Cruise Port 12 – Banjul, Gambia

by Ed · May 23, 2023

Bonjour! (Yes, they speak French as the primary language in this part of Africa. Creole is the native conversational language.)

On May 14th, 2023, we arrive at the industrial port of Banjul. On our way into port I spot a fishing boat heading away from the mainland.

Banjul sits on a point – actually an island – at the tip of an arm that extends into the ocean. We approach that point on our way into port.

As we enter the harbor area I am interested to find this ship anchored there. It is a power generation ship that apparently provides additional electrical power to Banjul! This is a Turkish ship!

Just past the powership the fish market appears! This is alive with the fishing boats dropping off and selling their night’s catch. This is very reminiscent of Dar Es Salam early in this trip!

A large ferry has been run aground and abandoned here!

Soon we are tying up to port!

Immediately vendors begin arriving with their wares to sell!

I have a tour today to the Abuko Nature Reserve. I hope to see some birds, since the Reserve is pretty slim on any animals of interest.

I am on the bus for my tour. Joy is elsewhere trying to get off a waitlist and onto a tour to The Roots Experience. I have no idea if she made it. Her backup plan is to take the shuttle into town to go shopping!

As soon as we hit the highway out of the port I catch this site. Old cargo containers appear to be used as homes!

With the night’s fish catch sold at the morning market, these fishing boats are pulled on shore to wait for tonight’s departure!

From the bus I capture this distant shot of Muslim towers in front of the Arch 22 commemorative structure that is over the main road into Banjul. I’ll talk more about this arch later.

At an intersection this Police box surprises me! I love the color! Afterwards I see these in many locations.

I am also surprised to see so much pink on such a large convoy of trucks! I find a bag later that tells me these are bags of rice! I don’t know if they are arriving or getting ready to leave…

Our tour guide, PJ (his badge says PA Ousman), points out this minimum security prison. It is huge! I like this photo for the sign on the post – I think they meant to say “Praise Allah”.

As we approach the mouth of Oyster Creek I catch some birds around the mudflats!

I believe this is a Reed Cormorant, possibly a juvenile with the fluffy head. But the gray breast feathers and waxy black wings lead me to this conclusion.

This is a Great Egret, marked by the lime green lore between the eye and beak.

Then we are on the Denton Bridge crossing the Oyster Creek. This view is looking upstream. Oyster Creek and offshoots to the Gambia River are what make Banjul an island.

We hit a part of town that shows Gambia is not much different from the rest of Africa. Many roads off the main drag are not paved, and those that are paved are in severe pothole disrepair like this one! Everything is “sandy” here due to the trade winds carrying Saharan sands to the west. We receive those sands in the US, too!

Peanut farming is a big business here, and the grassy tops of peanut plants are dried and bagged here. The grass is used as feed for livestock.

A short while later we find the use of the livestock. There are a series of a dozen butcher shops, side by side, on this road! And behind them…

… are massive livestock pens filled with cattle!

Goats graze out front!

We come to a Police Checkpoint. The bus slows but we aren’t stopped.

We arrive at the Abuko Nature Reserve! I’m not impressed by the upkeep of the entrance.

This sign says it all!

The Reserve is a 180-acre patch of land protected to be a nature reserve! This is the map at the entrance. The Entrance (EN) is at the bottom right corner. We wind our way to the Orphanage (OP) at the left center, then back to the Exit (EX) at the top right. This will be about an hour and a half walk.

Just inside the gate I spy this turnstile that was once used. Now they have a swing gate! Again, likely poor maintenance.

We begin our march into the Nature Reserve. At first the highway noise is loud, but within a few minutes the Reserve trees and growth totally muffle it! Now our footfalls on the leaves are the loudest sound, and bird and monkey calls can be clearly heard!

PJ points out this termite hill. He says this is about 20 years old. He knew it when it was about one foot tall and has watched it grow every year. Now it is about 7 feet tall.

Then to group at the front sees a monkey. It swings from tree to tree in front of them. A stupid woman screams, “A monkey! A monkey!” and it frightens the animal. I’m at the back of the group, and I feel lucky the little guy hung around long enough for me to catch this shot. This is a Red Colobus Monkey.

A few minutes later we approach a pool of water. This little fella is hanging out for us. This is a Squacco Heron.

