The Gambia
March 16th - 18th, 2025
The Gambia (the “The” is an official part of its name, apparently chosen to avoid confusion with Zambia) is the smallest country on mainland Africa. It is an oddly shaped nation, spanning less than 50 kilometers on either side of the Gambia River and entirely surrounded by Senegal. This peculiar colonial construct stems from the fact that the British controlled the Gambia River, while the French held the surrounding territory.
We actually entered The Gambia twice during this trip, the first time coming from Kaolack in the north. The border crossing between Senegal and The Gambia is quite chaotic, swarming with people trying to sell you fruit or peanuts. We had to stand in line twice to get our passports checked and stamped. Abou was very helpful and knew exactly who to talk to - and who to "tip" - to get us through relatively quickly. The whole procedure took about an hour. After the border, we drove along the northern shore of the river towards Kunta Kinteh Island.
Kunta Kinteh Island, previously known as James Island, is a very small island in the middle of the Gambia River with a ruined colonial fort. This small island was used as a staging post for the West African slave trade, as slaves were brought here and held for 2 weeks, before being loaded onto ships to be transported across the Atlantic. There is a small museum were you can learn more about the harrowing history of this place before you get on the boat that takes you out to the middle of river.
The ruins of the fort are beautiful in one sense, but also quite eerie, when you know their dark history. The island was renamed in honor of Kunta Kinteh, a Gambian man who was taken to North America in the 18th century. His story was made famous through the novel and TV show "Roots". The island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After Kunta Kinteh Island we crossed the Gambia River over the 2-kilometer-long Senegambia Bridge. Construction began in 2015 and the bridge was officially opened in 2019, though it had been proposed as early as the 1950s. Driving through Gambia you frequently get stopped every few kilometers by enterprising policemen, who set up ad-hoc checkpoints, ostensibly to perform security checks - but in reality to collect their own private "road tax". However, Abou knew that you can pay a guy at the border in advance, and then show a piece of paper at the check-points, which lets you pass without hassle - so it's kind of a prepaid plan for bribery.
We continued our journey through Southern Senegal for the next three days before returning back into Gambia from the south. This time we stayed for two days at the beautiful Lemon Creek Hotel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. During breakfast, we watched the monkeys climbing across the buildings.
Our hotel was located in the town of Bijilo, which together with Serrekunda forms the main tourist area with many beach resorts frequented by mostly European travelers. The next day, we visited the small capital of Banju, which is located on a peninsula at the mouth of the Gambia river.
With just 11,300 km² of land and a population approaching 2.8 million, The Gambia is the smallest country on the African continent. Its economy is primarily driven by peanuts, tourism and remittances. It country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965. After nearly three decades of single-party rule under the same president, a coup in July 1994 brought a 29-year-old military commander to power. He remained in office until 2016, when he was defeated in a watershed election. Today, The Gambia is ranked 11th in Africa for liberal-democracy performance, which is a sharp turnaround after decades of authoritarian rule.
Panoramic view of Banjul from the top of Arch 22.
We visited the large and bustling food and craft market in Banjul to buy some souvenirs. While you could certainly find some lovely local crafts here, just like in any local market in the world, you also find many so-called artisanal items, where they had forgotten to remove the "Made in China" label.
In the afternoon we visited the small, but lovely Abuko Nature Reserve, just outside Banjul. We saw a crocodile and lots of vultures.
That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner in a open air restaurant in Senekunda, while being entertained by a very energetic and fun dance performance.
One thing you see everywhere in the tourist areas of Gambia, is female sex tourism. Since the 1990s Gambia has apparently become a prime destination for middle-aged European women looking for casual sex with much younger local men. We observed many mostly British women in their 50s and 60s waiting for young Gambian men to approach their tables and then disappear with them. It's a fascinating phenomenon to witness.
The next day we had a fairly long travel day again. We left our hotel in Gambia a 8:00 in the morning for the 45 minute drive to the ferry terminal. Abou had warned us that we may need some patience, since the ferry schedules are highly unreliable, as those who generously "tip" the captain get preference. He told us he had been waiting for up to 4 hours for the ferry on previous trips. It turned out we were lucky, the ferry turned up 30 minutes after we got to the terminal, and we had no problem getting on.
The ferry ride across the huge mouth of the Gambia river takes almost an hour. We saw something interesting on the way out. Apparently, most of the electricity to the city is provided by this Turkish power-ship anchored just offshore.
From the other side of the river it was another 30-minute drive to the border, where we had to do the two-border crossing for the fourth time. The Gambian side took a bit longer this time, but we managed to get through both of them in about an hour, followed by a three hour drive to our final hotel in Saly.
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