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The "West" wants Gambia to obey, so yeah they came up with masks, hand washing and all that shit. It never lasted long. People simply don't see the point. People are dying from malaria, diarrhea etc. not covid. So after a while the masks were gone, no more handwashing before entering a shop. Only some banks and government buildings kept the rules up. Vaccines were not forced on to people, just an urgent advice. And it was the expats who were the first in line (idiots).
Many schools are government schools, pretty useless without proper teachers. My boy goes to a private school with good teachers. There are at least 7 local languages but English is the official language and the younger generation picks it up quite well. I speak English and some Wolof.
We don't have 4 seasons here, only 2. Dry season (about 8 months) and rain season (4 to 5 months). The rain season is for many farmers the time to start groundnuts and/or watermelons. The fields are very big with no irrigation, that's why everybody waits for the rain. No rain, no income. And rain we need a lot. Without it all the wells run dry. The rain season raises the groundwater level. At my place the first water is about 12 meters deep in the ground. Other places it can be as deep as 40 meters or more. We also do groundnuts (mainly for me me me) so that keeps us busy. Also the bush is trying to fight back to regain the ground it lost to us. So grass and many bush plants start growing extremely fast trying to take back the ground where you live on. It's also the time for big snails, frogs, mosquitos etc. And that's why we have so much malaria here. And with the road turning into a river it can be quite a challenge to go out and get some bread. But still: I love it here.
Ah, pictures should be in your mail by now.

Hey Gossil.
Thanks for sharing about what you've been up to.
I've also many times thought about making the move to Africa. I really like it there.
I'm in line with your thinking about Europe and although not as early as you, many years going now.