The Rough Guide to The Gambia

Historical Dictionary of The Gambia

2008-10-08T22:40:00.002+01:00

A new edition of the Historical Dictionary of The Gambia is now out. I haven't seen it yet, but if it's anything like the other books in this series from the US publisher, Scarecrow Press, it will be an essential reference for anyone interested in what really make the country tick. Or sometimes fail to tick. Co-author Dr David Perfect has written to let me know that the new edition is an extensive revision of the the previous edition of 1999 and covers events up to June of this year – which is pretty up-to-date for a hardback. Highly recommended.

ECOWAS puts pressure on Banjul over Ebrima Manneh

2008-06-09T17:48:00.002+01:00

Good to say a bit of regional responsibility for a change. This journalist, Cheif Ebrima Manneh, has been missing for well over a year.

Jammeh calls for decapitation of gay people

2008-05-23T17:45:00.002+01:00

President Jammeh has lost the plot completely. In a recent statement condemning gay people he ordered them to leave the country and threatened to "cut off the head" of any gay person found in The Gambia, according to the BBC's report. This isn't a good position to be in for the leader of a country heavily dependent on North European beach tourists – there must be hundreds, if not thousands of gay tourists, expats and NGOs in The Gambia at any one time.

Although most African countries inherited the archaic laws banning homosexuality left by their respective colonial governments, most have used them very rarely. For a tourism-dependent government to scare airlines and tour operators like this – not to mention their own people – is the height of folly. But perhaps that shouldn't surprise us in The Gambia's case. The British foreign office has yet to respond on their travel advice page - the limit of their advice to gay people on their Gambia page is "Homosexuality is illegal in The Gambia." Their LGBT page is more useful.

In practice, despite what Jammeh says, gay visitors should not have any problems at all in the country. Certainly at Rough Guides we've never heard of any hassle (and the advice in the book is that you should experience no problems) – though it's hard now not to advise gay visitors to keep a very low profile and completely avoid local relationships. And if you're worried that your circumstances might cause you problems, you should definitely register with your embassy via their website.

Jammeh keeps busy

2008-04-02T23:17:00.004+01:00

Not only do those who get close to the Gambia's president tend to physically disappear when they fall out with him, but now the black hole effect is starting to impact the jobs of those who aren't so close to President Yahya Jammeh. Recent high-level job disappearances include the ministerial portfolios for petroleum issues and agriculture, both of which have vanished into the capacious briefcase of the Alhaji. Are there no limits to his abilities?

As in Cuba, so in The Gambia

2008-03-18T18:24:00.008Z

This is such a worthwhile – and I thought very moving – piece, and a good reminder of the need to keep spending (critically, not necessarily in large amounts, but often) while on holiday in any developing nation, but especially one as poor as The Gambia. As well as doing what Alison Littlewood wishes she'd done in Havana, by simply buying curios and souvenirs ad hoc, to keep the wheels going round, it's also good to buy souvenirs and spend a little money on items that you know are a cut above the usual in terms of ensuring a fair deal – so I'd recommend Asset – the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism, who have a whole range of Gambian "products", from tours to recycled stationery that all support the local Gambian producers more than the big companies can.

In case the Guardian pulls the story at some point, here's the text:

Everyone needs that little wooden tortoise

Alison Littlewood will never forget her trip to Cuba last year. Not because of what she did or bought, but because of what she didn't ...

Holiday in Cuba, with insurance: £1,695.94
The sun pressed in through the open top of the Jeep. We applied sun lotion, the dust on our skin turning into little grey sausages under our fingers. The land zipped by, royal palm trees with spikes protruding from the top like flags. The closed faces of gathering hitchhikers. A child, peering up from its mother's arms, as we overtook a pony and trap. Oxen, heads bowed while their harnesses were rigged to a fallen palm. I peered over my shoulder, through the dust, as they began to drag the load away. A man walked behind them, waving his hat at their faces, willing them on.

Jeep safari for two, with guide: £80
Our guide shot past the other Jeeps, pushed a cassette into the stereo and turned up the volume. Miguel clearly liked having a young couple to drive around. He floored it, hit a pothole and skidded to the right. The Jeep behind beeped his horn. His boss, maybe. I grabbed my partner Fergus's leg, tight, without really meaning to. Then we came out of it, sliding the other way, first towards a cactus hedge. We laughed, to show we didn't mind. Miguel laughed too, although he drove more slowly after that.

Suntan lotion for a fortnight: £36.96
Miguel fought with the gear lever, crashed it into first. Heaps of earth were piled in front of him, more being forked on to the road from the back of a truck. A crowd of men sweated in the midday sun, some pressing earth down into potholes with their boots. They stopped, knowing looks on their faces, called out something in Spanish. "Perdone, perdone," their tone sarcastic, and they laughed. I knew it meant "Excuse me" - I had seen it in my phrase book. They stared, leathery faces looking at milk-white flesh. "Perdone." I did not know enough Spanish to answer. I clung to Fergus's leg, and looked at the road. "Gracias," Fergus kept saying. I could have reached out and touched their bodies. "Gracias."

