Gambolling in Gambia

The Gambia is a tiny little country, completely surrounded by Senegal. On our way southwards we skipped the country entirely when we got a ferry from Dakar to Ziguinchor in southern Senegal.

Our ride back northwards was an opportunity to explore what we had missed. We also had two other reasons for visiting. Firstly, this was a place that my parents had visited ‘back in the day’, so I was interested in seeing it too, although it’s probably changed dramatically since they were there. Secondly, as we have blogged about before, we had some people to find in Somita!

We only spent a very short time (seven days) in The Gambia. In part this was due to the almost unbearable heat and humidity of the interior, which meant we travelled up the coast rather than exploring further inland. Here is a summary of our brief time there.

First impressions

We crossed the border from Senegal at Jiboro, which was very straightforward. The official language of The Gambia is English, which made speaking to the authorities simple. Although for the majority of people the everyday languages are Mandinka or Wolof, many people we met did speak some English, which made it little easier for us to communicate with people day-to-day. Lots of people were very pleased to find out that we were English so that they could speak with us.

We also realised pretty swiftly that our money was going to go a long way here. The fizzy drinks which give us some energy in the scorching heat were full of e-numbers but good value! This continued throughout our stay with both accommodation and food being very reasonably priced and within our budget.

Community projects and culture

One of the highlights for us was a stay at Tumani Tenda. I had been looking for accommodation near the border crossing but also not too far from Somita. The thing that really sold it for us though was that this is truly a community enterprise. Accommodation and food at the camp are provided by the people of the village. Everyone chips in to help with maintenance of the lodges, cooking, cleaning and tending to the site. In return, the money from visitors goes back into the village and through this eco-tourism, the entire village’s taxes have been paid. Income has also been used to pay for school fees, medicines, and used to support women’s enterprises. In addition to wanting to support this project, the whole experience was fantastic and we felt so well looked after, from sharing fresh local fruit with our hosts in the mornings, to having a cold bottle of water delivered to our lodge door when we arrived back from a hot and sweaty ride.

The only thing that was less pleasurable was the insane heat and humidity, which meant that we spent our nights sleeping out the front of the lodge with a fan! Our arrival was out of season and most tourists have left The Gambia or headed to the coast to escape the intensity of the climate.

We also got to experience more of the country’s culture when we dropped in on the small but perfectly formed Tanjeh Village Museum (also spelt Tanji/Tanje). Here we got to see traditional musical instruments, learn more about local wildlife, explore traditional homes and read about culture and crafting.

Some of the local beliefs may seem a little strange to us, but travelling is all about learning and trying to understand more about people and places so we go in with an open mind.

Off-roading

Upon leaving Tumani Tenda our initial plan was to ride the road to Brikama and then onwards to Gunjur near the coast. After our little excursion along the main road to Somita and back, we were sure that we didn’t want to be on the main asphalt roads due to the sheer amount of traffic (this is a recurring theme on our travels yet we still sometimes forget and route ourselves along roads!!). Instead, we plotted a more direct but off-road route through the countryside and what a rewarding experience that was. Great tracks, shady, calm places to stop and rest and meeting interesting people along the way.

We had no choice but to ride some bigger roads as we headed northwards into Banjul/Barra and to the ferry. On the larger roads we had to decide between fast cars or the litter/glass-filled verge, and on the smaller internal roads we mostly muddled along with little tuk-tuks.

Touristique

As we were now travelling in the off-season we met few other tourists in Guinea-Bissau and parts of rural southern Senegal. The Gambia however appeared to have a larger number of British or European people living part or full-time in the country - we weren’t the only white faces around! The infrastructure was also geared up for tourists with lots of accommodation options, European-style stores with European/British products. In one little village shop I bought a bag of Morrisons-branded porridge oats.

In a chance encounter we also met a British lady passenger in a vehicle decked out with British and Gambian flags. We had to stop and say hello and swiftly learnt that they had previously lived about 21 km from us in Worcestershire. After all those kilometres travelled, it’s a small world after all (now try and get that song out of your head…)

Graffiti and street art

Being in a country where English was the official language meant that we could now read all the signs and graffiti that we’d previously ridden past. There were some great phrases and entertaining translations!

Friendly people

As per our findings elsewhere, the people of The Gambia were broadly incredibly friendly and helpful. One of our favourite encounters was the wonderful Jula who came to check on me when I was stood with my bike beside the road, waiting for Sam to take a photo (of a bike of course) a little way behind. Jula had been carefully watching from his little restaurant as a couple of guys approached me. He kindly and discretely came to speak with us, just to check I was ok. He invited us to his restaurant and we said that we’d return after our museum visit. We did so, and chatting over hot tea and some delicious fresh mango (for which we were extremely grateful) Jula shared with us stories about his family, his work and his plans for the future.

Alongside Jula, so many people offered us help. In one little shop, they didn’t have enough change to give me and the guy behind offered to give me some money to make up for it (I thanked him but couldn’t accept it!). Another time, we were looking for our accommodation and a guy on a bike rode ahead of us, along sandy tracks, delivering us straight to the door. The people of Somita were wonderful in helping us find the family we were looking for. All in all, a heart-warming experience.

Roofs

I feel another themed gallery coming on…coming to a blog post near you soon!