All building material shops or paints like Asian Paints are owned by Indians here. I hope he doesn't turn towards me. Today is my first close encounter
with a crocodile. So people come and pray. They pray to the crocodiles? No
No This is like an animist. If a women isn't having a child then they take a bucket of water from the crocodile's pool and the women takes a bath. Please come to the Gambia let us celebrate Diwali here. Welcome to a new video. I'm in Gambia the smiling coast of West Africa
. If you look at West Africa Senegal surrounds Gambia from 3 sides with Atlantic Ocean
on the left side. The shape of Gambia looks like it is Senegal's smile. Gambia is also called
smiling coast of Africa. You will find everyone smiling here. Why aren't you smiling? Smile! Yeah like this. Yeah smile like this. Everyone's smiling What's your name? Ameeru! Ameeru! Ameeru is a guard here and what's your name? Daura! Daura! Yeah, you see those smiles. Western African smiles. People are very friendly
. I've been in Gambia since 3-4 days I had a lot of pending work so I completed that here. There's a restaurant nearby. This is it. I'll have some food here. Can I sit here? Yes, you can sit here. Smiling coast of Africa! See, everyone's smiling. Thank you! Let's sit here. Happy Holi! Please come to the Gambia, let us celebrate Diwali here. You saw how friendly the people are. They're saying, come here &
let's celebrate Diwali. I don't know them but just came here once. They're very friendly. Th
is the menu. Its called House of Flavour. Dalasi is the currency here and 1 Dalasi has ₹1.25 To get the rates in INR you can multiply it by 1.25. There's not much difference. If you look at the rates. They have Indian food. See! Daal fry is for 375 Dalasi ($5.58) or about ₹500. Butter chicken is for about ₹525 ($6.47) Chapati with butter is 85 ($1.26) for one. These are the rates. This is the drink menu. Sit, let's eat. This is our Waheguru Travels team. All the friends... As you saw in the vide
o,
he (Lokesh) came to pick me up. That's Naren from Kota. Manish is from Ajmer? Jaipur! From Jaipur. He (Sonu) is from Mumbai. He's a fraud & doesn't treat
people with ice-cream. He lies a lot. Everyone starts dancing on Hindi songs. Why aren't you dancing? He's the chef here. Sunil Chaurasia Mr. Sunil Chaurasia Where are you from? I'm from Uttar Pradesh, Azamgarh. From Azamgarh in UP? And you brother? I'm from Uttarakhand. Mostly chefs are from Uttarakhand, right? Enjoyed a lot. They're still
dancing inside on the Jimmy song. I just came outside. My bill was for 550 Dalasi ($8.18) which is about ₹750. I generally get a higher bill than this & I end up paying ₹1000-1500 ($12-15) but paid less today as I just ate chicken biryani today. If you go to a nice restaurant and take a proper meal you'll get a bill of ₹1000-1500. Welcome to a new day. You saw my hotel, Indian restaurant next to it where I had food. I also became friends with some Indians who work here. Now I am heading towards
Serrekunda which is Gambia's 2nd largest city. Banjul is Gambia's capital but is a small country. The biggest & main city after Banjul is Serrekunda having markets after Banjul. I've lost my hotel's room key so I got a backup key which is the housekeeping key. I need to get a duplicate one made for my room. You can see markets on the side. Here's the key marker. Keys in 2 minutes. Let's go! Oh! Thank you! Yesterday, I had a key made,
but it did not work so I have to get that fixed. Oh sorry! Her
e? Okay! He asked me to help him & pick the generator as I look fit. Arab Muslim merchants used to come here in the 9th and 10th century to trade with the indigenous
Western Africans or with people of modern-day Gambia, & might have brought Islam here. Portuguese came here in 1455 & were the 1st Europeans to come here but didn't establish any trade here. After them in 1765, the region became part of British empire and Gambia became British colony. 200 years later, Gambia got independence
from UK
