We left this morning and started our journey up the river, accompanied by dolphins around James Island (a fortress used as a slave collection area and fought over by the British, French and Dutch from 1650 until it was abandoned in 1829). We are anchored at Bintang Bolon, a creek about 25 miles from Banjul - just us and the local wildlife - SO quiet, it's wonderful.
We had an interesting time at Lamin Lodge. On Saturday the President was visiting the local village and we went to see the celebrations. It was an incredible scene - everyone dressed up, music, lots of people in green batik costumes and millions of kids. The kids latched onto us, fascinated by the camera. They weren't a nuisance, just very open, friendly and chatty. Provisioning is a challenge, there's hardly anything available to buy. We had to get the local lads, Landa and Lennox, to drive us to a nearby farmer's market to stock up on fruit and vegetables for our trip. We heard from other boats that there's little to buy up the river.
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