Fatoto Lumooto

Every Sunday morning I load up my bike and ride about 40 minutes east to the town of Fatoto. Its the last sizable town in Gambia, and every week it hosts a market or lumoo. There are two roads that get me there, one winds through the woods and brings you along the riverside. The other was is due north out of Sami Koto through Garawol, and then a left onto the main highway. The town of Fatoto also has a police department, high school, and a ferry crossing.
On a normal day you can get most things in town which means rice, oil, peanuts, attaya, sugar, batteries, lamps, soap, and maybe some onions. Lumoo days bring mobile phone and radio sellers. Used clothing, fabric and soccer jerseys are available. There is jewelry and makeup, soccer balls, cleats and flip flops. This is also the day to buy iron cookware. Vegetable sellers bring all their produce, and in each corner in town women are selling bananas, beans, and pancettos. Although my list never includes some of these special items, its the only day I go to do my shopping.
Malcolm and I started meeting up here on our first Sunday in the villages. On the first day we were quickly overwhelmed and looked around and left. We went down to the river side and sat for the afternoon. Sitting by the river has become a full day activity in itself, as has being a part of the lumoo. I leave the house early to bike ride, read, write, or call Zabeth while its still early. When I arrive at the lumoo around noon I park my bike at a tailor's- Bakary Camara. Its next to a small shop that serves hot water for coffee. After greeting the tailor and having a snack I move up to the produce to buy peanut butter. I greet most of the women  selling and move on to buy coffee and powdered milk for the week. I always make at least one lap around greeting the people from my village and picking up anything else that comes up.
After the shopping is done I walk up and sit with another tailor I know. Hes in 12th grade and speaks good English and lets me sit inside of his shop for the afternoon. I'll get up when the market starts to shut down around 5. Then reverse my lap saying bye to the produce sellers, then the shop keeper that serves coffee, and on to Bakary before buying tea and sugar to take back to my family from the market. Then I get on my bike and try to ride home in time for dinner.

This van is parked in front if the vegetable stand and is loading up sellers and  their goods to travel back to Basse.