gambia....have you been??

[simon and marcie]

HI All

We are looking to go to Gambia in Feb without the kids!!
Will I survive!

Has anyone been? Where did you stay and did you like it??

Any help will be great.

Oh and what jabs do you HAVE to have

Marcie :wavey:

[snoopydog]

I must admit that it is a long time ago that I went - bout 10 years. It was OK - at the time we stayed at the Atlantic Hotel which was meant to be one of the very best and nearly everyone in the place came down with really bad sickness and the runs - us included and we wanted to die :( . It wouldn't be my first destination as it is such a poor country and tourism is very new so there is still a lot of resentment. There also isn't really any wildlife as such - the lions they had there had been imported from Longleat which I thought was hilarious ;) A coup took place shortly after we left. Saying that, it is a cheaper holiday than Kenya and does come as a real eye opener to what Africa is really like.

[motty1969]

I've stayed at The Atlantic in Banjul twice and it was really good. The food was nice, the rooms were really good, nice gardens, pool etc. It's right on the beach too. I know it's been taken over by some one else so don't know what it's like now, I was there 10 years ago too.
. Gambia is great if all you want to do is chill, out and lie on the beach, there;s not much to do or see. You can go up the River Gambia to James Island to where they used to hold the slaves for transportation, there's also the place Kunta Kinte from Roots was meant to come from, it's a great day out. The local people are really friendly, it is a poor country but a fantastic place for a holiday. As for there being a lot of resentment from people, that's a load of rubbish, and tourism has been in the country for a long time now!!!!!!!!! Have a look on www.gambiaexperience.co.uk. You can go with loads of travel fims now too, we used Thomsons and they were good. There is poverty obviously because it's a poor country, but the people are amazing, the kids love you if you give them a simple thing like sweets or even a pen. As for constant begging and feeling unsafe that's a load of rubbish. The tour firms tell you not to go out of the hotel complex to get you to buy their trips. In Banjul there are tourist guides who are paid to look after tourists, so you don't get ripped of by some of the good for nothing locals. We never had any bother and we were two lasses on our own. You have to remember that you are not in the UK and other countries do things different to us.

[alison1963]

Can't help re hotels etc but my son is going there in February (staying in tents) with school as part of a charity who provide bicycles to school children.
We have been advised he needs the following: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitus A, Typhoid (see your GP to check which you need and which you are already covered for) plus Yellow Fever (cost about £50) and malaria tablets (cost £25 - £40 depending on which are best for you personally). You need a gap of about six weeks between the others and the Yellow Fever so you will need to be up to date by mid November.
Apparently February is the dry season so the risks are less at this time!

[JaneSi]

I have been twice - in 83 and 84! So a blooming long time ago. However I enjoyed it both time. I stayed at the Fajara, but think that may no longer be there. You will certainly require jabs and beware you can get "Banjul Belly", so don't have ice cubes in your drinks. If you can't peel it, don't eat it!

[tonio]

Ive never been, but our friends go all the time in february, they love it, they said they treat you like kings and queens.


toni

[jdybnsn]

Its a good value for money destination.

However, it is very poor and if the thought of constant and relentless begging upsets you, as soon as you set foot outside the hotels, then it is probably not the place for you.

That said we enjoyed our trip to see another diverse part of the world and if you do go, then if you can, take old clothes (and particularly old shoes) with you and the locals will be so grateful. :)

[susieb]

my friends parents have just come back they were really upset - treated really aggressively at airport, felt unsafe out of resort. I wouldnt go because I travel alone and the sex tourism thing would make me feel a bit wierd.

I think if I was going with a partner for a week of sun and relaxing I would try it though.

[uk2usa]

This brings back many old memories. I went to the Gambia 3 times and stayed at The Fajara. This was around 1987/1988
Always went with just 1 friend. We made lots of friends with guests and with people who worked at the hotel too.
Did have a couple of scares though - my friend and I went with a some couples we met to a bar nearby to our hotel. The night before, a man had sent a drink over to me at our hotel bar but I sent it back. He was a local man and pretty wealthy looking. Anyway, he was at this bar and when I went to the ladies toilet (they were in a hut kind of thing), I heard footsteps come into the toilet and they did not sound like a ladies. Anyway, my friend came in and told me she had seen the man from the night before follow me and she believes it was he who came into the ladies toilet.
Also had a local man who we made friends with follow me up to my room and he tried to attack me but I said I would scream the place down. Obviously this scared him and he was gone.
We had some young boys follow us one night when we went to the Kombo Beach hotel nightclub. The Security Guard got rid of them.

