Home sweet home

As I said we spent a few hours in the lounge at Brussels airport, it was one of the best transfers I've had at an airport. It was quiet and nice, we had free access to refreshments, snacks, drinks - everything from tea and coffee, juice and soda to wine, beer and spirits. There was also free internet and of course more comfortable furniture than out among the shops and gates.

When it was time to board we went down to our gate for our 1 hour and 15 minute flight to Copenhagen. Time for new snacks because we flew so-called "flex". Not the best I’ve tasted, but free.
Once in Copenhagen, we got our luggage and went out. It was time to wave good bye to my travel companions and thank them for a wonderful week. They went on to take the train across the water back to Sweden, while I pulled the luggage tag on the suitcase and went up to the counter to check in and get a new one. Tried to make an earlier flight to Stockholm, but everything was fully booked. So it was another wait for three hours at Copenhagen airport. Found a nice recliner and sat down to read my book. After a while I dropped the book in my head and realized it was a risk to sit there and fall asleep. Time to walk around to stay awake.

The flight took off and landed when on schedule. Also on that flight, I was invited to a snack, which actually tasted good.

Got my luggage out, and with the long leg first I took off to the train station. Missed a train with about a minute, but luckily there was another just minutes later. The last leg of the trip started. On the way, I called for a taxi to avoid walking home in the cold. Instead I got to stand out in the cold and wait for the car. The driver was kind enough to turn off the meter just before we arrived as compensation for them being late. Thanks!

Unlocked the door and stepped into my own home almost exactly 24 hours after we left the hotel in Serrekunda, then I had been awake almost 36 hours! Tired, happy after a wonderful week and happy to finally be home I was just a short step from my own bed ...

I feel wonderfully refreshed and with fully charged after a great week of sun and warmth!

"Just what the doctor ordered!"

THANK YOU Mom and Dad for a wonderful week!

PS. You can now find pix at: https://picasaweb.google.com/carwahl/GAMBIA2011

The days that pass

A normal day starts with breakfast outside and then preparations for a day under the sun. We pick our favourite spot and get three sun beds. The next few hours we spend in the sun, in the water, in the shade, in the water… Later when we’re hungry we go to the restaurant at the beachfront and then back to the sun bed for more sun, shade and swims.
When the sun begins to set and the skin had enough it’s time to go back for a refreshing shower and a drink to get ready for dinner. In the room we have an air con and a fan, but neither is very effective and I am constantly sticky… But hey, I can take that.
We have a late dinner and then we’re so tired we fall asleep. Strange how tired you can be when doing nothing might be the heat. The other day I put my thermometer in the sun next to me – it was 48 degrees. When I moved it in under the umbrella it dropped to 36. In the mornings and evenings it’s normally only 30.
This is our normal days.

A not so normal day started the same way, with a good breakfast and then we decided to have a look in the neighbourhood. Walking up the road from the hotel we passed only pizza places. More or less all of them wanted us to come have pizza at their place. It was 9.30 in the morning.
On the top of the road we found a small craft market. Looking around everyone was selling the same in their small shops, and everyone wanted us to buy something from them. We did buy some small things and the best prices were given us from them who were selling things from their brothers or sisters shop…
When we got out of the market we went to the pharmacy. After that nothing was in our hands anymore. We got to see the “real Gambia”. We met a guy that asked if we enjoyed our breakfast this morning and told us he was working at the hotel. He also told us he got married the day before and wanted us to come and greet his wife. She was just around the corner.
Well, just around the corner was many corners away… We were taken to his place and where his grandfather was a holy imam. We never got to meet the holy man, but we got his blessings and a coke. And yes, we got to greet the lady he said was his wife.
After the visit we were taken to “his sisters” place. Now we were deep into a neighbourhood with big fancy properties laying next to simple houses and chacks. The “sister” had a nice place with a wonderful fruit garden. In the middle there was a grapefruit tree full of fruit, they had papayas, lemons, bananas, avocados you name it, and a big mango tree, but sorry enough the mango season has passed.
It was in this garden I changed my style the first time.
So our little look around in the neighbourhood took us on a little adventure to see the real people. Very interesting day.

