Top The Gambia hotels
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Many of the roads in the Gambia are very dusty and not only the unpaved ones. We had the experience that also the main road from the Atlantic coast to the east was very dusty, allthough the road was paved. The many potholes in te roadsurface caused a lot of dust, so at the end of the day we came out of the car with a totally red skin and red-coloured hairs.
Everywhere in Gambia along the highroad we saw often a lot of cows. Sometimes even very huge herds.Always you have to be aware, that no one of the cows suddenly will cross the road in front of your car. Mostly they don't, but you can't be sure.
Prepare yourself for poverty. Bring clothes to give away. Bring pens for children so that they can go to school.Expect to be well fed in the hotels, but be aware that not much of the money stays in the country.Lots of beauty, but lots of sorrow.
Advice from the British Foreign Office You should not travel by road from The Gambia to Casamance in southern Senegal because of the risk of armed banditry. The Casamance region of south western Senegal (the area of Senegal due south of The Gambia) remains affected by insecurity involving separatist rebel groups. Attacks and armed banditry still occur. You should not stay or travel in the Casamance region west of Kolda. This includes travel by road into the region from The Gambia. Travel to other areas in The Gambia is reasonably safe as long as sensible precautions are taken to safeguard your baggage and personal possessions.Crime against tourists is rare, but you should take sensible precautions and remain vigilant in public places. However, you should not take valuables or large sums of money to the beach or display them in public. The most popular beaches are usually manned by...
I stayed in Serekunda for a while and almost every morning I’ve got woken by singing and marching militaries.The first mornings I thought it was funny, but after a while it was irritating.So don’t forget your earplugs, when you want a good night rest.
The Gambia is a popular exotic destination.So, when there are tourists, there are Dollars and when there are Dollars, there are Bumsters (young unemployed locals, who will do anything to get your money).These Bumsters follow you everywhere you go, sometimes they want to be your guide, other times they want to sell you something.But most of the time, they just want your money and they can't accept a NO for answer.A few years ago the government started a cleaning campaign, because the Bumsters became more aggressive and the tourists started to avoid the Smiling Coast.These days the streets along the coastline are almost Bumster free and the tourists can walk freely without getting harassed.
Don't come to this country if you didnt do the malaria pills on time. Don't play with your life. Before I actually came, I didnt knew what mosquitoes were like, and believe me, in Portugal in the summer we do have lots of Big mosquitos. Here they are much smaller than in Portugal, but they are like thousands of them, and each can trasmit malaria. Gambia is a tropical country which has a big river in the middle of it, perfet to grown mosquitos. You have a very bad type of malaria which is the cerebral type which is very hard to survive.
Please make sure you take these religiously whilst you are over in The Gambia and also for two weeks after you come home. I made the mistake of not taking them once I got back and ended up in the hospital with suspected Malaria. Malaria is very common in Gambia and as it comes from the Mosquito (and there are many of these pesky little critters) ensure you take massive amounts of mosquito spray & repellent.
Arriving to Gambia from the Northern Senegal border, you will be surrounded by dozens of people trying to take everything off you. They will take your bags so you follow them, they will try to exchange currency in their favour, or simply hassle you for money...After we went accross the Gambia river to Banjul, it was even worse.Taxi drivers fighting to have you in their cabs, people just hanging around, between which small thiefs will try to get their hands on everything. A kid managed to put his hand inside my bag (in the middle of all that confusion) and stole my recording device. I managed to catch him and to get it back, but it was a very hard time.Although one has to understand the extreme poverty and continued unaddresed needs most of african people live in, one cannot just forget bad moments like that, which have marked my time in Banjul, an uninteresting city, where people are not...
Don't listen too closely to holiday company warnings they are trying to sell you their champagne sunset tours. I know a British tourist was murdered in November 02, violence happens everywhere. You'd be missing a lot if you didn't experience Serrekunda at night or didn't go down to the beach and drink some bhang with the bumsters. On the whole these lads are very good company, but do find someone like Lucas Jatta, the palm tapper to keep an eye out for you.
Kombo Beach Hotel Banjul
1 Review and 333 Opinions The Kombo Beach is the only hotel we have been to in The Gambia, we stayed here the first time and...
Kairaba Beach Hotel Kololi
2 Reviews and 283 Opinions well such an extraordinarily well run venue in Gambia. German influence, very efficient. What...
Sheraton Gambia Hotel Resort & Spa Serekunda
371 Opinions
Reviews and photos of The Gambia attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for The Gambia sightseeing.
Q: Hi, we are going to Gambia on the 22nd Feb and our GP has given us a private prescription for Malarone. It's quite expensive and I...
A: It's not cheap anywhere as it is a relatively new and very effective anti-malarial drug, but is encumbered by patents, so there is only a single manufacturer, hence the...
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