Yesterday I went to Banjul, Gambia's capital for the first time. I was expecting lots of big buildings, wide roads and lots of government officials out and about on the swampy island, but I was sorely mistaken. Banjul is a small island formed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gambian river. It holds significant importance in the formation of the Gambia because in the British fight against France for the area that makes up Senegal and Gambia, the British were able to hold Banjul and the Gambian river. The British were trying to enforce abolition of slavery, while the French still were trying to use this influential river to get slaves for their colonies. The British won, but there are still several tourist sites where one can see where slaves were sold and shipped to the Americas. This gives Gambia its odd geography as a country surrounded by Senegal on all sides.Banjul looks a lot like anywhere in the Gambia, small buildings, dirt roads and lots of people. There are a few things that make it stand out. First, there are 2 national monuments to commemorate significant dates of independence (a tall metal cone) and the coup that took place in 1994 (a very beautiful marble arch). 
There are a couple of large parks, which can be hard to find in other parts of the country. The nation's only tertiary hospital is located in Banjul. My good friend, Mafo, is finishing up med school and spends most of her time there, so we went for a tour of the hospital. Every ward is sponsored by a different organization (e.g. Shell) and you can easily tell which wards are well funded, and which ones are struggling. The security guide took as all over the hospital trying to find the official tour guide, but by the time we actually found him, we had already seen the whole thing and just asked the tour guide a few extra questions. At the hospital I've been volunteering at we send a lot of patients to this hospital. They had a little bit more equipment, but in general it wasn't that much different, just bigger.
There are a couple of large parks, which can be hard to find in other parts of the country. The nation's only tertiary hospital is located in Banjul. My good friend, Mafo, is finishing up med school and spends most of her time there, so we went for a tour of the hospital. Every ward is sponsored by a different organization (e.g. Shell) and you can easily tell which wards are well funded, and which ones are struggling. The security guide took as all over the hospital trying to find the official tour guide, but by the time we actually found him, we had already seen the whole thing and just asked the tour guide a few extra questions. At the hospital I've been volunteering at we send a lot of patients to this hospital. They had a little bit more equipment, but in general it wasn't that much different, just bigger. We also went to the
national museum, which was incredibly interesting. They had all kinds of artifacts from Miss Gambia 1985's gown to burial treasures from 10,000BC. Humanity began in Africa (the Garden of Eden is largely thought to have been in Ethiopia or Sudan), our first major civilizations were here, and it holds such a rich history that its impossible to think of all the contributions to the modern world that Africa has made. This small museum was rich with artifacts dating back to our earliest forefathers, like the club shown above, and some of the earliest iron tools that were made. I also really enjoyed reading about colonialism, the fight for independence and how political history has shaped this area. My favorite things to learn about were the masquerades that are still practiced here, in which men dress up in a variety of scary costumes, carry machetes and scare away evil spirits. Most people hide inside while these are going on. Here is a photograph of a Simba, or lion, masquerade. The museum also had a variety of incredible drums, the earliest xylophones and early guitars and banjos ("banjo" is actually an African word!)
national museum, which was incredibly interesting. They had all kinds of artifacts from Miss Gambia 1985's gown to burial treasures from 10,000BC. Humanity began in Africa (the Garden of Eden is largely thought to have been in Ethiopia or Sudan), our first major civilizations were here, and it holds such a rich history that its impossible to think of all the contributions to the modern world that Africa has made. This small museum was rich with artifacts dating back to our earliest forefathers, like the club shown above, and some of the earliest iron tools that were made. I also really enjoyed reading about colonialism, the fight for independence and how political history has shaped this area. My favorite things to learn about were the masquerades that are still practiced here, in which men dress up in a variety of scary costumes, carry machetes and scare away evil spirits. Most people hide inside while these are going on. Here is a photograph of a Simba, or lion, masquerade. The museum also had a variety of incredible drums, the earliest xylophones and early guitars and banjos ("banjo" is actually an African word!) After a short afternoon it was too hot and we had seen all the highlights in the guidebook so we headed on home. It was a great afternoon and a learned a lot! I thought I would be living on Banjul, but I'm actually living just across on the mainland. I'm so happy because there is SO much more to do and not quite so isolating, but it was a great place to visit.
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