But I guess one of these days is enough and it’s back to our normal days by the pool!

It's a hard life...

After a long trip starting at 03.45 am on Saturday morning we reached our destination, Serekunda, Gambia.
The trip was fine. A slight delay after our transfer in Brussels, on arrival in Banjul it was only about 30 minutes.
The flight from Brussels started with bubbles to celebrate that we now finally were on our way. When we touched ground at the small little airport in Banjul we stepped out to the stairs and straight into the heat!! 34 degrees Celsius, right in the face… Lovely!!

To get from the airport to the hotel we caught a taxi. We were shown to our car by the supervisor and I saw this row with nice cars, most probably with air con which made me happy since I was still in my jeans from the trip. But, we passed the nice shiny cars and ended up with something that I don’t know how old or if it should last for one more kilometre… It was a different ride, but we did arrive at the hotel and that was a relief.

Checked in and got installed in our room. We took a small walk around the area and then went for dinner. After that and the long travelling day, and the heat I guess, we were tired and went to bed.

Nice and fresh we woke up this morning and the toughest question was: Beach or Pool?
After a great breakfast outside and some small errands the pool won today.
The whole day was spent on a sun bed, in the sun, in the shade or in the pool. It’s great when you can cool down in a 27 degree pool. Lunch break by the beachfront.
Late afternoon we went back to the room, had a drink on the porch and relaxed before dinner. Then comes the next question: What to have for dinner? Chicken, beef, fish, soup or no soup, desert or no desert.
It’s a hard life to live – so many questions!?

GOING ON HOLIDAY!!

The first phase of a long awaited holiday week is done. I have left the north for the south for a pitstop.
At 04.00AM tomorrow morning we pack ourselves into the car and drive over the bridge to Copenhagen. The trip will go through the EU capital Brussels to Banjul, Gambia!
It will be so great!! Sunny and warm!

Gambia is Africa's smallest country, surrounded by rainforest and bamboo trees, large savannas with mahogany trees, oil palms and rubber trees. Last but not least, there is also the coast, consisting of 50 km white unspoiled sandy beach, just where the river empties into the Atlantic.
Gambia is 11 300 km2! Small that is ...=)

They say it's possible to have Western food at most tourist hotels and restaurants. But I thought to try the colorful Gambian cuisine, which offers very good food what you heard. The Gambian cuisine offers many different vegetables, rice and beans with different kinds of meat. The meat is often spiced with exciting spices and gives a very special treat. Fruits like mangoes, bananas, grapefruit and oranges are a delicacy. In the case of beverages, you can get hold of both wine and beer, however, the best being the local fruit juice. It should probably be investigated when there ... I get back to that!

There are not very much info to find about this small country, but I stumbled upon quite funny info regarding infrastructure. There are two different roads, a paved road along the southern side of the River Gambia and a dirt road along the northern side. The southern part is served by public buses, while the Northern largely served by taxis. It runs public buses to most towns in the country. One should be aware that buses are often overcrowded.
Perhaps it is best to stay on the beach and not venture out in traffic!

Anyway, it will be nice and it will be interesting to discover this small little country. It will complete my circle - having visited the North, East, South and West Africa ...

If the connection is with us, I will try to keep you updated and tell you how many degrees above 30 the temperature is from day to day ...

Wahlen has stranded

Shortly before estimated arrival time we hit the ground at a sunny, 19 ° Stockholm Arlanda ... The flight went smooth - as soon as we left the ground and the seat belt sign was switched off (but for your own safty we recommend you to keep your seat belt fastened while seated) ... I stretched out on the four seats I was happy to get even on this flight ... In under the blanket, and yep, the seat belt also, clearly visible to the staff. ;)
Then I stayed there until they said it was time for landing, more than five hours later. So I can not complain of the sleep I got. Maybe not the absolute best, but one of the better aboard a flight anyway. For departure I was very tempted to pinch one of the blanket. Qatar Airways strikes at large and offers its guests very nice fleese blankets. But I couldn't take one, and why should I, do I really need it? As if I didn't have enough blankets as it is.

