Anyone been to gambia

paddyrg

I'd never go back - I thought I was intrepid and travel-hardened from 3 months in rural India and a fortnight in Bangkok, but we were effectively mugged in The Gambia. Friendly bloke, showed us the village chatting as we walked a convoluted route, then he spoke to a couple of friends, and we ended up somewhere deeply lost where they rolled a joint using some grass that apparently we'd asked for (and costing £50 for a joint, yeah right), and didn't smoke, but we had to pay for surrounded and jostled by big group of friends talking about how much police trouble WE would be in. By now of course it was dark, we were stranded, surrounded, money being demanded. It was a polite mugging, but a mugging nontheless.

In the shops near the resort hotel, you couldn't get in without people badgering you for Milk Formula. It's marked up to a high price, then sold back to the shop afterwards, but seems like a reasonable thing to ask for help with. It's not like 50p/pint, but £15/box. Mix in some guilt and intimidation, and it makes for a miserable experience. We ended up staying in the resort compound despite our best plans for adventure, it was just too much stress and too much intimidation and bullying to enjoy it .

Times change, maybe it's all chilled out and very different now, but I'm never going to find out, such was the extent of the misery. I really hope you enjoy it more!

Cat2011

bradrock wrote: »

I knew about malaria tablets, what about jabs I have read a lot of conflicting stuff. Are just malaria tabs gonna be ok on there own?

You can check the nathnac website for vaccine info. Ideally you want to think about yellow fever, hepA, hep B, cholera, meningitis, typhoid and tetanus. I assume all your child vaccinations were completed.

Yellow fever needs to be given at least 10 days before you travel if the country requires a certificate from you. With malaria you need to take a net, insect repellent and try and cover.

SteveJW

bradrock wrote: »

We are staying at the holiday beach club which apparently opens the room doors onto the beach, I think from what I've read it's only a 5 minute walk to the "strip".
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We will be there in November, staying at Sarges, almost next door to the Holiday Beach. Been going for over twenty years, just be street savvy, don't flash loads of money, if something seems like a bargain it probably isn't.
I always used to be polite and say no thank you etc, a Gambian asked why I said that and told me that speaking opened up the conversation and to just ignore them. Works for me
Bartering for things, I never start bartering unless I intend to buy, once took me two weeks to buy a carved chess set, what fun that was. Don't say you will buy something tomorrow, the Gambians have excellent memories. Twice a year we buy a takeaway pizza from the pizza place on the strip, to take to some Swedish friends who live near Banjul, they remember my order from year to year
Senagambia Strip, just round he corner from you, some great places to eat, Afrikan Queen, Jade Chinese, Green Mamba etc
Lots of places have happy hours and not all at the same time, so a lot of people just move from bar to bar
Happy hour in the Green Mamba is 18:00 - 19:00, maybe see you there
Enjoy your holiday

bradrock

Thanks for that steve good info cheers u never know might see u there:j:j

michele-p

Hi, went to Gambia in January a few years ago, it's very different from any other holiday we've been on. We did have a good time, but not a place I would want to return to.

The locals are very friendly, and genuinely happy to talk to you. Not everyone is looking to rip you off, but you do need to be careful. On the beaches outside hotels there is often a line drawn in the sand, where the fruit sellers can't cross to bother you, but they will stand on the line and call to you. In fact, we bought fruit one day (very tasty!) and the next morning all the fruit ladies were on the beach singing and dancing to us whilst we were still in our room looking over the beach!

The first night we went out of our hotel, and as soon as you leave there will be men approach you to ask if they can take you somewhere. Basically if they take enough people to a restaurant they will be given food themselves at the end of the night.

They all love UK comedies, and all give themselves names like "del boy" "rodney" and so on. We got chatting to a young man called "Kevin Costner" that first night, we allowed him to walk us to a restaurant (OK heart in mouth moment, it was down a dark street). But it was the best thing we could have done, the rest of the nights we simply told the rest "we are Kevin Costners friends" and they left us alone, they don't step on each others toes. kevin would wait for us to come along and then ask where we would like to go that night.

Kevin (Keeba) became our tour guide, he took us to see Charlie the crocodile, the fishing village at Tanji, which reallydoes need to be seen to be believed. We travelled by local taxi, he negotiated prices for us each time, and argued the prices down from tourist rates. We visited his family compound in Serakunda, we went by local bus, and visited the market with his mum, we bought the food for them (this was not expected) and they cooked us a meal, even making sure to get bottled water for us. Having seen the fish on the market stall, I was very glad to pull my vegetarian card, and just have rice and veg.

The country is very, very poor. It's not a relaxing holiday, unless you stay in the hotel and don't leave. It's an eye opener. I'm not sure if "enjoyable" is the right word either.

The "strip" was quite seedy to us, lots of older men looking for young ladies, and also older ladies (European) after the very fit and muscley locals. We stayed a few miles out luckily, at Kombo Beach hotel. We upgraded to an end room on arrival, which was much nicer than the standard rooms.


After seeing where Kevin lived in the resort (a room in a half built house, with no roof, basically a squat) we really wanted to help. We bought a sack of rice for him, he took it home, and told us it would feed the whole family for a month. We also left a great many of our clothes for Kevin and his sisters, as well as all the spare medicines we had.

Not everyone would trust a local as much, but he was such a genuine young man. He helped us get as much as we could out of the trip, without feeling ripped off. The only place we felt ripped off was at the Lamin Lodge, we booked a local driver to take us there, and the people outside who drag you off to see their "museum" and then demand lots of money were the worst we saw.

Hope this helps

ibizafan_2

I went there about 12 years ago, and while I enjoyed the organised trips and the weather, I wouldn't hurry to return. The hassle starts at the airport and doesn't lessen, unless you are within the hotel grounds. If you are bothered by this, then it isn't the place for you. People complain about the hassle in Egypt, but Gambia takes it to a new level. We've been to Sharm el Sheikh four times, purely for a bit of winter sun, and although bored with the place now, we would rather go back there than Gambia, and that's saying something!