Feels Just Like Home – Yeah Right
I’m emailing from the internet cafe on Nelson Mandela Street in The Gambia. I just ate a late lunch at the Alles Klar Cafe. I suppose these South African sorta names should make me feel more at home but it doesn’t. That’s okay because it… well, I am not at home, am I?
Maybe one of these reasons I’m sitting here writing this and not spending my one afternoon in The Gambia (don’t you think the ‘The’ is a little much?) exploring is because I don’t want to get too attached to it like the last place I was in. Yeah right, I think it’s because mostly I had such a great fucken time in Kafountine that I have to get it written down before I get back to Dakar and it becomes too distant a memory.
It was my birthday last week and since I did fuckall to celebrate it I headed up to Kafountine the weekend after for bit of a jol. I arrived with a Rasta called Papice (which is short for ‘Peace and Love’ which he does actually get called now and then) and met up with some Canadians (Sarah, Steph, Walter) that I had prearranged to meet in Kafountine.
So for my birthday we first cooked up some fish on the fire at Papice’s campement near the beach, listened to him place some djemba (he is a musician that does workshops as well) and then stumbled along 3km in the dark through the forest to the reggae party in the village where they played an awfully large amount of
Lucky Dube. Birthday congratulations was called out thrice over the mike at various stages of the evening and once it even seemed to sound almost close to my name. Funky reggae party.
Lucky Dube. I knew he was big in this part of the world but I had no idea he even had so many songs. Even the Canadians are fans and they’ve even seen him in concert in Canada! I plan to look the brother up when I get home.
It’s weird how sometimes I have long periods of travel that seems so bland and then I have these short spells that are just incredibly vivid and intense. Kafountine was like that. I met great people, listened to great music and ate some great food. I didn’t like the 3km walk through the forest to the village and the cow shit area on the beach, but yeah, it was brilliant. The festival due to start next week in the village next to Kafountine (Abene 6km away) looks like it’s going to be amazing. I’m sad I’m going to miss it. Next time gadget.
Tags: Travel, Tag Index
Ghalied