The way out went smooth too, even though I for a couple of seconds was sorry that I got in the wrong queue at passport control. Of course I would end up in the same queue as a "suspicious" black man ... and of course the only reason for him being "suspicious" was that very reason - because he was black... *sigh* He had his papers ready and in he went, and right behind him was I. The baggage was already on the carusell and out came my little flattened bag.

After an airport bathroom facelift I'm now sitting here waiting for my best colleague to come pick me up and take us to a conference call and subsequent meeting ... Well, here reality hits hard ... but first we'll get some nice breakfast!

It may have been a hasty decision, but certainly not a bad decision. I've had a wonderful weekend with good and much needed rest. If I look back I would probably have taken one of my trips out or rearranged the schedule a bit, but this is how it turned out and I am more than happy with what I got. Above all, I am pleased with myself that actually threw me into the adventure ... it's probably not for the last time! Look out - suddenly, it happens - and I'm back here with new adventures.

Thank you for following and a special thanks for all greetings, SMS, etc. on my birthday ... What a fab day I got! =)

Bye bye Dubai

After another hour or so in the sun I was packed and clean... Instead of spending the rest of the time in the lobby I decided to try and find the Electronical Shopping Mall... After not finding a taxi that knew what I was talking about and the hotel staff sending me to a very strange place I decided to take an earlier shuttle to the airport and go shopping there instead.

I shared a shutlte with a couple from India, on their way home from South Africa. The lady had earlier worked at a university in Sweden close to where I live. It's a small world sometimes.
The couple had a different terminal from me and they was dropped off first. When all their lagguage was off loaded the car didn't wanna start. It was totlly dead...
I took the airport shuttle to my terminal... and left the poor stressed boy with the broken down car.

Some small shopping later it was time to board the first plane - to Doha. 45 minutes in the air and now a little more then three hours wait for the next flight. So a little bit more shopping, but I must say Doha airport doesn't have much to offer...
Well, my waitnign time is almost over and soon I'm on my way back to reality. And I can tell you that - reality hits me hard tomorrow. Getting picked up at the airport in the morning and going straight into a full day meeting! But hey, I've had four nice days of sun!!

Ok, time to leave Doha now... See you in Europe!

Lazy-Day

This morning a year ago, I landed in Johannesburg and was invited to bubbles for breakfast, and it was the start of an exciting adventure!

Today is the last day of a new adventure. It will most probably be no bubbles this time, but that's fine. I don't do much today. Took a long and nice sleep in. Dragged myself down to breakfast just before it closed and then before it gets unbearably hot in the heat, I went up to the roof. When the sun was at its highest and the water bottle was empty I was overcooked and went back down to my room - I made sure to keep it for the day. However, the key stops working at 12 when it is actually checking out. So, not too fresh in my ceiling-clothes I had to go down to reception and get my card activated again! So much for respectable outfit! Well, atleast I wasn't naked...

It was nice to get into the cool room again. Will stay here for a while now when it's so hot outside. Then it's time to start packing and return to reality.
Have a few hours to "kill" between the time I leave the room to when shutteln to the airport leaves. Thinking of taking a trip to a shopping mall nearby that is filled from floor to ceiling of just electronics, cameras, computers and that kind of stuff ... Not that I plan to buy anything, but because it can be a great experience and that they have AirCon there! HAHAHA!
If I don't go - I will be probably pay the roof another visit to try to change the color even more ...

I must admit I can think of worse ways and worse places to celebrate a birthday!
Without detracting from the present, but the thought did hit me - "What adventure awaits this day next year! =)