The Gambia Travel Forum

Hello!!
I'm heading to Cape point with my parents next week and wondered if anyone could help. unfortunately, we have very different ideas about travelling and they booked us on a package deal with a nice hotel, etc, whereas i'm more used to travelling alone & trying to experience more of the local life....i'm not liking the idea of bein stuck in a tourist resort when i will be in such an interestiting country... Just wondered if anyone could offer advice about how i might manage to escape the tourist enclosure from cape point to see a little of the real Gambian life & try some local food, culture, etc...perhaps hiring a bike or something? would be very grateful for any advice.

Well, I do not think that 'hiring a bike' in Gambia is a good idea. The roads are not good, and the drivers leave a lot to be desired. I would be concerned with the safety of this.

Suggest that you look through one of the well known guide books that are available before you go, plan a few outings. Then approach the taxi (yellow) drivers which will be outside your Hotel to negotiate a price for the trip, they will usualy act as a guide also.

You can get around on the local transport (Gela gelas) by walking into Bakau from Cape Point, but you would really need one of the locals to guide you. You will find plenty of the young lads willing to do this! Always negotiate a price for your day out beforehand though. The Gela gelas are a set price of D5 regardless of where you travel around the tourist area. Of course if you wanted to venture up country more.

Depends what time you have and how you want to spend it!

Usualy first timers go to:-

Kachakaly Crocodille pool - Bakau
Tour of Banjul + Arch
Serrekunda Market
Tanji Fishing Village/Smoke houses
Tanji Museum
Roots (Albreda)
Lamin Lodge

Hope this helps!

you,ll find at this time of year there isn,t a lot of tourists anyway and these are normally found near the hotels, or in banjul at the market, and these are few and far between anyway. there isn,t a real tourist area in gambia apart from what they call the "tourist strip" where the hotels are. the main road from the airport is busy as is the main banjul highway but as there are no recognised footpaths and no real kerbs and the edges of the roads are crumbling away then a bicycle isn,t an option for a european, the drivers force themselves through with little or no regard to bikes.
for the real gambia ask any of the staff at the hotel to take you to their village and local school, especially a primary, that will open your eyes.
there are official gambian toutist guides attached to al hotels but these are unpaid jobs and you agree a price with them before you go anywhere, you should take a local or you will be forever pestered by bumsters, even tho they say they aren,t. they will have list of places to go and see so its really up to you. also all taxi ranks have a price list for any destination and these are displayed on aboard, this is a return journey with a two hour wait included, anything above this price will be a tip, (another tip, use the taxi controller for money exchange, you,ll get a better rate than the hotel or banks).
try the roots tour, its a good day out as is banjul market. the local food is ok and you can ask the hotel staff, (look after your room boy, tip him at the start and end of holiday, Ds500 will do)(43 to the £) where to eat and things to do.
we were there in feb. for two weeks but to be honest the hotel wasn,t good and out of the way (palm grove) and i would only go back to a different hotel but for a break it was ok.
hope this helps.

thanks for the advice! Really looking forward to trip! do you have any recommendations for trying the local food...at local prices perhaps?

local food is also served in many of the restaurants. But when you want it for local prices you ave to be able to recognize local "restaurants". I'm not familiar with Bakau and don't know any of them there, but the locals will know!

Follow the advice with the bikes, it is not safe! I like Lamin Lodge, a wooden restaurant at the riverside. From there you can also make small boat trips. Any driver knows there, but a guide will proably cheaper than a taxi. Just negotiate, never pay without that (except for supermarkets, the prices there are fix)