in 1965 under leadership of Dawda Jawara. As the country is settled around the Gambia river which is about 350 km long. Thus, the land is very fertile here. The hotel owner was telling me about a man who threw watermelon seeds
after eating and how watermelon grew here
in a few days. So, the land is so fertile that without watering or anything a watermelon grew just by throwing seeds. I got a haircut done here yesterday and you can see that... I'll play that video now. I have come to get a hairc
ut. Sonu has brought me here. Africans have different hair unlike our straight hair so they can't cut our hair. They don't know how to do it. So, you can get it done by
an Arabic barber here. It's difficult to find one here. I think a barber from Syria lives here so I'll get my haircut from him. We've come to the shop. He is from Syria and we were speaking with him. He got shocked to know how I've been to Syria as no one goes there. Got done with the haircut and got them cut
quite short this tim
e. I won't have to cut it for long. Thank you brother! Let's go now. The key has been made... it was made already and I've got it smoothed. as it didn't work. Oh, it's so hot. Oh, it's burning. Although, they've a muslim population but I didn't find any girl wearing hijab here. I'm in Gambia since 8-9 days and has been long because... even though it's the smallest country
of mainland Africa but I liked it a lot as the people are friendly and speaks English. They are quite cheerful. This is their
new police station. See, how big it is and I'm calling it big because the police station in Gambia are in a small room that doesn't have light too. Its such a small room where you can't write or read anything. This shop that you see! I have seen a police station
smaller than this. This is Serrekunda's market. It is Gambia's 2nd largest city. There're many textiles & clothes shop here. and all the shops for building materials or those dealing in paint
like Asian Paint are owned by Indians. Many
Indians run business in Gambia mostly related to travel or deal in raw or building material. This is Africell's office from where I got sim the first day and I didn't have local currency then. They allowed me to pay less and asked me to pay later on. So, the people are very friendly. Then we came to a pharmacy here who told me to pay later. The people are very helpful here. I got down from the auto. Over there is the American Embassy and I'm going to this place
right in front of it. I'm going to
Waheguru Travels office. This is my chilling out spot here. It is actually a tour company that operates in Africa across all the 41 countries. You can reach them out for any tours, visa or booking flights. They have great service and they helped me a lot during this (Africa's) trip. It gets tricky to obtain visa in Africa but I applied mine through them and I got them in a day. They used to send someone to
the airport to pick me up. Even in Gambia too they came to pick me up as you would've se
en in the last videos. I'll like to thank 2 people through this video. Sunil Karnani and Rahul Parwani! Both of them & the team helped me a lot during this trip in Africa. If you're planning to travel, work or do business in Africa and need work or tourist visa flights, etc then this is a one stop for everything. I became friends with them. The entire staff here are Indians so I come here to pass my time. I'll charge my phone here and have some chit-chat. Sonu brother, where's my Ice-cream? We h
ad it that day. It was nice right? Where is mine? How are you Lokesh brother? I rested for 1-1.5 hour in AC inside. I drank water, relaxed & charged the phone and now let's go eat. I'm finding a restaurant nearby. I think it's a Lebanese restaurant. I came inside and there're pastries that side. This is their menu. It's good & not too expensive. Good restaurants in Africa
are expensive. You can either eat
what the locals eat for cheap or the street food which can be very unhealthy. But if you go
