Banjul Travel Forum

we were at kololi in february and hope to go back next feb. we took over clothes toys pens pencils school jotters etc. we gave some to a school in banjul and a nursery in kololi. we hope to bring more when we go back and we were wondering how to go about getting a registered charity number so as we can take extra luggage with us as we already have collected a lot of stuff. any help would be gratefully appreciated. thanks

Hi,,
Im a regular visitor to gambia and always like yourself take huge amounts of supplies with us for the locals. the last 2 times we have flown i have phoned thomas cook (who we flew with) and asked for extra allowance for charity items,, if you are taking charity items over you will get an extra 10kg per person FREE,,,they did advise us though that our cases may be checked when we arrived at their airport to check that we did indeed have charity items in our case,, and they did check!! they was only interested in finding out how many mobile phones we had with us,, I think they wanted t take them off us,, NO WAY! Can i just say though if you are taking supplies try going inland a bit,, the coast (and please i dont want to rattle anyone by saying this) but they get tons of stuff all the time from tourists,, inland they get very little if none. if you can find a trust worthy guide who would be more than happy for you to take you to another school inland,, and believe me there is lots of them. i hope this info helps,, if you want to know anymore please feel free,, and bless you on taking stuff out there,, is it in your heart now, are you hooked just as we are!! take care alison

So nice to hear you people having the common sense to be charitable in The Gambia. I've had many a great time out there and the best place in my experience is in Bakau at the garden guest house: www.realgambia.net.
They run on very sound eco principles, supporting many local people. They will also be able to help you with donating to schools and places up country. You are right about the coast getting more than its fair share!

hi, thanks for your reply. when we were going last year we asked our travel agent to phone the airline that we were flying with, first choice, to see if they would give us extra weight allowance, but they said they would not allow us to take extra unless we were with a registered charity and as you know we do not actually take the things to just one place, we share it all out, so we could not even tell where we will be taking it. i do not know how we can get a charity number as we do not do any charity work back home.if you can think of anything we could do to get one, please let me know. thanks again

GTS might be able to tell you: http://gts.crosswinds.net/mystery.htm

I really appreciate the advise of alisonclaire. In Kombo, there are a lot of charity projects. But upcountry the people are really in need. Esecially on the northban, because many tourists only discover south Gambia.

HI, i dont know why first choice said they wouldnt give you the extra, maybe it depends on the airline you travel with because we have only ever flown with thomas cook and booked with flythomascook. must be different rules for airlines??? i hope you manage to sort something out that extra 10kg makes all the difference when taking stuff over there. I dont know if you have booked your holiday yet but we always stay at footsteps eco lodge in gunjur, can have a peek at it at http://footstepsgambia.com/ the place is lovely and the staff are so friendly,, it is because of them that we return and the location is breathtaking, the staff are also the locals from gunjur village and the christian village, and its all based on brilliant ecological principles, it is also handy if you like a retreat away from all the hussle and bussle but just a taxi drive away. if you fancy going there you could have a look and see if you can get some cheep flights with flythomascook and then you would get you extra allowance. footsteps pick you up from the airport and drop you off again. the only snag is it is bed and breakfast, but they do have meals to order till 11pm, the food is out of this world. it does however give you the chance to get out and about and not spend your money in one place, this helps the economy. if i can be of any help please feel free to ask.

hi,
we're going out to gambia on the 24 dec and are taking things for a charity called the glove project(google the glove project)its a village that has nothing.if you e-mail them they will send you a headed letter that your airline will ask for.an english lady called jackie run's it she very helpful.have a good holiday i hope it's as good as it sounds(this is are 1st time).

chris&claire

is good that you are contributing to the needy people in the gambia.
but trusth me the right plcae to take this things is up country.they do not have a chatrity number
but do contact info@cbettexplore.com
the are voluntery