Deeper and deeper they went .. climbing up and down freehand using square holes they had cut in the sides of the well as hand and footholds. In turn, one digging, one hauling, one resting.

At the bottom of the well .. here at 13 metres deep .. the guy digging was almost out of sight.

At last .. at around 15 metres .. having dug through the heavy stone into some slimy, damp mud .. they struck water. Cool .. clear, sweet water. Babucar and my plants were now self-sufficient !!

For safety, now was the time to use some concrete rings to line the bottom of the well and to create a safety barrier around the top. Unfortunately no-one had previously mentioned anything about concrete rings or the fact that they would need some clean stone for the concrete .. so it was off to see the stone suppliers in Serrekunda. The vagaries of the prices and quantities of double trips, single trips or half trips in choices of either 10 wheel, 6 wheel large or 6 wheel small trucks were far more complicated than any bead buying and involved the usual bargaining !!
Later Lamin the taxi driver took me to Abli's village to collect his moulds for forming the rings .. which would have been somewhat difficult for him to transport on his bicycle !

Over the next few days production continued apace .. rings were made and whilst they were drying, a start was made on the footings of what was originally envisaged to be a garden shed, but seemed to be a little larger than I had first asked for. I should have checked the size !!