Quel est le site Web ?

https://www.facebook.com/101843942792379/

Extraordinary Stories

Page d'Accueil
Sénégal
Ziguinchor
Extraordinary Stories

Sharing extraordinary stories that I experienced since I moved to Africa, a place to share your's too

07/04/2023

One of the challenges here in Africa is trying to have relationships with the people, especially men.
Although all are welcoming and friendly to such an extend that one is continuously welcomed and invited to their homes, I find it difficult to " Be Myself " .
Being myself would mean to smile and greet when I feel like it, and to chat with people when I find something interesting to say.
By doing that though, I am continuously sending out the wrong message.
Because the women here don't talk like that with a man, unless they too want something from him.
So by just being polite - in my mind - and responding to enquires about, for example, my health, or if I slept well, I am " saying yes " in their minds...
But having had the chance to observe for mamy years I now know how to behave as to not inspire wrong ideas.
I don't smile at anyone unless of course I know them.
I keep the conversation socially polite , enquiring about their families .
I don't invite anyone to come to my home.
I ignore messages on fb.
I keep my boundaries firm and obvious.

This has been an interesting learning process for sure, and I am still in the process of perfecting my ways..

🌈❤️🌈

31/12/2022

This is my open plan kitchen, and inner patio..
I have a lovely strong house, made from sustainable pressed bricks, and a corrugated roof...

It was a very different experience, when I tried to build a house in The Gambia in 2005..
Let me say, my mistake was that I trusted in what people/builders would tell me..

Firstly I wasn't well advised to build a house from wooden posts and bamboo mats in the middle of the jungle, where it was under constant attack from the mirriards of termites that so obviously live and thrive there.

At the beach those kind of houses are a very good idea, as there are none of these tiny but powerful creatures feasting on the wood , lots of people use those buildings to construct bars and restaurants .

So unbelievably I went ahead and constructed a simple wooden house on my land.

Then we needed a roof, so I was told the large palm leaves of the sibo tree would certainly do the trick.
The workers when off into the bush to cut them, and came back with hundreds of huge flat leaves .
Then they covered the roof with it, explaining that there was a special way to do this , so it would not leak..
At the first rainfall it rained inside of the house as if there was no roof at all!
So then I was advised to buy plastic sheets, but they too did a very poor job as they are only 2 meters wide.
So in the end I drove to the town bought corrugate.
Again I was told of a very good carpenter, who would be able to make a strong roof .
After he had attached the sheets , it rained in in so many places , there was hardly any difference to before !
Finally a real carpenter came, who saw that the fake one had hammered all the nails straight down to the wood, creating hundreds of penetrable holes!
He took everything off, and reattached the sheets in the correct way..
Of course by now there were too many holes in the sheets, and it dripped water in 10 places or so.. but it was bearable ...
I still remember going to sleep and listening to the termites , right next to my head , chewing through the main support beam, and waking up in the morning with only a third of the wood left ...
I definitely learned a lot I'm those days ....

I am so grateful for my beautiful home, I knew now how to do it properly, and I love living here.

🌿🦜🍀🦎🌴🦩

28/12/2022

This was in 2005, when I visited The Gambia, at the monkey park, in Senegambia.
A huge area of several square miles, full of ancient sibo palm trees and of course hundreds of vervet monkeys.
This used to be the place to go if you sought pure nature. 🌿
It was located right next to the tourist area.
The monkeys were used to being fed peanuts and bananas.
I used to go there many times with my children.

The last time we went, in 2012 I believe , we were shocked to find out that the entire region had been cut down, all those huge trees ! Instead they were building a massive conference centre !!!
The monkeys had to move of course, to a different area, not too far away, but that park was nothing in comparison, as far as it's nature was concerned.
I will never be able to understand people. In The Gambia 95% of all forest is already gone, and here they go and cut the last remaining area down too...
🌳🌴🌿😢
I still remember walking in that forest, the energy the trees were radiating.. magical beyond belief 🌴🌳🌿

22/12/2022

" Darling wake up! " I shook my boyfriend's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice.

How TJ couldn't hear the very strange noise right next to our bed, was a mystery to me!

I fumbled for the torch, and shone it onto the scene below.
I jumped back in alarm, which finally woke TJ !

We stared in horror, as a huge swarm of army ants ran at high speed through our bedroom, eating everything in their wake.

We managed to step around their path, noticing the route they had already created, consuming everything that had been there before, including the wall of our house!

It was 3 o'clock in the morning, and there was no moonlight tonight.

