My daughter India and I visited towards the end of 1999. Lamin had stayed with us in England during the summer of 1999 and returned in October.
Lamin and Njundu had totally redecorated the shop and it looked great.
Trips using the Nissan, had started but the tourist season was not yet in full swing.
Each time we visit we see a different aspect of the country and just a few weeks changes plants that are in flower or the fruits that are in season. We notice it less in the UK, where you can buy any food in any season.
This visit was mainly intended to set up 'Foxy Brown' as the GTS Researcher and Host. He was more than pleased to accept the job and we have been delighted with the work that he has done so far. The directory contains the contacts he has made - that I have typed up and published on the site - there are many more, so the GTS Kololi version is always the most up to date.
We spent a lot of the stay visiting, researching and photographing.
GTS has been looking for a suitable site to form a base, and we concentrate a lot of effort into the search for a plot of land, we saw lots but none that provided the potential that we need.
Eventually we hope to provide a centre and accommodation for GTS members, in a typical Gambian village environment, with as normal surroundings as is possible but with the more essential trappings of year 2000 life, like piped clean water and power.
Like all GTS projects the aim is 2 WAY, tourists can spend some time in this environment but the centre will also provide examples of alternative technology, that can be employed in The Gambia.
We returned to the UK, very pleased with the visit. The whole project has taken shape.
Lamin, Njundu and Foxy have established a strong base to build on and we felt totally confident that GTS could start to advertise its Host service having now got the infra structure to provide a completely reliable service.