to good restaurants... as they lack infrastructure import everything and have to use generators for electricity. So, good restaurants are
quite expensive here. I am thinking to order this. Full Grilled chicken. This is expensive. It's for 600 Dalasi ($8.93) or ₹800. No matter who owns the restaurant the staff are the locals and Africans are very lazy to work. They don't worry about those waiting. I'm waiting since 10-15 minutes but haven't taken my order yet. They are looking at me from there b
ut not coming here. The staff is talking there and no one cares to take my order. I went there & asked someone to take my order and that is when they came. Here's my orange juice and food. Thank you! So much rice! That's too much. See, the bone's there in the middle. These rice appear to be
more than a kg to me. I can't eat raw meat I don't like leaving leftovers but have no choice. There was a lot of communication gap. When I asked her of the quantity she said I would need a double. Double mean
t a full chicken. I thought they'll give chicken breast but they gave a whole chicken. Then I asked her to get less rice but she gave me a kilo along with a serving of fries. I got up after eating and met this guy who's from Syria. I talked to him while paying and he told me he's from Syria. I asked him where in Syria and he said Hama. He asked me if I've been there & I said yes. He said it's impossible and got very shocked. He came here after going to
Sudan from Syria. The restaurant owner is L
ebanese. We started talking about
Syria, Damascus, etc and I told him I was there a year ago. So, he got very shocked and happy. You find some common connection
while travelling I was showing him my Syria's videos in which I had moustache, and he said I look like this actor. Abu Shab Bab! Abu Shab Bab Al Hara He's saying I looked like him but he's old. My mood turned down due to the food and it happens every time. It happens every time with me in Africa but I enjoyed talking to him I talked to h
im for about 45 minutes. The manager over here! He showed me the map & said there's city with Turkish forces I asked Idlib, and he said yes. Then showed another city and I said Gaziantep and he was getting shocked every time. Then he talked about Damascus and told there's a market there & I asked Hamidiyah Souq. He said yes, if you go the souq... to which I said, there's a
popular ice-cream shop there. He then said I know everything, etc. So, he became very shocked as he came from Syria
which is
war-torn to Africa in Gambia where he meets someone from Asia, India who has traveled near his home & is aware of the situations. So, I built a sort of connection with him. I've to take a taxi now. I've to go to a crocodile park here. Taxi! Run! Yes?
Yeah! I live... But then I'm not Gambian I'm your guest. You should charge me less. Yes, I give you nice price. 200 ($2.98), let's go. 250 ($3.72) Oh come on brother. Gambia is a small country and there's not a lot to see. Banjul is the main capita
l city having the industries and markets. Serrekunda is the 2nd largest city that I showed you. They're districts next to each other. I'm staying in Bakau and were at Fajara beach in the morning which we left behind. Waheguru Travels office was
in Pipeline area. Even the restaurant was there. There's a crocodile pool here. It's popular here. If you google the things to do here it will pop up on the top. I think there would be crocodiles and what else. Let's go & explore the crocodile pool. He de
manded for 250 Dalasi ($3.72) so I thought he'd take me 30–40 kms but he said it is just 2 kms. But this is the rate. Rate is 200 Dalasi ($2.98) but he's asking for 250. Brother what's your name? Abdul Azeez! Abdul Azeez brother what do you think is the
best thing about Gambia? Number 1 thing about Gambia. Tell me the best thing. I think we have peace. Peace? Yeah!
Okay! And people are very friendly. Yes. I think... If you ask me as a foreigner, I think the best thing about Gambia
is the people.