We put on our clothes and stepped carefully outside , at least the veranda was still free of ants.
The next morning we saw the huge corridor the ants had left behind, stripped bare of vegetation.
The bottom part of the side of our house, and the bathroom walls too were gone!

Our house was made of wooden beams, and palm mats, in hindsight not the best idea when you live in the bush.

Especially as termites are absolutely everywhere , devouring any dead wood or organic material.

But as so many times I had been ill advised, believing that it would be ok!

I remember all these years ago , it was 2006, in the Gambia, and I naively believed what " professional " builders told me.

Now I know better, I made my house here in Abene with pressed bricks.
Ironically you use the sand of a termite hill to make these very strong and much more natural bricks.
I had two hills on my land, so that was easy to do, with the help of 15 workmen, who produced them here on my land...
The photo is me sitting under my elephant tree in the Gambia .

Sadly later someone cut this very ancient tree 😢

19/12/2022

The "Gambia Experience", which is actually the name of an airline that flys directly to The Gambia, is a bit of a joke between those who have actually experienced Gambia.

Also know as The Smiling Coast Of Gambia, this country offers beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures throughout the year.

With it comes the other side of this little paradise, which is the most unimaginable way of how local men of all ages are trying to conquer a white woman.
I am not exaggerating, this is how it goes!

Arriving in Banjul airport, which is crowded with trolley men wearing uniforms, trying to look official, I first have to make it through passport controls :

Officer: " Welcome to The Gambia, my lady ! Where are you staying? ----- I am going to Tanjii. ----- Ahhh Tanjii, very nice. Where is your husband? ------ I am not married . ----Why not? You need a husband (!!!!!) ----- I try to smile ----You are a good woman! ----- no response,
I am looking away ---- If you give me your number, we can be friends ----- I don't have a phone ( 😁) ----- ahhh, no phone , that is very sad , ok well when you come back we talk more... "

By now I finally have my passport back, which the officer handed me reluctantly , trying to wink at me ..

It continues like this wherever I go, from simple noises that you would attract a dog with , to the usual shout of "Toubab" ( meaning WHITE man/woman ).
Whether I enter a bus, wait for a bus or taxi, go out to buy food or walk by the beach, not a day goes by without this very unpleasant hussle.

You really need to develop a very thick skin, or have earphones hanging out of your ears so people don't try to get to you.

In a poor country it is of course understandable that a white person is seen as very rich, but there must be a limit.

I am very glad that in Senegal there is a limit to this, here in Abene, where I live now, there is maybe 20 % of the hussle going on that is normal for the coast ( tourist area ) of The Gambia .
And most of those Hustlers are actually Gambian ..

As the say " Gambia Experience " !!! 😁☀️😁

19/12/2022

This was my dog Tinker, and the place where I finally decided to leave England and move away.
It had been a long journey, for many years feeling that something was desperately missing from my life.
I had been a very busy mum of four, which had been a fulfilling life, but as they grew up I felt very much without purpose.
I felt very alienated from life as we know it in the west, with the usual 9 til 5 rhythm, the rushing around , the exhaustion after a mindless job, and then feeling the need of a treat - usually chocolate..all this seemed to go round and round in circles without ending..what was the point? Why would I keep doing this ?
Here on this field, near Totnes, in England, where I had been living for 24 years,I decided to make the jump into the unknown.
I actually converted a van and drove around Portugal ( see my previous page : Follow your Bliss ) and after realizing that even Portugal was not different enough , I moved to Senegal.
I had been to Gambia before ( more of that later, some of the best stories happened there! )
So I traveled around and finally found Abene in Senegal.
More detail later 🙏🌿🙏

19/12/2022

I welcome you all to my page of Extraordinary Stories !
Here I will share with you the many incredible things that happened since I came to Africa almost 5 years ago.
Many people have said that I should write a book, since it's so entertaining!
Maybe one day I will.. for now let me tell you here, why I left Europe, my absolutely unbelievable experiences with some people, as well as myself!
And of course the ups and downs of what it means to leave my life behind me and move to this wild continent.
And there will be plenty of real life, laughing and crying.. and learning 🙏

Adresse

Abene, Tranquil
Ziguinchor

Téléphone

+221770910806

Site Web

facebook.com

Notifications

Soyez le premier à savoir et laissez-nous vous envoyer un courriel lorsque Extraordinary Stories publie des nouvelles et des promotions. Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas utilisée à d'autres fins, et vous pouvez vous désabonner à tout moment.