Florio’s full-length feature for The Independent on Sunday. Its not the full version (he wrote around 3,000+ words for the 1,500 piece they commissioned him for! Maybe we’ll put the full version on here soon!).
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/africa/you-people-cannot-walk-you-only-move-in-cars-1920897.html
Janneh (leading Neil), Momadou &Paddy, Jones – arriving at lumo to stock up on supplies (weekly market), The Gambia
Image:Florio-2009-Gambia
A Short Walk group shot L-R: Samba (in green t-shirt), Janneh, Momadou, Florio & Jones, Felling Koto, The Gambia
Our first experiment with putting footage from the expedition on You Tube. Its all the rage apparently 
We have much more so watch this space.
Movie clip 1: Arriving at Sambel Kunda – home of The Gambia Horse & Donkey Trust (and home to Paddy, Neil and Hadley -our faithful road-hardy donkeys). This was one of the most memorable and biggest, loudest welcomes that we had on the journey. We were greeted by at least 50+ school kids – all singing and clapping as they led us into the stable yard of the GH&DT. Amazing and very very touching.
Gibril from The Gambia Horse & Donkey Trust passes us on the raod.
Image: Florio-2009-Gambia
Movie clip 2: A day off on the River Gambia,near Sambel Kunda, for the Short Walk team (Momadou, our donkey handler, had decided to stay home with his wife who lives near Sambel Kunda and who he had not seen for a couple of weeks). Being on the River Gambia is one of mine and Florio’s most favourite things to do and we are on it whenever the opportunity arises. Its so peaceful as you will see. Also, when the sun is going down, and its getting to the cooler part of the day, the wildllife really comes alive and the air is filled with birdsong and the river filled with jumping fish……..just beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc6Yt25peZ0
Image: Florio-2009-Gambia
We have so much more footage to sift through and edit so please keep popping back for more 
Jones, Florio & the rest of the Short Walk team
Florio signing the individual prints for the donators
We’ll be sending out Florio’s beautiful prints over the next couple of days. Still waiting, however, to hear from some of you as to your preferred choice of print from the expedition.
As always, we’d like to thank everyone for donating to the cause. We definitely couldn’t have done any of this without your support. We continue to work hard at spreading the word about Gardens for Life (for Gambian kids and kids worldwide). So, please feel free to pass on the Just Giving link to your friends http://www.justgiving.com/gardensforlifegambia
We’re also working on ideas for a joint book about the journey, filled with images and road stories from both of us. Florio will also be making a book of the vibrant and vividly colourful portraits of the Alkalo’s that we stayed with on the walk around The Gambia (scroll down to see some examples).
Please keep checking in for updates and images about our continuing journey.
Jones, Florio and the rest of the Short Walk team.
Alkalo Samba Camera, Kerr Batch, checking out his portrait from Florio
Image of Florio: Jones-NYC-2010
Image of Alkalo: Florio-Gambia-2009
Her Excellency Mrs Isatou Njie-Saidy (centre in green)
What an honour it was to meet Her Excellency Mrs Isatou Njie-Saidy, the Vice President of The Gambia, today at their office in the UN Mission up on 2nd Ave, New York, along with her delegation of aides and colleagues, beautifully and immaculately attired in traditional dress. As always, we felt under-dressed and positively drab compared to these vibrantly garbed women.
When the audience was granted we never expected to have a whole delegation greeting us – let alone a Gambia Radio & TV crew! However, we dusted-off our already fast-fading Mandinka and it was like a wonderfully surreal slice of The Gambia in New York for an hour.
Also present was the Hon. Elizabeth Renner (Speaker of The National Assembly, The Gambia) and Susan Waffa-Ogoo (Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York) – the two women immediately to my left. The other women were all part of the trade industry – predominantly fashion and textiles – in The Gambia.
All in all, a bunch of very strong and powerful women in their respective fields and a pleasure to meet. Florio even joked about meeting Jammeh (the President of The Gambia) and taking his portrait and, who knows, now we have met the VP, it opens up another door to the inner sanctum………Mrs Njie-Saidy also very modestly agreed to let Florio take her portrait for the next edition of the ‘Makasutu – mecca in the forest’ when we visit The Gambia next.
Almost all of the meeting was filmed by Gambia TV (including Florio presenting Her Excellency with a copy of his book http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/766143) and then we were interviewed by Ebrima Baldeh for his ‘Weekends Spectrum’ show on GRTS. We are becoming quite a fixture on Gambian TV – what with Ibrahim Jatta’s ‘Expedition Gambia’ show and the ‘Fatou Show’ when we were in The Gambia.
Apparently, Ebrima has his own blog too www.ebrimagambia.blogspot.com We’ll be checking that out for sure.
We both came away with a sense that it had been a successful and highly enjoyable meeting to help raise more awareness for Gardens for Life in The Gambia and the Balabu Conservation Area project/Makasutu Wildlife Trust.
Florio, Ebrima (GRTS TV) & Jones (with Ibrahim Jatta's cameraman uncle in the background!) - The Gambia's UN MIssion Headquarter, NYC
http://www.atmagazine.co.uk/content/view/1550/147/
A small taster to the feature article in Adventure Travel Magazine, UK, where Jones is interviewed about the journey. The hard copy March issue mag is on the shelves now at all reputable book stores. The full interview will be on their website in the next month or so.
Shepherd in the Forest, Makasutu, The Gambia
Image taken from Jason Florio’s book of stunning B&W portraits, taken over a period of 10 years, whilst visiting The Gambia (particularly Makasutu Culture Forest www.makasutu.com).
