The Gambia: A week in a land of Bumsters, pap and insane colonial borders
The more African countries I armchair explore, the more astounded I am that the continent continues to function despite the post-colonial trauma, and The Gambia is an interesting case in point. From the 10th Century onwards, people lost their lives, families, homeland and history to the European and Arab slave trade, then colonial powers stole its resources, destroyed much of its culture, enforced their languages and left behind borders based solely on the British desire to have full control of the Gambia River. There is even an unproven story that the borders correspond to the distance that a British naval cannon could reach from the river’s channel.
But however the borders were created, they created the smallest country in mainland Africa, an English speaking strip, surrounded by French speaking Senegal. And what is this tiny land most famous for? Bumsters — young men who sleep with visiting tourists for cash and favours. You can hear directly from some people who ply this trade in this week’s film Welcome to the smiling coast: living in the Gambian ghetto — an even handed portrayal of the informal tourist industry which lives alongside the often foreign-owned hotels that cream off the cash that tourists could be bringing to this impoverished country.
Bumsters also play a bit part in this week’s book Reading the ceiling, which focuses on an 18-year-old Gambian girl called Ayodele who has decided it is time to lose her virginity. The book then split into three showing how her life unfolds depending on who she chooses to have sex with. It’s an easy read which delivers interesting insights into Gambian life, but also feels like a first novel. I am sure author Dayu Forster’s future books will be even better as this story makes too many leaps in time and has too few well developed characters to make it onto my list of all time greats!
This week’s dish — Domada — a vegan peanut stew is certainly a winner though! It is the national dish, vegan, cheap, easy to make, and delicious! The same cannot be said of the Gambian breakfast — pap. I made a special trip to a specialist shop to buy this ground white corn powder that I presumed would be a little like polenta. It turned out it was a lot like glue. Never in all the countries I’ve been to have I been so horrified by the results of my cooking. It was simply not possible to make this wall paper paste passable, I tried adding maple syrup, sweet milk and blueberries but the texture and the smell were so unappealing that the whole thing ended up in the bin.
The national drink of The Gambia is a different story, it is basically green tea with mint and sugar drunk in an elaborate process called ataya. It is like Algerian and Egyptian tea, but greener and stronger. In The Gambia they drink it so strong that true ataya will give you a real buzz. Brew it until it is too bitter and then brew it a bit more. You also use the tea leaves at least three times! I have yet to find a tea I don’t like and this one I loved… There is even a Senegalese song about it…
Talking of songs, this week’s playlist is really worth a listen as it includes music made with traditional instruments such as the kora (a 21 stringed harp), a style called mbalax which brings together traditional and pop music, and most excitingly for me, collaborations between Foday Musa Suso, a oral historian of the Mandingo people and New York avant garde composer Philip Glass! There are also a couple of great tunes from the Super Eagles, a 1970s psychedelic band. Something for everyone.
But it is time to say farewell to Africa and head, instead, to the mountains of Georgia.
