Tree house fun

Nicola's brother James is here for a three week holiday, so we used the opportunity to have a little break in Kartong. Even though we only went overnight it was so nice to get out of Kombos that it felt like a week away! 

We were thinking of getting public transport, but with quite a few changes it would be a long journey and the costs would add up to as much as hiring a friend to drive us there. So Nicola, James, Lamin, Abdou and I piled into Bobby's car and set off on Friday lunchtime. 

Of course, an African journey just isn't authentic without a blow out so we didn't get there quite as soon as we expected. 

The result of someone leaving some twisted
metal at the side of the road.

Thankfully, if a tyre is going to burst anywhere, pulling out of a garage is a pretty good place for it to happen! 

A lucky location for a car problem!

Mechanics rushed over to help, and the car was soon wedged with bricks and rocks while the faulty tyre came off. 

Abdou and a handy mechanic

Bobby had a spare but it was looking a bit flat, so he and Abdou flagged down a taxi to have it pumped somewhere else, while Nic, James and I chatted to some children as they climbed trees to collect mangoes. The whole thing started taking a while, so after some negotiations we bundled into a van to go the last leg of the journey - reaching Kartong in about ten minutes. We were so close, yet so far! 

Once at Boboi Beach Lodge we found our tree houses, which was very exciting, and then bundled down to the beach for some swimming and sunbathing. 

My room for the night

Nic and Abdou

James and Lamin, long lost brothers

Once it cooled down a bit, Nicola and I went for a run (Couch to 5k week 4, run 3/3) and ran almost to Gunjur, roughly around where we had the flat tyre.

A great spot for a run!

In the evening we relaxed in the bar area, chatting while James learned Wolof at an impressive rate, and had a fairly early night. The tree houses were great, like camping out in the open, lulled by the sound of the sea. At 4am it started to get a bit windy and I discovered that my house swayed in the wind which was a bit disconcerting but all part of the adventure! I was a bit worried as I have been sleep walking lately, but thankfully I stayed put!

After a breakfast of tea, coffee, bread, jam, and grapefruit and papaya Nicola and I felt inspired to do another run in the opposite direction - towards Casamance (Senegal). So this was C25k week 4 run 3/3+1! Unlike the previous day, the sand was a lot softer, the sun a lot hotter, and the run was hard work... but it felt like a good achievement. We had a nice reward of jumping in the sea when it was over. 

A picturesque breakfast

Jane and Esme came down so we spent the afternoon relaxing with them, chatting with Jane and playing in the sea with Esme which was a lot of fun, and headed home with a lot less fuss than the journey there!