They're always smiling. Always friendly. Just like you are. Apart from peace what else do you like
the most about Gambia? It's a nice country. Its a nice country, I agree. That's why I'm here. What else? Why do you think it's such a nice country? No one disturb anyone. No one disturbs anyone. Yes! Okay! Anyone finds you... Yeah! You doing your job... I realized it. It's much safer than rest of Africa especially Western Afriaca. Yes! Most of the countries in West Africa
aren't safe and you can't
step out once its dark. If you see, foreigner have peace
more than ordinary Gambians. Gambians like the tourists. That's correct! Yeah! We are here, you know that. Yeah! That's correct! Like we both were talking Gambia is safe as compared to other countries but crime has been increasing
here recently. People have started earning money like the old white people come here exploit the young men & women here and make them their partners & pay them money. So, they are seeing the life as whites. Due
to this, robbery has started here. I'll say it was safer 5 years ago, based on what I heard. I didn't come here but I'm telling you what I heard. Seeing these road signs in English feels so good. In Africa mostly... especially in west & north, French is spoken. You'll find French written everywhere or Arabic in the north. You don't understand anything
as there're no English signs. I'm enjoying here in Gambia as I can understand everything and talk to the people. The people are also friendly and
you feel safe. This is why I'm enjoying. A few foreigners passed by & I think they came back
from the Crocodile pool. There's one special thing talking about Muslim countires in Africa. I'm not talking about Middle east countries but Islamic countries of Africa recording is usually a hassle. You look at people even when camera or phone is off looking at people makes you feel... People get offended as to why I'm looking at
kids or women but its the opposite here. They smile upfront to me and you
can talk or play with the kids. The people are cheerful. Both men and women. I liked this about Gambia. You need football? Yeah! I need basketball. Take care of my cap. My cap will take care of you. Okay! Let's go! We need football. Okay, I'll see once I come back. You will never come back. Oh, I'll never come back. Okay then. They said I won't come back, I won't if they don't trust me. Let's go. This is Katchikally Museum. Okay, how much is the ticket? 100 Dalasi ($1.49) 100 Dalasi. I got thi
s ticket for Katchikally crocodile pool. It is for 100 Dalasi ($1.49) or ₹125. She asked me to go inside and enter the door on right where I'll meet someone who will then show me around. Let's go! When you meet people at a
tourist sight they would be selfish. If I had met these kids
somewhere else I would've got them something
without them asking. They came running to me seeing I am a tourist. They demanded for a football as if I'll pay them instantly. I told them I'm going in & I'll buy it afte
r coming back and they got rude to me. Don't know why they got
rude to me I don't need your... Oh! Oh man! I didn't realise while walking and there's crocodile next to me. I didn't realise but it looks sick to me. Oh there're many. There're so many crocodiles but are they dead as they aren't moving. What are these? They aren't moving. Oh no, it is moving. See! Oh, there's one on my left. How are you? Hey, I'm good. Can I keep walking? Yeah! You want to touch one? Oh man! You want to touch one?
Yeah maybe later but I am... I can't understand why are they laying like this. Are they sleeping or or tired or what? They are not hungry that's why
they're very lazy. Oh! Early morning we feed them. Oh okay. There're crocodiles here... I was walking and didn't realize there were crocodiles all around me. *counting from 1 to 12* I can see 12 crocodiles here & he said they keep the
aggressive on that side. Females are usually aggressive & protective. So, if any of them attacks a tourist... As the
y have one tourist sight and would hence be a loss for them as tourists won't come. This is why they take care. When I asked how the crocodiles
are so lazy and not moving they said, they feed them
properly in the morning. They get lazy by the evening and roam around when hungry. So, they roam around in the morning. They're resting now as
they got their food. But I think they could've intoxicated them due to which they're laying like this. See this! Is it really alive? It is Albino. See, it is a
live. Oh man! I've never been this close
to so many crocodiles. There're crocodiles all around me and this is an Albino with white skin. You touch any part of the body,
except the head. Okay! I'm touching a crocodile for the first time. I just hope it doesn't turn towards me. Having a close encounter for the first time with a crocodile. It is alive. They're all moving. Interesting! Interesting atmosphere! They asked me to touch anywhere
except for its head and it won't say anything. It's stomac
h seems swollen, I don't know why. It's so massive and big. It must be 6 foot or 7 foot. How long do you think he is? More than 2 metres right? This is only 2 metres. 2 meters, wow! But the biggest is only 3 metres. 3 metres? 100 days? They need a big space. In the wild, they grow very big upto 6-7 metres. Really 6-7 metres for a crocodile? But this pool is too small & that's why the biggest is only 3 metres. Ahn okay. They grow according to the size of the place. Okay. He is saying the space/po
ol should be big. He said there's a 3 metre or 10 foot
long crocodile here. The 3 metre crocodile is in the water right now? The longest crocodile! The tallest crocodile is in the water right now? The 3 metre one! The biggest one is 3 metre. But where is he right now? It's a female. It's a female? They're very protective & aggressive. Ahn okay. So, you put them there okay. So he...okay. Let's go! There're some more here... Oh they are hiding here and aren't visible. They are everywhere. On the s
ides oh... 12 is a less number I said as there're many in the bushes. I'll have to be careful and not stop on these. We have a small room. What's this room for? People come here for traditional prayers. Traditional prayers? Yeah many people believe that this is a sacred place. Okay. As this is a natural habitat. The crocodiles ... So that's why people see
this as a sacred place. Okay! People come here and pray. They pray the crocodiles? No!