Two birds dart into a palm tree. I wait patiently as long as I can to see if they would present themselves. Finally they turn a little bit. From the beak color, the long tail, and the striated bellies I believe these are Western Plantain-Eaters. I’m open to any other identification recommendations!

Here we have an African Darter. These birds knife into the water like arrows! This isn’t my best picture because of the tree’s shadow on the bird, but I love the composition with the tree branches and the blurred vulture in the background.

So here is a better picture of an African Darter with the beautiful wing feathers! But not my favorite composition… <heavy sigh>

We find a pair of African Collared Doves hanging out in a tree. Again, a tough lighting situation.

Then the toughest image of all! We say a flash of blue dart into the tree. I could see a little beak shape on one side of the large branch and tail feathers on the other side, but all in black silhouette. Moving around the tree I found a hole to capture this shot. From the yellow and red beak and the white patch under the eye, this must be a Violet Turaco! I really wish I could see this in the sunshine!

We are led to what we though would be a scenic overlook at a waterhole but turned out to be a giftshop! No crocs visible today in the waterhole, but I did find this jewel on the wall! This is very familiar, and I think I found a similar poster last year somewhere else in the world!

We head out again, this time a little more spread out. We’re now comfortable we can’t get lost in this place!

I spy this Black Kite perched on a bare limb. I apologize this is not quite in focus. I have no idea what my camera found for a focus point.

Then I found this very interesting silhouette! The is an African Gray Hornbill! Another bird I wish I could see in the sunlight!

We find a tree that has about twenty Hooded Vultures. Another fifty are in the sky, circling the park!

PJ is excited to finally bring us to the “Orphanage” where there are more monkeys, but also hyenas and baboons being rehabilitated in cages!

This little Green Monkey hangs around in the branches above us!

A Red Patas Monkey wanders around the baboon cage.

I won’t share photos of the caged baboons. They were crazy, restless, and we’ve seen baboons in the wild already.

But I will show this image of a hyena in the orphanage. It is amazing being one foot away from this powerful animal! I’m happy to have the double fencing. But this hyena was incredibly calm, just standing and staring at me. Beautiful!

We make it to the exit and back on the bus. No one was lost. No one was attacked by the wildlife.

On our way back to the ship we passed this donkey cart!

“Oyster Factories” line the highway. Usually mother/daughter teams sit here and shuck oysters. The shells make large piles along the highway!

We pass a large parade ground occupied by a bunch of vultures and a cow! (Someone said it’s a yak, but it doesn’t have the right horns or shaggy coat.)

Once again, we cross the Denton Bridge over the Oyster Creek. This time my view is out to the ocean!

We pass the artistic National Assembly building. I was on the wrong side of the bus, so this is the best shot I could get…

Then we enter the arch into Banjul!

This is Arch 22, built by Yahya Jemmah in 1966 to commemorate his ascension by military coup d’état in 1964, overthrowing the democratically elected President Sir Dawda Jawara.

Back at port this lovely mural is found! It looks like it is a work in progress.

The dock is packed with vendors!

I counted 43 different displays! A lot of clothing, fabrics, carvings, and jewelry!

There is even a drum and bugle corps entertaining us!

The drummers appear to only know one riff they play as loud as they can – no variation, and many missed counts. The horns are all out of tune. The band master appears to conduct with a beat no one follows, even when just the drums are banging. This is more entertaining than enjoyable. On more than one occasion did I think about going down to offer some drum lessons but decided I shouldn’t.

The best entertainment comes when the vendors pack up! They do an amazing job of collecting their wares into bundles and loading them onto carts that they haul away! The most entertaining is the gentleman whose blanket is still spread below. He gets his gear together and tied onto the cart, turns around, and the cart tips backward and dumps everything onto the ground! This happens twice more before he gets the load balanced and makes it off the dock!

At 6:02 PM I receive a phone call from Security asking if Joy is back on the ship. All-aboard time was 5:30. I let them know I haven’t seen her, but she did try to get on the Roots Experience tour this morning.

At 6:15 the Captain announces the ship will be delayed from leaving port due to one tour not having returned. A-ha! I’m guessing Joy did make it on the tour.

Sunset is very strange! A lot of dust is in the air.

A little before 8 PM a car and a van come racing across the bridge to the dock. I was hoping it would be the tour bus. But Joy climbs out of the van! See the tangerine shirt below?