The Sacred Forest Baobab Forest

Makasutu a 500-hectare piece of bush in the Kombo central district of the republic of The Gambia is deemed by some to be a devil's home. They say he is there in the form of a ninkinanko or dragon, and protects the hidden crown and clothes of King Jatta from Busumbala who was killed 200 years ago by the Muslim king Kombo Silla on his way east to take over the country. Jatta's men took the crown and clothes and placed them for safekeeping in the area of Makasutu, now known as the Big Forest.

This skyline of ancient baobab and strangler trees looms over the eastern end of Makasutu and is now under the self-imposed guardianship of Echin, a Jola tribesman.The devil is not the only presence there to ward off encroaching. Along with him are jinns and giants -- spectral creatures that straddle animism and Islam.

They help watch over an Edenesque orchard, which is thought to appear to those with a purity of heart trekking across the land. Mandingo tribesmen tell you in ominous undertones that you can eat the fruit of the orchard while you are in the forest but can never leave with it.

When the Islamic wave came down through the Sahara in the 12th century it gave Makasutu its name, and greater protection from the men who wanted to ravage the bush of timber and wildlife. It became a place of prayer, and so a Mecca (Maka) in the forest (sutu).
It was strictly protected by local kings and marabouts who said that no tree could be felled or animal hunted in the sacred grounds. The land until the turn of the century was used only for godly communion.

Men prayed and boys recently circumcised in the name of Allah were brought to bathe in Mandina Bilon -- a tributary of the main Gambia river that lies five kilometres to the north.
The Bilon brings fish to Makasutu as the tide swells; from its sandy banks grow thick lines of mangroves, and from their grey tentacles the Koran women collect oysters.

As the 20th century moved in Makasutu with its untouched supply of wood and wildlife became a new mecca for the people of Kembujeh and neighbouring villages.  It was on the verge of being stripped bare, when in 1992 Lawrence Williams,an architect, and James English, an engineer, came across the land and decided it would make a perfect location for a retreat and oasis for overlanders coming down off the Sahara.

They bought the land from the Sanni family who had ancient ownership rights, and after eight years of fencing and planting thousands of trees the land once again has found a protectorate.Makasutu has become a model for ecotourism in Africa.
Local women continue to grow crops on the western portion, and oyster women come and collect as ever, but now the birds are returning in droves to the trees and baboons stop at the safe haven on their migration route.
Momadou Jeeba, a Jola tribesman, has been manager at Makasutu for the past seven years and revealed that long before Williams and English arrived he and others had dreams that two whites would come by river and settle at Makasutu and keep it from harm -- a myth that has now turned into reality.


Fine dining whenever you want to eat out in Senegambia.

A unique Gambia restaurant for both Gambian and global cuisine.
Come and enjoy our restaurant in The Gambia!
Directions Bertil Harding Highway, next to Senegambia Craft Market
220 4464022
220 6664022
gaya@qanet.gm
gayagambia@gmail.com
www.gayaartcafe.com

Art In The Gambia

The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa. It follows the banks of the River Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean. It is completely surrounded by Senegal except along its western coastal margin. There are just over 1.5 million people, with many different tribal groups speaking different local languages as well as English, French and Arabic.
Compared to some of its near neighbours in West Africa, The Gambia has created few artistic ethnographic objects. Most villages had blacksmith-craftsmen, but the cultural area with huge expertise stretching across the generations and down through the centuries was that of music and oral traditions.

Musicians played drums and the kora (a complex stringed instrument). Griots, storytellers and poets who preserved knowledge of ancestors and of oral traditions, were vital guardians of the culture. However, recent decades have seen a sudden blossoming in the visual arts and the emergence of a number of internationally respected artists.

There are four really well-known Gambian visual artists who have exhibited widely, both within The Gambia and internationally.

They are:

Njogu Touray whose work we have shown for three years. You can see examples of his work and read his biography in our gallery.

Momodou Ceesay, painter and printmaker, residing in Bakau where he has his own gallery showing his work and works by upcoming young artists he has personally selected. He spent many years in the United States and is using his good connections to promote the arts in The Gambia, working especially with schoolchildren.
Alhajie Bubacarr Badgie, a well-known painter, who we have not yet met unfortunately as he was in the United States when we visited.
Edrisa Jobe, a painter living and working in Katchikally.
There are many young artists emerging in The Gambia today and who are benefiting from the surge in interest and support that stems from both the growth in tourism and international development aid.
As in many African countries, the Alliance-Francais has been particularly active in its support and has organised and/or hosted numerous exhibitions. All the artists listed above were included in their 2002 exhibition Art From The Gambia, which helped define the current state of the visual arts in the country.
A number of galleries have also sprung up - the Village Gallery, African Heritage, Gaya Art galleries and the major hotels often show high quality work.

Fine dining whenever you want to eat out in Senegambia.

A unique Gambia restaurant for both Gambian and global cuisine.
Come and enjoy our restaurant in The Gambia!
Directions Bertil Harding Highway, next to Senegambia Craft Market
220 4464022
220 6664022
gaya@qanet.gm  
gayagambia@gmail.com
www.gayaartcafe.com/