Lastly, a year after my final trip to the Gambia, one of the young men I had befriended showed up on my doorstep back home in Putney. My dad answered the door and the young man (Muhammed Mbukah) said he had come over to marry me!!!!!! My parents did not know what to say. When I came home, I had to take "Mo" out for a long walk and explain to him that I was not interested in marriage!

So, as you can see, I definitely had some adventures in The Gambia.
I would go back again as on the whole, we really did have a lot of fun and did meet a lot of people.

[spenners]

We went in 1990, our honeymoon. It was awful. I would not take any children. I became ill as I had a reaction to the malaria tablets and had to go in an isolation unit when I came home. You have to have a yellow fever jab as well as all the usual hepititus etc. The poverty is very difficult to handle and I struggled with it.

[JaneSi]

This brings back many old memories. I went to the Gambia 3 times and stayed at The Fajara. This was around 1987/1988
Always went with just 1 friend. We made lots of friends with guests and with people who worked at the hotel too.
Did have a couple of scares though - my friend and I went with a some couples we met to a bar nearby to our hotel. The night before, a man had sent a drink over to me at our hotel bar but I sent it back. He was a local man and pretty wealthy looking. Anyway, he was at this bar and when I went to the ladies toilet (they were in a hut kind of thing), I heard footsteps come into the toilet and they did not sound like a ladies. Anyway, my friend came in and told me she had seen the man from the night before follow me and she believes it was he who came into the ladies toilet.
Also had a local man who we made friends with follow me up to my room and he tried to attack me but I said I would scream the place down. Obviously this scared him and he was gone.
We had some young boys follow us one night when we went to the Kombo Beach hotel nightclub. The Security Guard got rid of them.

Lastly, a year after my final trip to the Gambia, one of the young men I had befriended showed up on my doorstep back home in Putney. My dad answered the door and the young man (Muhammed Mbukah) said he had come over to marry me!!!!!! My parents did not know what to say. When I came home, I had to take "Mo" out for a long walk and explain to him that I was not interested in marriage!

So, as you can see, I definitely had some adventures in The Gambia.
I would go back again as on the whole, we really did have a lot of fun and did meet a lot of people.

Nice to meet someone else that stayed at The Fajara. I'm still in touch with a couple of people I met out there - in fact one of them is my DS Godfather. We had a fantastic time out there, but also a few hairy moments. We made friends witha taxi driver, based at the hotel and he was brilliant - he took us wherever we wanted to go and even drove us the the border of Senegal. The 2nd year we went I took loads of clothes out for his baby daughter. He was so pleased to see us. The 2nd year 4 of us decided in our infinite wisdom to cycle to the animal park - out near the airport. What we hadn't bargained for was A) the distance and B) the heat. We got there ok and walked around, meeting up with a baby gorilla in a keepers arms - I have awonderful photos. We then started our cycle back to the hotel. I was in front and just kept cycling. I eventually stopped at a "bar" for a drink and waited for the other to catch me up. After a while I decided to carry on to the hotel. As I cycled into the hotel, there they were getting out of a taxi - bikes in the boot!!!! We did laugh, but a couple of days later it was a bit of a downer as we learnt that a male tourist had been beaten badly, whilst out on a bike!! Needless to say we didn't do it again. But then there is the night we all ended up in Nettas bar (near the hotel) making our own chip butties in the kitchens!! The trip down the river to a camp run by a german guy called "Willie", think it was called Tendaba. Sleeping in a mud hut, rivre trips up the mangrove swamps. The trip to see where "Roots" originated - all in all- 2 trips never to be forgotten.

[Emma Y]

I went to the Gambia in the early 90's and stayed at the Senegambia Hotel which was really nice. The highlights of the holiday were the jeep safari which was great fun, hurtling along the beach. And the river cruise which was very relaxing, also taking books and pencils to a local school was great. There was a lot of poverty which was upsetting and outside the hotels you do find the local people will want to come and talk to you, which was a novelty to us at first but after a while became a bit of a nuisance. Both me and my friend were very ill with sickness and the other one (can't spell the d word) ! Despite the usual precautions - no ice in drinks etc and had to have the doctor out to us. It was the only holiday I have ever been on when I couldn't wait to get home ! When we landed at Gatwick, we had to wait until the people with malaria were taken off the plane first.

Emma :wavey:

[uk2usa]

I did all the tours too - the Roots one, the safari type one, another that went to Senegal. I did them all and they were fun.

I did get "Banjul Belly" the first year and it was bad but only lasted a day. Got it from the Welcome Buffett!!!!!

One year, my friend got it really bad and she could not even hold bottled water down.

As we made friends with some locals, I did get to visit their homes and see how the people really live. That was very eye opening.

Will never forget going to the market at Banjul with some of them and seeing everyone buying up the fish, etc.

Some of the people we met were named Solomon, Baks, Mo and they were all locals.