Waking up in the Gambia

Yesterday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to leave Thies in a 7-place (read, "junky Peugot station wagon") and get to Kolda before the regional curfew. We got about a half hour down the road when one of our rear wheels started coming loose and we ended up stopped for four hours waiting for it to get fixed. Through some misunderstandings and a stroke of luck our driver decided to take us through the Gambia, the sliver of a country that cuts through the middle of Senegal - a much faster route, but also not officially Peace Corps sanctioned. When we arrived at the border and realized where we were it was too late to turn back and we got the official go-ahead to pass through - which was a beautiful and fun little adventure. We saw monkeys, met some really nice people and got a Gambian stamp in our passports. Not a bad travel day in the end. I posted picture of it here. I promise to try to upload more photos the next time at the Kolda house, but right now things are pretty hectic since many of us move to our huts tomorrow! Last day of living out of a suitcase... alhamdulilah!