Still on the Bike: A Stop in Gambia

At Kaolack you leave the N1 to take the N5 towards Banjul. We thus enter the marshy region of the Sine Saloum; we travel among the mangroves in an immense natural aviary, surrounded by pelicans, egrets, parrots and storks. Having passed the border post with Gambia, the pedalling inexplicably becomes heavier while the tyres grow noisy on the tarmac. We stop and notice that the friction is due to the particular kind of paving that will accompany us all through Gambia: an immense carpet of seashells assembled with a little bitumen! The road ends in the chaotic square in front of the ferry pier for Banjul. We land in Banjul when it is already dark, and in the capital, almost entirely without electricity, it isn't easy to pedal among the potholes and the pedestrians, indistinguishable in the darkness. Seventy kilometres later we are back on Senegalese territory.