Overview
** GAMBIA TOURS **
Read travel tips for Gambia from our amazing community of BLACK AND BROWN TRAVELERS that will help you find some of the best places to visit in Gambia.Our variety of travel tips will definitely help you plan your next trip. Our tips range from best places to visit in Gambia, affordability, nightlife, local food, where to stay and even what it is like Traveling While Black. Lastly, we are working diligently to create a comprehensive city guide for Gambia tours. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, scroll down to read tips below!
1) Read City Reviews Left By Our Members – Although we do not have comprehensive guides created for this city quite yet, members of our community can still share their experiences in the form of city reviews. Scroll below to see what they are saying about this city.
2)Leave Your Own City Review – Scroll down to the “Add a Review” section on mobile and “Write a Review” section on the desktop in order to share a meaningful comment/rating linked to one of our travel categories. It would be a great help to our growing travel community. Also, if you know someone who has been to this city, ask them to leave a city review.
3)Personal Travel Map – We offer a free feature to create a digital travel map in your profile. Once you finish, if you would like to share with the community, please send an email to featureme@greenbookglobal.com and we will prioritize your travel map and photo to be featured on our Instagram page.
4)Existing City Guides – Check out the below city guides to inspire your next trip. Some guides require membership so Register today (don’t worry it is free99).
a) Havana, Cuba (Members Only)
b) Venice, Italy
c) Bali, Indonesia (Members Only)
d) Johannesburg, South Africa
e) Sydney, Australia
f) Cartagena,Colombia (Members Only)
g) Dutchess County New York (Beacon/Poughkeepsie)
PS – Drop Us a Line – If you really want the creation of a city guide or maybe we are missing a city that you would like to review, send an email to newcity@greenbookglobal.com and let us know. Also, if there aren’t any reviews for this city yet, go ahead and be the first!!
If you have never travelled to Africa, for your first time you should consider The Gambia; your wanderlust will for sure increase after having visited this country known as “The smiling coast of Africa”.
Gambians are the most welcoming and of course most smiley people ever. They enjoy the company and sharing time with others, either black or white; they see no colour or culture, they love to share their happiness and knowledge with anyone, that also applies to tourists and not for money purposes just for the simple fact that they appreciate having citizens of the world visiting their country.
You will enjoy the beaches, food, crocodile pool; and enriched your history knowledge by visiting Kunta Kinteh Island.
For the music lovers know you will not get bored of parties at the beach, drums playing, barbecues.
The country has a significant influence from Jamaica, many reggae artists from the Caribbean do concerts in The Gambia, singers like Chronixx whose has a large number of fans in Africa; if you are a Reggae lover do not get surprised if you randomly find any of your favourite singer performing there.
For anyone located in the UK, one of the best airlines to travel with is Thomas Cook, they direct flights to Banjul, prices start from £190 one way during the low season.
When to travel: November – January, the temperature is lovely.
In december 2017 me and my boyfriend went to Gambia. Al the people there were nice. We made a connection with one of the men working at the bar in our hotel. He took us on a trip to a village where he grew up. His family still lives there. We went early in the morning with the verry. When we arrived we bought something to bring to his mother, out of respect. We went on a jeep to his mother’s house. After that we want to a school, where another couple that went with us gave the children of the school, school suply. We didn’t knew we were going over there, so we weren’t prepared. But the school and children were all happy and greatful for all the things they got. After that we went to a museum of slavery. A guide walked with us and was explaining everything we could see in there. We also went with a little boat to Kunta Kinteh Island. That was like 15 minutes with the boat. We got alot of information and there was alot to see over there. Great experience!
If you want Africa that packs a punch then Gambia is for you! I have been approx 7 times since 2011, and have just returned from a baecation… Due to this fact; I will try to break down this review section by section:
Things to do – This country is small but packs a punch… As we say in Jamaica “likkle but dem taliwah”. You will certainly find things to do during your stay; and should be greatly entertained. There is a VAST array of tours to keep you occupied; and you can do everything from taking a short boat ride to Sengal (Gambia is surrounded by Senegal on 3 sides) or connecting with the ancestors on Kunta Kinte island (the roots tour – definitely worth the money).
Adventure – I’d say this ties in with things to do and history… The crocodile park is well worth the visit where you get to stroke these cold blooded creatures in real life whilst learning the history of why they do not attack humans (I’m ONLY speaking about the ones in this region, so please do not go around attempting to pet wild crocs). Women who may be struggling with conceiving can also have a traditional bath in the pool by local women/elders – and I have been told this increases fertility (I haven’t tried this to know If it works). Aside from this; there are many things to do surrounding adventure so I guess it depends on how daring you are.
Affordability – Now this is the most varying category. Airfare and accommodation are generally cheap; but as with most things – this greatly depends on the time of year you travel. We are based in the UK and there a a few flights a week which helps keep prices reasonably low. A package can be as low as a few hundred for a 2 week break so it is definitely worth shopping around. Food is relative – much cheaper than London, but tourist areas such as Senegambia, and Kotu will average approx £20 for 2. Green Taxis are for tourists and they WILL attempt to rip you off… Yellow taxis are for locals and much cheaper but BE CAREFUL. AS WITH ANY CITY – IF YOU’RE NOT FAMILIAR PEOPLE MAY ATTEMPT TO ROB YOU.
Relaxation – As mentioned before, The Gambia is surrounded by Senegal on 3 sides, the 4th is the Atlantic – which brings a coastline dedicated to sandy beaches and downtime. You may be approached by a few locals attempting to sell you something; but a polite “no thank you” will soothe that problem.
Local Food – Gambia is certainly not short of places to dine; but you will have to travel a little further for real authentic local grub. You can most definitely eat like the locals and buy a sandwich or meat/fish pie on the road but WATCH OUT for Banjul Belly (a mild stomach irritation that causes the runs due to unfamiliarity with the local water).
Romance – What’s more romantic than spending time away with bae on a sandy beach?
Nightlife – On anyone night there are at least 10 spots open – from beach bars to winebars, hotels to nightclubs… Locals or your hotel will fill you in on what happens on what night so you need not worry in that department. Gambians LOVE Jamaica and her culture; so you could be mistaken for thinking that you’ve ended up in Uptown Monday’s as opposed to Stars.
Overall – a BEAUTIFUL country with beautiful people. If you are a person who likes to see/meet other people from the diaspora whilst away then December/January is the best time for you. If you want a quieter experience – still with things to do then – then March/April/May is your time to go. Either way; I’m sure you’ll have a BRILLIANT time!