Salty Clean

People washing their animals on the beach. In Batokunku I even spotted a camel just having had his bath!

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Reptile Farm

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 When in the Gambia, pay a visit to the reptile farm in Kartong. I’ve always wanted to, and this time we went. It’s  a beautiful, peaceful place and I’ve learnt that despite of the dangerous look of some of the snakes, very few of them are. The Spitting Cobra though, (the black one) is kept behind glass, and that’s for a reason. The lazy brown Puff Adder is the one to watch out for…

The Gambia’s Nuts

 

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When I was looking for land in the Gambia, I found a plot for sale that was full of cashew trees. I decided to keep on looking, because I wanted to build and didn’t want to cut trees. I did discover some things about cashews: one cashew fruit grows just one cashew in the little kidney-shaped pod underneath, see the picture below. Might explain why they’re much more expensive than many other nuts, for example groundnuts, also a Gambian product. Salted, packed in little bags, they are sold as snacks just about everywhere. What I didn’t know, is that you can eat the fruit too. It’s soft and smells and tastes a little perfumed.  And: the pulp is also being used to make cashew liquor. I didn’t have a taste yet, but I’m planning to…

 

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Let’s hit the shops!

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Now, I’ve been really looking forward to this part: it’s time to hit the shops for floor tiles, bathroom tiles and other  material to finish the house. You can just about find anything in the Gambia, but finding things to your taste and to find the quality that we are used to, is a little harder. Let’s call it a challenge!bouwen-tintinto-ii-425