Adventure travel is often associated with the places that are visited. But as any traveler knows, sometimes the greater adventure is the process of getting there or getting back.

That was the case on this day when we were traveling from Banjul to Barra. Banjul is on an island so to go anywhere else, you must cross a bridge or take a ferry. Barra is across the wide opening where the Gambia River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is about three miles northeast of Banjul. Taking the ferry across and back was by far, the adventure of the day for me.

We had to arrive early to catch the ferry. Tickets must be purchased at the ferry terminal. The ferry terminal was crowded and confusing to navigate. Without our guides, I'm not sure we would have been able to get our tickets and get aboard. At some point, someone commented about the crowds and our local guide just laughed. He assured us that since today was Sunday, the crowds were very light compared to the weekdays.

Upon arriving and having our tickets, we had to wait a short while for the ferry to arrive. The name of the ferry was the Kunta Kinteh, which you can see in the first photo. The Gambians really know how to carry a theme. Tourism is the third largest industry in The Gambia and they are capitalizing on the transatlantic slavery trade for some of it. Our goal today was to visit the village where Kunta Kinteh grew up and was captured and sold into slavery. Then we visited Kunta Kinteh Island, but I'll get to that later.

It took 40 minutes to unload the ferry before we could go aboard. In my mind, it was very crowded and that includes people, animals, motorcycles, cars, trucks, and big rigs. It also included perhaps hundreds of vendors who were on their way to work and carrying their goods.

The ferry was a three-floor vessel and our guides told us to make every effort to reach the top floor. He said it was less crowded and less hectic upon departure. It also provided us with some great views and a great opportunity to see some of the workings of the ferry. The next photo will give an idea of the crowds on the first deck of the ferry. I'm glad that it's not my car parked there.

The ride to Barra took 42 minutes. But what happened next was perhaps the highlight of the ferry ride. We pulled up to the ferry ramp in Barra. Everyone waited for the signal to unload but it was a long wait. We eventually learned why. The ferry deck and the landing ramp were not aligned. There was a difference of about 14-18 inches. So first, they had a vehicle drive onto the dock for its weight to lower the landing ramp. That didn't work, so they had a second vehicle drive onto the ramp. That didn't work either. Next, they had about twenty big guys get on the end of the ramp and jump up and down. The ramp eventually came down to the level of the ferry. It sent a roar through the crowd.

You can see the gap in the photo below if you look at the landing ramp in front of the mini-bus. You can see that they brought on a second vehicle already. The next step was to get a bunch of big guys on the end of the ramp to jump up and down in unison. It eventually worked and we all got off the ferry.

The next photo is one I took from the third deck as we waited for the crowds to thin out before we departed. And again, this is a light weekend crowd.

We spent the whole day in the Barra area, and now I'll post about our ferry trip back home to Banjul. The crowds going back to Banjul were even bigger than the crowds going to Barra. We had another long wait while the ferry emptied and reloaded the vehicles and animals. It was interesting to watch it all.

But then it was our turn to load and the process and route that we took was confusing and a bit overwhelming for us. In the next photo, we were heading for the opening in the wall in front of us, which led to the ferry. Suddenly, the gate closed, and we had to take a long and peculiar route to get back onto the loading area. We never knew why.

Once we got onto the loading area, the crowds and the pushing, shoving, and elbowing really started to ramp up. I latched on to Vicky's arm and we joined the crowd in pushing, shoving and elbowing our way aboard. Remember, our goal was to get to the top deck and find a seat. We made it but just barely.

We made it back to Banjul and again, we waited aboard for a while for the crowds to thin out before we attempted our exit.

One highlight of our ferry rides and all of West Africa for that matter was the colorful clothing worn by the local people.