Travel: Gambia

Published on Friday 20 January 2012 12:00

THINGS started slowing on the ‘M1’. Up ahead I spotted the hold-up - a local bus with four goats strapped to the roof.

“This is our National Express,” grinned our guide, Mucki, as we stared wide-eyed out of the window. This, after all, was Gambia, where a few goat-laden cars are normal rush hour traffic.

We’d arrived just in time for Tobaski, a festival looked forward to all year by Gambians. Men spend up to four months’ wages on a sacrificial ram for the family feast, and as we bumped along Gambia’s only highway, hundreds milled by the side of the road waiting to be bought.

This was my first taste of Africa and a visit to Brikama, Gambia’s second largest town, was quite the eye-opener. Markets crammed with stalls sold unusual fresh fruit, battered TVs and Premier League football shirts. Excited children ran about waving as we pushed through a throng of women in vibrant, traditional African dress, haggling over metres of material.

Yet, in all honesty, we weren’t just here to soak up local culture - we were in Africa for the sun. Gambia is hot, with average winter temperatures rarely dipping below 30 degrees.

We were welcomed with broad smiles everywhere we went. I guess they don’t call it the Smiling Coast of Africa for nothing.

But I had more to investigate beyond the interesting sights and smells of the market, including our home for the next five days - the Coco Ocean Resort and Spa, half an hour away on the Gambian coast.

Located in Bijilo, just 15 minutes from the airport and set right on the beach, it’s Gambia’s most luxurious hotel. Designed in a Moroccan style that aims to be more like a small village than a hotel, the grounds feel mature and natural. It’s hard to believe it’s only been here three years.

Intricately tiled paths lead past domed restaurants and a three-tiered infinity pool to the beach, where a roaring Atlantic battles the golden sand.

With so many luxuries to hand, many guests forget to stray from the pool. However, not being the best sunbather, I tried one of the excursions offered by our tour operator, The Gambia Experience. They offer boat trips, fishing and birdwatching days, and a chance to get out into the wild. We decided to head to Makasutu Culture Forest, a 1000-acre reserve of mangroves, palm forest and wetland. As we made our way deeper into the bush, the ruts in the dirt road opened up like chasms. Towering palm trees crowded around the bus and huge termite mounts littered the roadside.

Our guide had been to England and, keen to make us feel at home, he’d thought of some safety rules - because we Brits love that, apparently. “Remember, guys, do not put your hands in the termite mounds or you might lose a finger.” It was a little different to your typical support chat, but with snakes occupying older mounds, it seemed like good advice.

Two English backpackers visited Makasutu in 1992. They fell in love with Gambia and decided to protect its wildlife. Since then, they’ve made it one of West Africa’s premier eco tourist destinations, offering guided walks to meet the forest’s indigenous people and try their homemade palm wine.

We lazily made our way downstream in an African dugout canoe. Sitting low in the water, we had spectacular views of the mangroves, which stretched out their roots on either side. Sparks of colour flashed through the leaves as Long Tailed Glossy Starlings and Giant Kingfishers danced for food. On the muddy banks, lively clusters of red crabs waved their claws.

For such a tiny place, Gambia has a stunning array of wildlife, including an impressive 540 species of bird. While there’s no big game, as in other African countries, Gambia boasts dolphins, hippos and crocodiles.

Stopping for a drink at one of the reserve’s lodges, currently under construction, the forest came alive with a cacophony of raucous screeches.

By the unfinished pool, a troupe of baboons jumped gleefully into the water, while on the edge, mothers fussed over their babies. Seeing such behaviour at close range without the crush of tourists that would normally drive them off was wonderful.

My visit wouldn’t be complete without a trip on the River Gambia, from which the country derives its name. At 700 miles long and nearly six miles wide at its mouth, this huge river dominates a relatively tiny county, dividing it into two halves. The majority of towns and resorts lie; in the south, the north is wilder and less developed.

We cast off at Lamin Lodge, a ramshackle wooden building, perched on stilts over the river. A well worn pier of weathered wood led us out to our modern catamaran, nestled among a fleet of brightly painted fishing boats.

Long-tailed monkeys clattered about on the lodge’s rusting tin roof while Gambian men sat contemplating life in the shade. As the sun rose in the sky, the temperature followed suit. It was a relief to be out on the water.

With legs dangling over the edge, I sat blissfully drinking in the sun while watching the river widen to lake-size proportions. Up ahead, a lone woman in a rickety canoe paddled industriously towards the mangroves to harvest the oysters that live on their roots.

We stopped at Situnuku, a new set of lodges two hours upstream on the north bank. Its landscaped gardens, filled with towering African baobab trees and fuchsia bougainvilleas, made for a secluded idyll. Visitors can hire kayaks and explore the river, but I was content to slow to the Gambian way of life and watch the world pass by. A perfect end to my trip.

• BEST FOR: Winter sun seekers looking for something different.

• TIME TO GO: October-April for temperatures of 30 degrees plus.

• DON’T MISS: Trying the local catch. Lady Fish and Captain Fish are particularly delicious.

• NEED TO KNOW: It is a Muslim country so dress respectfully outside the resorts.

• DON’T FORGET: To check for injections/medication with your doctor before you travel.

Stephanie Maskery was a guest of The Gambia Experience, which offers seven nights’ B&B at Coco Ocean Resort & Spa ({http:// www.gambia.co.uk/cocoocean|www.gambia.co.uk/cocoocean}) in a junior suite from £1097 (April 13-30). Prices include flights from Gatwick, transfers and airport taxes. Excursions are bookable locally through The Gambia Experience’s hotel reps with West African Tours.

For The Gambia Experience reservations, call 0845-330 2087 or visit www.gambia.co.uk.

Logged in as:

Comment here. Start typing your comment here:

Post comment

Please adhere to our Community guidelines

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.