Just after the cars and (knackered) men arrived at the hotel, having travelled 4,000 miles from Birmingham to Banjul. If you want to read/see more, go to www.bobpowellgambia.com.

This is possibly the ONLY photograph EVER taken of me that I actually like - very 'footprints in the sand'.

John in the 'john' (over there on the right behind the wall) - "Don't watch me!" he cried (in vain), "I won't be able to do it if you watch me!" He was there AGES!

Yaya, our FABULOUS taxi driver. Taxi drivers in Gambia take us to where you want to go, and then wait for you! If they're nice, like Yaya, they come with you round markets to help you barter and keep the bumsters away.

Yaya and Hubs share a moment on a busy, dusty, incredibly hot street in Banjul.

Just look at that beach, paradise on earth. Just look at that man, paradise found.

Bob, our friend and neighbour (who runs the charity) captured whilst still and in 'contemplative' mode.

Tickly and custard, enjoying the sun.

Tickly enjoying bouncing up and down on Hubs knee whilst enjoying the sun (Custard went horse riding).

Tickly was almost inseparable from Hubs - in fact, he growled at me every time I tried to get anywhere near my beloved, the little sod.

All the hotel rooms (this is ours) are surrounded by palm trees and lush vegetation, very secluded. Exotic birds fly overhead and, at night, huge bats fly underneath the canopy swooping at insects (great to watch).

Our hotel room with a strange man on the balcony. Oh, that's Hubs - definitely strange lol.

Our hotel room. No, we hadn't just trashed it, this is what it looked like normally. Hell, you don't go on holiday to tidy up all the time, do you.

THE VILLAGE: This is the sight that greeted us when we arrived at the village (the same one we visited in March). The girl we saw last time stood out amongst all the others.

It was just a mass of Cadbury-coloured children.

Almost 150 of them, all cheering and shouting and laughing. It was utterly amazing.

"Have you got minties?" they kept asking, "Have you got baloos?" (balloons).

Do you ever get the feeling that you're a bit out of whack but you're not quite sure why?

Hubs SURROUNDED by excited children.

The village elder accepting our donations.

This young man spoke almost perfect English, with some strange pronounciations because he'd been to university in Canada. He was very impressive.

The women of the village. The one in the middle was giving her child a 'dressing down' for trying to take off her uniform (well it was hot).

Big people: Sulayman, villager trying to control children, Hubs, reporter and headmistress. The atmosphere was incredible.

Just look at those eyes. A bit more grown up than when we last saw her in March.

This woman is in charge of all the schoolchildren, all 150 of them. She's the headmistress, and she had SUCH presence about her.

She thanked us for the donations to her school. I was just thinking, "How do you manage to keep 150 children under control like that?" Astonishing.

He teaches Maths and English. "How many children do you have in your class?" I asked him. "60," he said, "All different ages." "How do you manage with that many children?" "It's very difficult," he said. I'll bet.

The village hospital, treats hundreds of people from surrounding villages every month.

This is the "coffee man" I met last time, who asked me to bring coffee and a radio that played American jazz (I did). Another wonderful character.

Walking through the village back to the cars.

The village, absolutely in the middle of nowhere - and berluddy hot!

A typical Gambian street. Much use of corrugated iron everywhere, they use everything.

Another typical street out of the back window of the Jeep (which I still miss enormously).

We saw these children walking down the street and asked to take their picture because they looked so smart going to school - they were well chuffed.

And this is what the kids who can't afford to go to school look like - still cute.

Having driven from Birmingham to Banjul, the men discuss where to go next.