but in the end we arrived safely. We had a big surprise as we got into the boat for the crossing to the Island, all the children arrived on the beach in their new red check uniforms and sang to us as we were rowed over. We spent time with the sponsored children and their families and then visited the nursery and talked with the teachers who we had sent to college during the holidays. They have learned a lot and are keen to show us their new found knowledge when we return later.
On the return journey we had a puncture, Philip Massey who is a mechanic helped change the wheel and we were soon back on what is called the road.

We have been making enquiries about the art room to be built in Helen's memory and things are looking positive (more news later).

Sorry no photos but someone (me) forgot to pack the lead for the camera but we will be adding them when we return.
We are going on a two day trip to Keneba and Jenoi next week and also visiting Wansbrough Nursery so will up date you soon.