Wrestling with the president and other The Gambia Sports Travel Tips

Theme: Sports Watching

Around the time of our visit our son Sam was deep into American wrestling, so we thought we must see the infamous Gambian version. We hired a bush taxi driver, I won't mention his name, to take us into Serrekunda for the big Saturday night match. The driver had never been to a match himself and being a devout Moslem wasn't sure he approved of fighting. He wasn't too sure which of the two wrestling/sports arenas was hosting the match that evening. We eventually found the right arena as two other vehicles were queuing in front of the gate. After about half an hour we began to wonder where the crowds were as no more vehicles or people had turned up. The other vehicles contained some Dutch tourists with their guides who had no idea when the event would start. Our driver left us in his taxi listening to West Coast radio while he went to find some information. He came back with a look of disgust on his face, he said that President Jammeh was a bad Moslem as he had changed the wrestling to the previous evening, Friday the holy day, so that he could entertain the visiting heads of other African states. As Gambian wrestling can be quite extreme and often ends up in spilled blood, this not a suitable entertainment for the holy day. Our Mandinka driver said that was typical bad behaviour by a Jola, though we aren't to sure if the president is in fact a Moslem, most Jolas we came across were Christian. What ever his religion he ruined our evening.


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Address: Babou Fatty, Sukuta Road, Serrakunda