A Day on Oyster Creek

Sunday, Anita and I spent the day on a charity cruise for animal rescue in the quiet, mangrove-lined waterways  of Oyster Creek.   It was organized by Lady Jane,  which is not her real name, but I googled  her and there is way too much about her online to use her real name!  (You can’t make this stuff up!)  She is a friend of one of the women working with us and several of us felt pressured to go.  Lady Jane and her expat friends are nice, but I just don’t get it.  They live in the Gambia in what sounds like large homes with security guards, gardeners, maids, etc. and do good works with their hard earned money.  All have some kind of pied d’terre in England that they visit for varying periods of times. They are about my age, have brown leathery skin, wear bikinis and lie out in the sun—  it was 104 degrees Sunday.  For our pleasure, there was a yummy continental breakfast, a fabulous lunch and afternoon tea.  Lady Jane also provided a masseuse and a pedicurist which we just tipped the average of $3-- which is an extravagant tip!  That is me getting a pedicure  while writing on my computer.   A man on the cruise tried to surreptitiously take a video of me—just like we do to the Gambians—but like the Gambians, I was on to him very quickly and like the Gambians, I said he should ask permission.!  I do realize that I probably looked a bit strange!  Unfortunately I lost all the stuff I wrote, but it was very sarcastic, so just as well. 

The creek is excellent bird watching and as the tide went out, more and more birds appeared much to the delight of the birdwatchers among the  group.   As we were moored by the remote Lamin Lodge, a whimsical  stick-house on stilts in the creek, a group of 6 women in single canoes silently passed by on their way to pick oysters, which are abundant on the roots of the mangrove trees as the tide went out.  Some things I’ve learned about mangrove trees are:  they are some of the most unique trees in the world, as well as some of the most easily identifiable. They have a unique relationship with salt water and poor soil that allow them to thrive there. They are also responsible for keeping ecosystems together, and should be protected from deforestation at all costs.  Large roots holding the trees above the ground or water are characteristic of mangrove trees.  Leaves are light green, small and round. Mangrove trees survive salt water inundation by excreting it at the root level and by storing excess salt in leaves that later fall off.  And it make for bbeautiful scenery!

Back to my pedicure— the attractive young man—of which there are LOTS  around—chatted for a bit initially and then  I worked on my computer for awhile.  He finally said, “nice computer”.  I said, “thanks, I got it for this trip”.  He said, “Do you have another computer at home?”  Me, “yes”, but I added—not true—“an old one that doesn’t work very well.”  Him, “what kind of computer is it” pointing to my lap.  “An Acer netbook”.  He asked, “ how much does it cost?”  I decreased  the cost by $150. and said “ $220”.  Him, “that’s 6 or 7,000 dalasi.  Me, “I don’t think it’s that much, but yeah, maybe if ……..blah, blah, blah.  To have so much more than the people around me is uncomfortable.  I feel like I’ve done nothing to deserve the fortunate luck of being born in the US and being a middle class, working American which make me rich in their eyes.  I’m met so many people here who work harder than I’ll ever work and will never move beyond where they are now.  The average person in Banjul lives on between 30 to 250 dalasi (28 = $1) daily-depending on which source you chose to believe.  It’s one of the poorest, lowest income places in the world. 

How Lady Jane and friends live this sort of lifestyle is beyond me.  They feel they are providing jobs, setting up schools, providing an ambulance and a health care clinic to a remote area.  All very noble and commendable, but I don’t think I’ll ever get comfortable with the disparity between my world and theirs.