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Journal of African trips

Africa, spring 1999 part II

Agelasto
2004-05-21 18:00:16

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for existence are (1) to remind us of historical
folly and (2) to provide beaches for the British. On average about three flights each day of
the year leave London for TG, bringing in pale Brits desperately seeking something that is
rarely available on the British Isles: the sun. After a week or two, in various shades of
pink they fly back to the UK?s miserable climate. Much of TG?s economy serves these
tourists, with 20% of the country?s population clustered around the resort beaches. The
rest of the population farm groundnuts (peanuts), TG?s leading export.

TG is almost literally a thorn in Senegal?s side. On first viewing a map of Senegal, one
might be surprised by the missing piece in the lower left, as if a jigsaw piece had been lost.
That emptiness is TG, surrounded by Senegal on three sides - it?s just north of the
Casamance - and the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth. It is overwhelmed by Senegal, which
is almost twenty times the size of TG. Senegal and TG have been talking merger almost
since their independences, from France in 1960 and from Britain in 1965, respectively.
The peoples of TG and the surrounding parts of Senegal are the same in terms of race,
religion, language and ethnicity. The official languages of Senegal and TC are French and
English, respectively, but they are spoken most often by school children in school, or with
tourists, or with Arab shop-owners, of which there seem to be a lot (The Gambians leave
a lot of commerce to immigrant Arabs). The peoples themselves speak dialects of a
common language. That TG is an independent country is a vestige of colonialism,
something that resulted from the Anglo-franco treaty of 1889. It makes no sense outside
this historical context. Yet the silliest thing about TG is not its nation-statehood but rather
its worthless transportation system.

10. Getting about in The ...