Laura and I spent an enjoyable and restful three weeks in The Gambia for Christmas and New Year 2013/14.
The Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa and is essentially the strip of land running both sides of the River Gambia within the larger country of Senegal.
It is definitely more geared up for tourism than many of its' neighbouring countries and has some areas like the Senegambia Strip which could actually be in Southern Europe.
We stayed in brilliant accommodation called "The Plantation". As with all places we stay, we trawled through www.tripadvisor.com and the reports were 5*. We were not disappointed and would recommend this place for any adults. An en-suite room is £20 per night and full board brings it up to £32 per day. Airport transfers are also included and while we were there they also got wifi (£25 per room for the whole duration of the stay). Incredible value and brilliant service. We will be returning. The Plantation is a ten minute walk from the beach.
With it being such a small country, places worth visiting are not far away. We visited:
1. Monkey Park (Bigilo Forest)
Running parallel with the Atlantic coast is Biglio Forest which is home to a couple of species of monkey. It is a lovely place to visit and walk around.
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2. Kachikally Crocodile Pool, Bakau.
This place was unsurprisingly very touristy and thankfully the crocodiles had been fed (or drugged). We declined the photo touching the crocs, after all these are wild animals.
3. Banjul
Banjul is the capital city of The Gambia and it's worth pointing out straight away that there isn't much here. Our trip took in the 22nd July Arch (which celebrates the military coup that took over the country 19 years ago) which in all honesty has seen better days, we saw the lovely cricket pitch (that doesn't see much cricket), the three day long queues at the port to try and get across to Barra and north of the river (queues so long as two of the three ferries are broken) and the museum which wasn't too bad.
4. Serrekunda
We took a trip to the bustling Serrekunda and spent time in the markets.
5. Roots Tour - Albreda/Juffureh & Kunta Kinteh (James) Island.
One of the best trips out was the Roots Tour which involved a boat ride to key Gambian slavery sites.
For £30 we spent most of the day on the local boat to get to Albreda and then James Island. It was very still on the river and we were able to get onto the sun deck when we wanted to.
At Albreda/Juffereh we got off the boat and visited the museum.
Next up was Kunta Kinteh (James) Island.
It is definitely more geared up for tourism than many of its' neighbouring countries and has some areas like the Senegambia Strip which could actually be in Southern Europe.
With it being such a small country, places worth visiting are not far away. We visited:
1. Monkey Park (Bigilo Forest)
Running parallel with the Atlantic coast is Biglio Forest which is home to a couple of species of monkey. It is a lovely place to visit and walk around.
.jpg)
.jpg)
2. Kachikally Crocodile Pool, Bakau.
This place was unsurprisingly very touristy and thankfully the crocodiles had been fed (or drugged). We declined the photo touching the crocs, after all these are wild animals.
3. Banjul
Banjul is the capital city of The Gambia and it's worth pointing out straight away that there isn't much here. Our trip took in the 22nd July Arch (which celebrates the military coup that took over the country 19 years ago) which in all honesty has seen better days, we saw the lovely cricket pitch (that doesn't see much cricket), the three day long queues at the port to try and get across to Barra and north of the river (queues so long as two of the three ferries are broken) and the museum which wasn't too bad.
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| The view from the top of the arch. To the right, The Atlantic Ocean. |
4. Serrekunda
We took a trip to the bustling Serrekunda and spent time in the markets.
5. Roots Tour - Albreda/Juffureh & Kunta Kinteh (James) Island.
One of the best trips out was the Roots Tour which involved a boat ride to key Gambian slavery sites.
For £30 we spent most of the day on the local boat to get to Albreda and then James Island. It was very still on the river and we were able to get onto the sun deck when we wanted to.
At Albreda/Juffereh we got off the boat and visited the museum.
Next up was Kunta Kinteh (James) Island.
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