The book ‘Makasutu – mecca in the forest’ can be bought on-line from http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=jason+florio&filter=all&commit=Search hardback and soft cover available
Image: Jason Florio www.floriophoto.com
Fatou Dansu (Basse) - one of only 5 female Alkolo's in The Gambia
All images on the site and more are available - exclusive, limited edition, prints from the expedition by award-winning photojournalist, Jason Florio (www.floriophoto.com).
If you would like to receive more information on purchasing prints then please email us: 700miles@floriophoto.com
Boy at well, Tuba Dabbo, The Gambia, W Africa 2009
Check out our most recent press from Adventure Travel Magazine
http://www.atmagazine.co.uk/content/view/1550/147/
Chris Rowles (Gambia Experience), Don Murray (The Eden Project), Florio & Jones (A Short Walk....Expedition Leaders)
We have had the most amazing response to our fund-raising for Gardens for Life – an Eden Project, UK, based charity, to help raise money for Gambian school kids to build their gardens and we are eternally grateful for that. However, this is a on-going project and and we also thank The Eden Project, Gambia Experience, and Makasutu Wildlife Trust for their continued support in helping to push this cause even further – i.e. funds are still needed in abundance to help these kids realise their dream. And, to not only spread the word around the whole of The Gambia but also globally (GFL have and continue to be set up in many different countries). Teach these kids to grow and they will pass on that knowledge to their families and communities.
Even though the expedition is over, raising awareness and funds is not. If you can help, with as little or as much as you can, please visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/gardensforlifegambia
A million and one thanks as always from A Short Walk In The Gambian Bush team
Jones, Florio, Janneh, Samba, Momadou & our faithful (albeit sometimes stubborn!) donkeys – Neil & (p)Hadley
PS check out our most recent press at
928.04km later!
(Image: Jones – The Gambia – 2009)
YOU helped us raise almost 3400GBP (5500USD)!!!
We have so many people to thank for helping us complete a very successful and fascinating walk around a small West African country and you helped us to spread the word, globally, about Gardens for Life in The Gambia. Every single one of you has played a part and we sincerely thank you for your amazing generosity.
The guys down at the Eden Project, in Cornwall, UK, are now in their think tank meetings to push the GFL charity fundraising even further for us and we have set up donations page that they will now oversee (they being experts at this charity stuff and who will ensure that any further donations go directly to the Gambian school kids and their gardens). So, please feel free to pass this link onto your family and friends as this is an on-going project http://www.justgiving.com/gardensforlifegambia
We will continue to promote Gardens for Life and our Short Walk in The Gambian Bush through the media, exhibitions, the web, gabbing about to anyone who will listen……wherever/whenever we can get exposure basically!!
Speaking of which, Florio is has just submitted a piece about the journey to The Independent, as per their request, here in the UK. I’ve had a sneak preview and it sums our adventure up very succinctly. We’ll post on here as and when. Yours truly has also recently been interviewed by Adventure Travel Magazine for their brand new section called ‘Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things’. Again, we’ll post a link once its on their site.
Mr 'oh so humble' Bah - the Marabout - a magical man, Tuba Dabbo
(Image: Jason Florio – The Gambia – 2009)
Florio and I are both off to NYC again next week where we will be working on putting on an small exhibition (once we find a venue! Any ideas any of you NY contingent?)……our journey through images and words. And then there’s the book……but thats another story…..
BIG love and a million and one thanks to everyone (family, friends, friends of friends etc) for their continuous support and encouragement.
Jones (’Boss Lady’), Florio (’Mappin it Out’), Janneh (’The Negotiator’), Samba (’Call me Mr Leigh’) and Momadou (’Jamtang’)
Samba Sowe, farmer, Felling Koto
Image: Jason Florio – The Gambia – 2009
PS Florio will be putting more exclusive images up from the journey on his website in the coming weeks so please go visit when you can www.floriophoto.com
Jones, James Island on The Gambia River
Image: Jason Florio – The Gambia – 2009
The Short Walk team visited James Island on our walk back along the north bank of The Gambia. It is situated on the Gambia River about 2 miles off the main land near the villages of Juffereh and Albreda. After a 15 minute ride on a small colourful parogue, across the choppy waters of the Gambia River, we planted our feet firmly on this diminishing piece of historical rocky ground.
The island has certainly gotten smaller since the last time I visited around 8 years ago. All that remains are a few weather-beaten baobab trees and the stone ruins of Fort James. The river is gradually reclaiming the land. This is perhaps not a bad thing in the light of what it represents -originally used as an important West African port for transferring the slaves to countries such as Europe and America.
We were taken over there by the Alkalo’s son, Karamo, and as we were leaving at dusk, Florio said what an amazing experience it would have been to set up our camp for that night on the island…..”but why didn’t you say……it is possible….my mother is the Alkalo”. Mind you, I’m not too sure how well Neil and (p)Hadley would have taken to the small parogue on the river with their obstinate objection to being within even sniffing distance of water! I think that we may well have unintentionally ended up swimming in it.
More images to come…….
Jones & Florio – now back in the snow (and cold!) of England
Harvest time in The Gambia - Boy collecting grasses, Tuba Dabbo
Just three of around 35 stunning portraits that Florio took of the Alkalo’s – heads of the villages – whilst on the Short Walk expedition in The Gambia. If you want to see them in all their glory, then larger images will be available to view on his website shortly www.floriophoto.com
More to come so keep checking in for a images to feast your eyes on
Jones & Florio
Image: Jason Florio – The Gambia – 2009
