Tobaski2019 was by far the most adventurous and memorable of my 16 visits to the Gambia.  And, that trip was a long-time coming.

I was primed for it in the 1990s by work-friend Malik Jallow who proudly invited me on Memorial Day weekend in the United States to come and experience the best bar-b-que, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving rolled into one on Africa’s Smiling Coast. He was absolutely right, but he forgot to add Halloween.

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Now, that’s downright un-American! Really, no one claimed that the Guineans were eating the cats or dogs!

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I spent Tobaski2019 with the Cham family. Everybody calls my good buddy Ebrima Cham, Cham, including his wife and four kids. One of the funniest moments I have had with the Chams was when the youngest daughter, Ndey, found it intriguing that she could not teach me how to pronounce her name like a Mandinka. I would tease her back and ask her to pronounce “father” as an acculturated African.  She would say “fadder” similarly to some of my Gary, Indiana neighbors who had just moved up North from Mississippi.

Cham is always the coordinator of activities, even when I think I am.  I have even learned that even when I think I am the coordinator, it’s best to consult with him.

On the day before Tobaski, Cham spelled out the plans. He was to pick me up at my apartment in the Kololi tourist district at the crack of dawn and we would all gather at their compound in Old Jeshwang.

From the shores of Kololi to the sand streets of Old Jeshwang, there were no turkeys in the markets or goblins pasted on house doors.  It seemed like everyone wanted a ram just as Ibrahim had in the Bible and Quran.

Tobaski (Wolof) or Eid-al-Adha (Arabic) is the Muslim holiday commemorating Ibrahim’s (Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his own son, Ishmael (Ismail), in the name of Allah (God). Before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, Allah provided him a ram for sacrifice.

We did not have a ram in Cham’s packed car, but there were many waiting with us at the Port of Banjul to use the ferry to cross the historically strategic Gambia River to the less populated North Bank.

Riding the ferry is in of itself an adventure. The ferrymen load the trucks and cars first, then people are allowed to find some of the relatively few seats or a place to stand - - wherever they can find space. Folks bring a bit of everything with them, from cooked food to live chickens and for Tobaski, rams.

It takes about 20 minutes to cross the river to Barra, home of Fort Bullen. The British began building the fort in 1826 after it made trans-Atlantic slave trading illegal in 1807. The importation of humans had resulted in the proportion of enslaved Africans to Europeans in the Americas alarming - - three years after the world’s only successful slave revolt in Haiti.

As usual, the Cham car had problems, but the always resourceful Cham knew a nearby repair shop that could fix the car.  Once the car was ready, we headed for Farafenni, a city I always wanted to visit because it is often marked on the map. It was the also the city where I slept in an air-conditioned guest house while they stayed in the village.

Farafenni is a small town, with a bustling market. Here we joined some of their relatives and headed for the village, Kani Kunda. Upon arrival, I can sense the Cham’s were getting the same feelings of excitement that I get when I travel back to my parent’s hometown, Forrest City, Arkansas.

In Kani Kunda, there is no electricity, but my mind was electrified to so many new ways of thinking and being. Unlike in America, crime prevention was not on our minds. We visited different people, in particular, the elderly, for I wanted to see how they handle ageing.

One older gentleman lived in a very clean home with one of his granddaughters. It seemed as if she was his primary caretaker, but there were plenty of other relatives to tend to his and her needs.  That and other conversations resulted in “We Do Not Store Away Our Old People, Like You Do.”

As we walked down one street, Cham told me that the people from Guinea lived on the very far end. He added that they were Christians that had come to the village as refugees and since no one was using the land, the people of Kani Kunda said they were welcome and could settle there. Now, that’s downright un-American! Really, no one claimed that the Guineans were eating the cats or dogs!

Join POH For Tobaski2025

The specifics evolve depending upon flight schedules from the US and those from Dakar. The option of going by land between the capital cities, Dakar and Banjul, depend upon the flight schedules and the number of travelers. Here is the preliminary itinerary

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Read Part 2 of 2: My Best Times in The Gambia – Come Join Me

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