Courtesy of the BBC
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By Elizabeth Blunt
Gambia, the smallest country in West Africa, is an arid sliver of land
tucked into the middle of Senegal, on the West African coast. But it does
have the distinction of having received George W Bush on the only overseas
official visit he has ever made.
In fact the Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, was so excited by the prospect
of Mr Bush becoming US President, that he was the first head of state to
send congratulations - long before Bush had finally been declared the
winner.
Mr Jammeh's haste was understandable - it is an enticing prospect for Gambia
to have a special call on the affections of George W Bush, soon to be the
world's most powerful man.
It all happened in 1990, when the then Gambian President, Sir Dawda Jawara,
decided to have a special celebration to mark the country's 25 years of
independence.
He invited Gambia's three most powerful allies: President Babangida of
Nigeria, who accepted and came with his wife, Maryam; Queen Elizabeth of
Britain, who sent her daughter, Princess Anne to represent her; And
President Bush, who sent his son, George W.
This caused a certain amount of understandable confusion at first among
those people, myself included, who had only ever heard of one George Bush.
HOSTS CONFUSED
In Gambia, they didn't understand the significance of the W, and people
thought for a moment that, unlikely as it seemed, the US President was
coming himself.
The visit wasn't very demanding. All the guests of honour really had to do
was to watch the festivities and look pleasant. But I do have one very vivid
memory.
Everyone was in a dusty field somewhere around the capital, Banjul, enjoying
traditional drumming and dancing.
The main guests were sitting on a low, wooden platform, watching two
masquerades or masked dancers.
One was an elongated, faceless figure in brown Hessian, the other a kind of
raffia haystack.
Now these haystack masquerades are common throughout West Africa, and it
sometimes needs quite a suspension of disbelief to accept their supernatural
qualities and overlook the all-too-human feet sticking out from underneath
the straw.
But this one was amazing.
HUMAN HAYSTACK
There must have been a human dancer somewhere inside, but as it twirled, it
spun itself into vortex of whirling raffia, with nothing solid visible at
the core.
It danced and whirled and made little rushes to and fro.
And then, as the dance moved to its climax, the masquerade gathered its
forces and hurled itself, still spinning, towards the platform.
The two presidents, well used to this kind of thing, smiled appreciatively.
Princess Anne gave it a stern look, as if it was a slightly ill-disciplined
horse, but she held her ground.
But the reaction of the Americans was extraordinary.
SECURITY ALERT
The US security men, who had been lurking discreetly in the background,
leaped forward and threw themselves in front of the platform, making a human
shield between the whirling haystack and George W, the president's son.
It's the only time I've seen a masquerade look embarrassed.
As for the onlookers, everyone knows that masquerades represent powerful
supernatural forces.
You have to treat them with respect, and if you offend them they can cause
you serious harm, but it's not the sort of harm from which even American
Presidential Security can protect you.
Apart from this little hiccup, the celebrations went well.
HOMEGROWN ENTERTAINMENT
There was a regatta down at the quayside, with races and processions of
brightly painted wooden long boats, and in the evening, a carnival parade
and fireworks.
This took place in the centre of Banjul, which even today is more like an
overgrown village than a capital city.
The British laid it out around a kind of village green, where they could
play cricket, and the little tin-roofed church, which is Banjul cathedral.
The parade wound its way in and out of the president's garden and round and
round the square, carrying elaborate paper lanterns in the shape of boats,
known as Fanal, with particularly fine galleons dedicated to George W Bush
and each of his fellow guests.
At the end the fireworks seemed to go on for ever.
They weren't the grand, set-piece, state occasion sort of fireworks, they
were ordinary kind of rockets and roman candles, but there were lots and
lots of them and the children loved them.
All in all it was a very nice occasion, in a homely sort of way, rather like
a successful village fete, and I hope Mr Bush remembers it with as much
pleasure as I do.
THE VARIETY OF AFRICA
But I also hope he realises where Gambia stands in the African scheme of
things.
He hasn't seen the glinting skyscrapers round the Abidjan Lagoon, or the
snaking expressways of Lagos.
He hasn't seen Zimbabwe's rolling farmland, the huge copper mines in Zambia
and the Congo, or the bustling financial hub of Johannesburg.
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