No! It is like an animism . Ahn okay. It's used by ladi
es as a symbol for fertility. There're crocodiles on both sides. There's one on my left and another on my right. Many people believe in animism here which basically means believing in supernatural powers and anything that has a soul. I could be wrong but this is the definition I know. Correct me if I'm wrong. But, they basically believe in
plants and animals & believe they have supernatural powers. People here think... Monkeys! Monkeys, yeah! A lot of women come here who think of this place as s
acred. They pray in that room especially for fertility. If a women is unable to conceive from the same pool where the
crocodile lives they take bucket of water from it for the women to bathe with it. It is believed or they think women becomes fertile by
taking a bathe with that water and will be able to conceive. I didn't expect much from this place but I liked it. I'm seeing so many crocodiles
around me for the first time. You won't know where they come from. There were some monkeys
on the tre
es also here. But the crocodiles usually stay in the puddle of water, right? Like next to the pond or in muddy areas, right? We won't them in areas like this, right? They're always next to the water. During the rainy season. Okay! The area is full of water that time. Yeah. Okay, yeah makes sense. These trees are 500 years old. 500 years old? Yeah but exactly no one knows how old. Okay! How are you stuck here! They have specially written on this to not touch on own own without a specialist. So, y
ou can touch them... Oh, it's the crocodile I touched. Its moving if you thought it's dead. It's the same crocodile. They were clicking a photo & they ran as it moved towards them. I am not that scared now. I clicked a photo with its open mouth. I was scared when I came & first saw it. Oh no , I'm still scared I'm enjoying as it was a new experience. They are cooling down as they feel hot. Oh, this one is so massive. It is not 3 metres but is about 2.5 metres. I thought they would be in the wate
r as that's how it happens and
you see them from outside. I didn't knew they would be
roaming around freely. Let's go now and hop into the car. I've got to buy things from the supermarket & our driver is still here. Let's go! Let's go brother. I hope my cap took good care of you. As I came back, the kids asked me to get them a football when their friend is playing with it. So, I pay their friend for the football for them to buy & then they share the money after I go. Good technique! People are b
eing selfish here. I was recording while passing by & a man said, ' Nice meeting you.' I said thank you. He said, 'anything for the community here.' It is not really their fault too as they are living in poverty. Tourists only visit this area who are ofcourse rich as compared
to locals here. So, they expect them to donate or gift or buy something from them. This happens all across the world. Egyptians will follow you when you visit the pyramids that you won't wish to visit their again. This happ
ens all across the world especially in developing &
underdeveloped countries. On my left is Gambian-Lebanese International School. We're at a supermarket to buy milk, etc. The man inside is surely from Mauritania as he's wearing the Boubou
or the traditional dress. Things are imported from
Great Britain here and the rates are in Pounds. They have then written it in Dalasi. Interesting! This is also in pounds. These have been imported from England. My bill was 1520 Dalasi ($22.62) which is rough
ly ₹2000. I got milk, water, almonds, cashews, and some chocolates for emergency. I got things that can be kept in bag like food to use during emergency. Oh, I forgot to buy fruits. No worries, I'll check it ahead. Let's go back to the hotel or resort. I got this lady selling banana. Bananas... how much? What's the price? 175 ($2.60)! 175 for all these?
Yeah! I want only 5 or 6. Not so much. I got 5 for 100 Dalasi ($1.49) Thank you! I got 5 bananas for ₹120 but what can I do... Bananas are my pe
rsonal favorite. We've come to the hotel.
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