Taken whilst on assignment for B-Spirit (Brussels Airlines, inflight magazine) – Walking the entire coastline of The Gambia, with photographer, Jason Florio
Day One – Jinack Lodge, Jinack Island It has begun, our 80km walk along the Gambian coastline. We’ll be updating images – connection allowing – onto our floriotravels instagram page. The stories will come later…
After an hours undulating pirogue ride – in the surging, swelling (and downright petrifying at times), waters of the Atlantic Ocean – from the island, we landed back on mainland terra firma to begin our first day of walking: miles walked to-date – 13.5km / temperature – 31°C/humidity 74%. Hot, hot, hot!
Huge gratitude to Devon, Amadou, and all at Jinack Lodge (the cook, Binta’s, chicken yassa is delicious!), for their gracious hospitality. And the Jinack Islanders, for making us feel most welcome indeed. A sublime, and mystical (more on that at a later date), place. We only wish we’d had more time to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the island. Next time… .
More walking news coming soon. In the meantime, please check our floriotravels instagram page for image updates. The Florios – Helen & Jason
Celebrating just a few of the incredibly inspiring women we have met, over the years, and photographed on our travels, and photography assignments.
January 2013: Kaur, The Gambia, West Africa. Members of the Santa Yalla kaffo (group) take a moment between harvesting rice from the fields, which are irrigated by the River Gambia. They are paid 30 Gambian Dalasis a day (80 US cents). River Gambia Expedition
And, not forgetting, all those young girls who keep me company, and make us smile and, very often, laugh out loud wherever we go in the world…we salute you, too.
Wherever we are in the world, we walk, a lot, Florio and myself. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the only ways to truly discover a place – and the people who live there. One time, in 2009, we decided to walk around the small West African country of The Gambia. A mere 930km, with three Gambian friends, two donkeys (‘Neil’ & ‘Paddy’.), and a cart to carry our camping and photography equipment. As one does.
Along the way, we met many people and photographed quite a few of them. Amongst them, around 43 village chiefs and elders, the photos of which are now award-winning portraits, ‘Silafando – a gift to you on behalf of my journey‘
Another time, we took it upon ourselves to take a stroll along the coastline of The Gambia – a much shorter walk of around 80km. Again, we met and made friends with many people along the way.
And, our walks in certain places always seem to attract a good deal of attention
Of late, we’ve taken to meandering – going off-piste whenever possible – discovering the clifftops, valleys, and crevices of Malta.
And, just when you think that you’ve seen all it has to offer, the small island in the middle of the Mediterranean (sandwiched somewhere between Sicily and the North African coast) never fails to reveal something more of itself.
