Sapu and the Wassu stone circles

The session at Sapu was over in record quick time – the group didn’t have all that much to say – and it was a fairly unremarkable review. The thing that interested me the most was the tea being served in a bucket – imagine that on a Sunday morning… an actual bucket of tea!

A bucket of tea! 

We drove back up to Janjangbureh and crossed the river on a little ferry, before driving through the north bank to Kaur.

Crossing the river

We passed by the site of the Wassu stone circles, so we decided to call in, and I am so glad we did. Ebou and Ba Sarjo had never been either, and so it felt like a school trip, or little holiday in the middle of work!  

The Unesco site had a small museum detailing the history of the circles, and the theories of why they are there – so we had a quick look around that and then went out into the circles.

Think Stonehenge but on a smaller scale, and with no perimeter fence or expensive entrance fee! It was interesting to see them, and we took some photos before heading back to the car. 

Ba Sarjo and Ebou showed me one of the instruments there, called a balophone, and Ba Sarjo gave a quick demonstration…

Once at Kaur we looked for a guest house. The one at the community centre was unlocked and cleaned for us, although comprised of basic rooms with pretty smelly outside pit latrines and an insect heavy cubicle for bucket baths. Going to the loo in the night would have been an ordeal, so Ebou protectively suggested I stay with Rob at his house instead, which I was more than happy to do.

Rob’s house was lovely, and whilst he also has a pit latrine and an area for bucket baths, it was a whole lot cleaner and out in the fresh air – so I really didn’t mind at all and thoroughly enjoyed my open air bath at dusk that evening. Rob is a great host so I felt very welcome and we had a lovely evening chatting, catching up on news from the Kombos / Kaur and eating lentils with potato leaves which we quickly cooked up in his pressure cooker (my luxury kitchen item was a hand blender – his a pressure cooker. Of course, I had to tell him the story about my mum shooting ground rice up onto the kitchen ceiling from her pressure cooker when we were kids!).  

Outside kitchen at Rob's house

Toilet and shower...

Rob kindly gave me his bed and slept on the veranda

The parlour

The next day we did the session with Godfrey and Rob at AVISU, and I knew right away that it would be a good one. Everyone was really open and friendly, and even breakfast was a lively and convivial affair. The session didn’t disappoint, and although challenging sometimes when we looked at areas where we have had teething problems, it felt like a very positive and proactive planning session. Godfrey and Rob both seemed to enjoy the session, and I was happy that it had gone so well.

Lunch under the mango tree

After a quick stop in to Rob’s for him to give me some wonjo, dried hibiscus flowers freshly harvested from the AVISU compound which you can soak to make a delicious drink, we were off and on our way to Njawara for the final session.