Press: B There Magazine – Hitchhiking the Gambian Way

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Words by Jason Florio for B There Magazine – October 2014 – illustration of Jason (sans beard!) and Helen in ‘the whale’ . Instagram image © Helen Jones-Florio

 

On route, via Brussels Airlines, back down to The Gambia the other day, Jason was leafing through their new October inflight magazine, B There (a bi-monthly which covers the sub-Saharan African network) and came across the piece he wrote for them about our escapades of picking up hitchhikers in Gambia – a commonplace, and the cheapest, way to travel for a lot of people all over the country.

‘In the early days we clutched the steering wheel and pressed the
accelerator, staring forward and pretending we didn’t notice the hitchhikers. After all, an unhealthy diet of American slasher movies had taught us the consequential horrors of allowing a stranger on to your backseat.’ ‘Without a Hitch‘ by Jason Florio for B There Magazine

A BIG thank you to our dear friends, Maurice and Geri Phillips, of Sandele Eco Retreat, The Gambia – if it were not for them loaning us ‘the whale’ we wouldn’t have had half the fun of picking up random strangers from the side of the road in the small West African country.

We’ll be working more with Brussels Airlines for their sister bi-monthly inflight magazine, B Spirit, very shortly – again, in The Gambia – which will involve walking and beaches.

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‘His and hers’ – Instagram image © Helen Jones-Florio

 

More news on that soon… .

In the meantime, please feel free to subscribe for the odd update with some nice photographs – or ‘like‘ us on FB and ‘follow‘ us on Twitter.

The Florios – Helen & Jason

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The Florios – Alliance Française de Banjul, The Gambia

Walking boots and Birkenstocks – heading back to The Gambia, West Africa

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© Jason Florio – River Gambia Expedition

 

Jason and I are preparing to head back down to The Gambia next week. After a sojourn in the UK (and a flying visit back home to NYC), our first assignment back on West African soil, for a feature article, is to walk the 80km coastline of The Gambia. So, it’s time to lace up our sorely neglected walking boots – or, my case, polish off my old Birkenstocks – hey, if I can walk 930km around the small West African country, I’ll be virtually sprinting 80km.

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‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush – 930km African odyssey’ – Jason Florio & Helen Jones-Florio (wearing her Birks!) with Dadi Bah, alkalo of Tuba Dabbo village

 

Although we’ll be treading some familiar ground – and no doubt seeing some familiar faces along the way – but we’re excited about exploring parts of the coastline we haven’t done so before.

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© Jason Florio – walking the dogs, Cape Point, The Gambia, West Africa

 

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© Jason Florio – Ghana Town, The Gambia, West Africa

 

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© Jason Florio – Helen, heads for the beach, Sanementereng, The Gambia, West Africa

 

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© Jason Florio – The Little Mosque, Sanementereng, The Gambia, West Africa

 

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© Jason Florio – walking the dogs, Ghana Town, The Gambia, West Africa

 

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© Helen Jones-Florio – Boy on his bike, Ghana Town, The Gambia, West Africa

 

To find out about our previous 2009 Gambia walk, please go to ‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush – 930km African odyssey‘ and you can check out Jason’s award-winning images of Gambian village chiefs and elders, from that walk, on his website: ‘Silafando – a gift to you on behalf of my journey‘.

Please stop by again soon. Or you can ‘like’ us on facebook and follow us on twitter.

More soon…

The Florios – Helen & Jason

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Boots n Birks © Helen Jones-Florio

 

 

Slideshow: behind the scenes of the River Gambia Expedition -1044km source to sea African odyssey

In early December, 2012 – mid-January, 2013, we followed the course of one of Africa’s last major free-flowing rivers – the River Gambia. Along the way, Jason documented the everyday life of those people who’s lives depend on the river.

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Image © Jason Florio – gold miners in the River Gambia, Senegal

 

From the source of the of the river – in the Fouta Djallon Highlands of Guinea-Conakry, through the riverside goldmines of south west Senegal, on into The Republic of The Gambia itself, where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean – we had an incredible journey, discovering the regions that we passed through; including dodging hippos and hair raising moto-taxi rides with stoned bikers! Welcome to behind the scenes of our River Gambia travels…

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We hope you enjoyed the ride. You may also like to check out our Floriotravels Youtube page, where you can see snippets of our journey in motion.

Updates coming soon on our pending travels, back down to West Africa

The Florios – Helen & Jason

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‘Musa with Rescued Patas Monkey’ – print donated to Critical Exposure fundraising auction

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For the last couple of years we have been asked to donate prints to Critical Exposure – for their Picture Equality fundraising auction; to which we have readily agreed to. It’s such a good cause, which helps to raise thousands of dollars.

‘Critical Exposure teaches youth to use the power of photography and their own voices to become effective advocates for school reform and social change.’ About Critical Exposure

This year, Jason donated ‘Musa with Rescued Patas Monkey‘ – an image from his ‘River Gambia‘ body of work, which he took whilst we were on our ‘River Gambia Expedition – 1044km source-sea African odyssey‘.

This is Critical Exposure’s 10th Anniversary and last year they raised over $30,000 for their programs, to help empower youth through the medium of photography – which falls in with the ethos of what we are endeavoring to achieve with our ‘Photos Tell Stories: teaching photography – a visual language‘ workshops; we held the inaugural workshop in The Gambia, West Africa, earlier this year.

Please help spread the word, to make 2014’s auction an even bigger success – you can even bid for Jason’s print or for donated prints from other photographers, including Ed Kashi, Ami Vitale, and National Geographic.

More news on our travels and work coming soon.

The Florios – Helen & Jason

Helen Jones=Florio & Jason Florio
Helen Jones=Florio & Jason Florio