Gambia Day One - in which we finally arrive!

After waiting 18 months in anticipation, the morning of departure finally arrived. I got up about 5am and couldn't wait to board the plane! We met at the Crown (Mum was sure we'd be late!) and we were on our way! The flight went smoothly; and 6 hrs, a fear of taking off and a helping of 'Calendar Girls' later, we touched down at Yun Dum Airport in the Gambia around 3:30pm. My first impression was "Why is this guy asking for newspapers?", then I was informed that the people sell them afterwards. This was a place where people are not afraid to talk to you!
We met our open-top land rovers outside, the drivers of which hauled our luggage into cages above the driver's cabin, and we got to the hotel in Kotu about 5pm. The rooms were really nice, and Claire and I had an adjoining door into Lauren and Sam's room so we got that open! We could see the beach from our balcony!
Then we went round as a whole group to exploe the area around our hotel. As soon as we came out people were on us! They wanted to know everything about us and were all to eager to be friends! The market area next to our hotel proved to be interesting - we must have met about 50 Del-Boys and Rodneys!
Next we had our first evening meal, and it was an early night for mostly everyone. Oh except for those who stayed for the quiz! Yeah we lost that one!