The house we were to stay in wasn't quite finished. The walls were erected and the roof in place, but when my husband arrived he had to install windows, external doors, plaster the walls, put in ceilings and install a bathroom! During the week before our arrival he managed to get so much done and did a great job!

We arrived in Banjul Airport (which is actually not in Banjul at all – a fact that confused me a little) and stepped out to 34°C and a huge mass of people. My 2 year old son was overwhelmed, hot and grouchy. He cried non-stop and made the whole experience a tad stressful! I really felt for him though!

When we finally made it through security I was glad to see my future husband’s face smiling at us! He helped us to his car and we were off!

The first thing that struck me was how bright and clear everything was. Bearing in mind I had just arrived from the UK which, in December, is pretty much dark and dull all the time, this wasn’t really surprising! It had also been snowing when we left which made the Gambian heat seem even hotter! The land was flat and dusty, but there was plenty of lush green plant life. Cattle wandered across the road from the airport and we saw a few people travelling by donkey-drawn cart.

On the way to my husband’s family compound we passed an area by the side of the road that was crowded with goats. A man had strapped one of them (very much alive) onto the top of his mini-van and was just beginning to drive off! Although it looked rather comical, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the poor goat which was having a few problems trying to balance on the top of the moving vehicle. I felt even worse when it dawned on me that it was being taken away for dinner!

We drove to a village called Lamin. We turned down a narrow dirt road which led into a residential area. Not far down the road we turned into a large gateway which made the entrance to the family compound. A crowd of children and adults awaited our arrival and followed the car as we drove in. The compound itself was quite impressive – a pretty large area of sandy land surrounded by a substantial wall and containing 3 main blocks of buildings.

One of the buildings was the half built house we were to stay in. It was huge and rather grand looking even in its unfinished state. A raised porch area ran the length of the front, with supporting pillars every few metres along. When I stepped inside I could feel moisture in the air because the plaster was still fresh and had not properly dried. Most of the property did not yet have a ceiling so we could see up into the triangular roof area. Being a little bit of a nature boffin I immediately started looking for signs of wildlife! Unfortunately I only saw a bird’s nest which appeared uninhabited. My husband had done a wonderful job getting beds made for our stay and we were truly thankful that he’d managed to get a bathroom plumbed in! We had flushing loo, sink with running water and a shower. The only downfall was that there was no warm water. This was not a problem for the adults – we just braced ourselves and flapped around a lot as we washed, but my 2 year old was not having it at all!!! The result was that he had maybe 3 showers the entire 2 weeks he was there and the rest of the time we resorted to baby-wipe washes! He actually spent a lot of time in the sea too so in my mind that doubled up as a bath…

One of the first things we did after unloading the car was to buy mosquito nets and fix them above our beds to keep the blood sucking fiends out!!! My dislike for those horrid little insects is immense and repelling them became a bit of an obsession for me throughout the holiday! I was quite lucky though – I only got bitten a handful of times and I didn’t get malaria so it’s all good!

Wedding Plans

We decided on a December wedding in The Gambia. We are both quite thrifty individuals so value for money and the term “cheap and cheerful” was one of our mottos!
We found some cheap flights and as we were staying with family didn’t need to worry about paying for accommodation.

Hubby bought a simple cream linen suit from and he looked damn fine! My dress, admittedly, was a little more expensive than his suit BUT it was in a sale (50% off) and because it was a cocktail dress instead of a poufy wedding dress I could wear it again in the future (if we miraculously got rich and started hobnobbing with the rich and famous of course!).

Moving on…

My husband left for the Gambia on 6th December 2007 to make vital preparations for me, my 2 year old son, my parents and my 2 sisters to descend upon the family compound!

Preparations you might ask? Not just the usual wedding prep! There was too the small matter of building a house for us to stay in!

It started with a proposal...

In September 2007 my Gambian boyfriend took me to The Spice Corner in Leeds Millennium Square for a buffet lunch. I personally love great food and enjoyed every second in that lovely Indian restaurant! We ate fruit dipped in the chocolate fountain for dessert which inevitably left a puddle of chocolate mess on our plates. My husband began using a cocktail stick to create swirls and shapes in the liquid chocolate. It took me a while to realise he wasn’t just making random shapes but he was actually writing in the chocolate, and from where I was sat, it said BUM!

A little confused I looked on trying to figure out what he was doing, when eventually he turned his plate around to face me. It read:

B will
U
Marry ‘me’
(indicated by an arrow)

The biggest smile spread across my face and I simply took a cocktail stick and wrote:

I wud love 2!

My gorgeous guy then bent on 1 knee beside the table, produced a little box from his pocket and asked me to be his wife. My thoughts and feelings were all over the place – giddy excitement, over-the-moon-ness, total embarrassment that we had an audience… I said “Of course I’d love to – now sit back in your seat quick!”.

That was it – ring on finger and destined to marry my dream man!

As we are both religious – he being Muslim and me being Mormon – marriage was very important to us and we saw no reason to have a long engagement. We began our plans immediately!