The Peace Corps in Gambia

There are spoilers in this podcast!Around 1980, Linda Gambia was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Gambia.In 2026, she had reflected enough about the life-changing experience to pen a memoir about it. It’s called The Geography of Desire.This is part one of a two-part podcast.Watch the video!Review of The Geography of Desire‘The Geography of Desire’ is a quietly delicious memoir that transports you to a tiny Gambian village circa 1979–1981 with the vividness of mango-scented heat and the awkward charm of a Peace Corps volunteer trying to keep a garden alive and her heart intact.What I liked* The writing is descriptive and novel-like, so you can feel the red dirt, the heat, and the mosquito company rather than merely read about them.* The author’s honesty about loneliness, culture shock, and messy relationships makes the book feel lived-in and humane rather than sentimental.* The memoir is a good primer on a little-known time and place in The Gambia; it’s especially rewarding if you want a window into rural life before phones and internet dominated everything.* There’s the implicit Peace Corps survival kit: stubbornness, curiosity, and an inexplicable willingness to be eaten alive by insects for the sake of cultural immersion.* Romantic misadventures are handled with a wink; the tension between lust, love, and cultural boundaries often reads like a romantic comedy that forgot to be tidy.Two flaws1) Timing of the memoir: the core events took place in 1979–1981, and I kept asking, “Why the long pause?”The gap leaves the narrative beautifully specific to that era but also frustratingly old-fashioned; Gambia has changed since then, so the story sometimes reads like a time capsule rather than a bridge to the present.2) Where’s the 2026 epilogue? The author returned in 1997 — a useful follow-up — but 1997 feels like a mid-credits scene rather than a full sequel; a short 2026 visit or update about the villagers, the author, and her husband would have made the memoir feel complete and given readers the satisfying afterword they deserve.I ask Linda about these two issues in my podcast. Listen to her response in my two-part interview with her.Final verdictIf you want an evocative snapshot of rural Gambia around 1980 — sparse cell towers aside—this memoir is outstanding.I give it four stars: great storytelling and atmosphere, minus one star for not offering a modern (2026) wrap-up that would have turned nostalgia into living history.What do you think?Put your thoughts in the comments.ConnectSend me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTaponYou can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:* YouTube* Facebook* Instagram* X* TikTok* LinkedInSponsors1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.6. Start your podcast with my company, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.podbean.com/f