Serekunda is one part of Gambia that offers one the opportunity to see the locals and know a bit of their way of life. Well, the duration spent in Serekunda determines how much one gets to know. I was only privileged to spend a few hours in one of the main attractions in Serekunda, which is the market. As I and my host trekked towards Serekunda Market in The Gambia, I was not sure what to expect as it was my first time in the market. I saw some traders by the roadside; one spread his second hand clothes on top of a car parked by the road. The car was very dirty and did not appear to have been moved in months (or years?). Another trader placed some apples in a carton and called out to customers, "Pom, 10, 10 Dalas" The market appeared not planned; for the goods were not sold in sections. Clothes were sold in the midst of meat, vegetables and palm oil. The air in the market was very stuffy and had a pungent smell. I was certain it was not cigarette. On further enquiry, I was told that it was 'grass.' When the traders were not attending to customers, a number of them were either smoking grass or drinking the Chinese tea, which they called 'Ataya.' So when you see a small charcoal stove with a kettle on it beside a trader in Serekunda Market, he is sure brewing Ataya. As we moved around the market, I saw shops that had spices, cereals, legumes, tomato puree and some other food items packed in small transparent poly bags. I commented to my friend and she said, "Yes, food items are sold in 'aliquots' so the least person could buy." The smallest pack of spaghetti would only be enough for a child of a few months or may be a year and certainly not for an adult. Unless the adult intends to buy a pack each of spaghetti, rice, beans and spices to make a meal! Practically everything sold in the market was imported apart from fish. The Gambia is known as the smiling coast and so you can imagine that there would be a lot of fish of varying sizes, shapes and colours. They were sold either fresh or smoked. My friend made us go up and down the market looking for good bargains and when it was time to leave, we spent additional time looking for our way out of the market. I got to the car tired and sleepy but I was glad that I got to know a bit about the Gambians.
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