They closed behind us and continued filling in the holes. "Are they paid to do that?" Fergus asked. "No," said Miguel. "It's their village. Their road. So they come together and they mend it." They mend it so that we can pass through.

Holiday reading - books, newspapers: £25.17
We stopped at a school, but it was a Sunday, so there were no children: only scrawny black chickens, scratching in the dirt. The guide told us that anyone can go to university here. Anyone who passes the exams. Miguel was a civil engineer; he built bridges before becoming a guide. He could make more money that way, from tips. His boss had been a teacher; luckily he got out before they changed the rules. Now teachers, doctors and nurses can't work with the tourists. They are needed in schools and hospitals.

Cappuccinos and croissants, departure lounge: £8.65
We ate lunch in a villa by the sea, with plastic sheets in the windows. There were murals on the walls, mermaids, trees that were turning into faces. We ate pasta. The manager looked on, approving. "No meat," we had said. "No meat." He thought we said "No eat", and looked disappointed. "Rich foreigners," he must have thought. "My food's not good enough." When Miguel explained about vegetarians and he realised we would need something different, cooked just for us, he looked so happy. He brought it out for us, beaming.

New bikini: £19.99
The hat kept appearing in the window. It was a battered cowboy hat. It bobbed up again, a face pressed into the corner, peering in.

Airport sandwiches: £3.50 each
We gave the waiter a tip, to show we weren't ungrateful, expecting things to be cooked specially without appreciation. He nodded and smiled.

Outside, the man with the hat was there. A tortoise puttered around our feet. He had it on a string, and its little wooden legs waved at us as it went. I laughed.

Perfume, duty free: £36.98
He had a bunch of necklaces around his neck. I tried not to catch his eye. There had been a lot of them at the fishing village, circling. Wiry little women, aggressive mouths barking out numbers, holding necklaces made of shells and seeds. I looked at the table he had laid out. There were wooden keyrings, carved fish, maracas, leather belts. The usual.

Digital camera: £129
We were there for experiences, not for things. We had decided. Souvenirs looked tacky once you got them home. We knew; we'd done it before.

"Two pesos, two pesos," the man said, indicating the tortoise. It zipped around, legs waggling. How did it work? I didn't like to pick it up. More people came out behind us. The tortoise scurried. Its shell was made of half a coconut. I remembered our suitcases, almost full to begin with. I imagined our hand luggage when we went home, full to bursting, being annoyed because we couldn't find our bottle of water.

We walked away. Our Jeep was parked next to the door. Miguel opened it up and we climbed inside.

Bottle of water from airport dispenser: £1.50
I pressed up against Fergus's knees. "Two pesos," I heard. "Two pesos." The people behind us hadn't stopped, either. The man had followed us and was waving the tortoise in the air. "Two pesos."

"Do you want one?" I said. Fergus shook his head. We were here for experiences, not things. What would we do with a wooden tortoise? It was a child's thing. We didn't have children. The man walked away, and I saw his eyes. They were rheumy and damp, as though with tears.

"It's an act. It's how they get you to buy. Of course he looks sad," I thought.

I looked again. His soul was there, in his eyes. And his soul was full of pain, the kind you can't fake. It was built in layers, one disappointment laid over the next. Fergus was talking to the guide. I opened my mouth, started to say something: "Oh, go on. Let's get one." But my voice somehow never came out.

I looked, and in that look, I saw his life. He would have nothing else to do now but to go home. No one else would come that day: we were the only ones, and we had bought nothing. Maybe his wife would be waiting. After a while, he might greet her with a shake of his head.

Later, I wondered how long he had spent making these things. Twisting his old hands around them, forming the shells, the shine of a tortoise emerging. Putting in the mechanism, some trick he knew. And all the time, maybe he was thinking of me, or someone like me. Seeing this thing take shape, the thing he made, and all the time hoping that we would like it.

Wooden tortoise: £1
It wasn't until afterwards that I realised: all he'd asked for was a pound. It was all he wanted. A pound.

Car parking at the airport: £68
Everything seemed so fast, on the drive home from the airport. In Cuba we had edged our way past bull carts or men on listless horses. Here, cars shot past, all heading somewhere. No one giving any quarter, not wanting any in return. After we dumped the suitcases, I wandered around the house. It had that familiar/strange feeling a place does when you haven't seen it for a while. I sat down in the study and looked at the bookshelves, an image of that wooden tortoise flashing into my mind. Then those eyes, that sadness.

I took a little of it away, I think. I left him nothing, but I took away a little of his sadness. I hoped it lightened his load, but really I think he had more than enough to go round. I've imagined it since - pressing a note into his hand, telling him to keep the change. Seeing the wonder in his face that someone had so much to give away. Seeing him smile.

I looked back at the shelf. It was crowded with things that were gradually going dusty. No one needs a little wooden tortoise, I thought.

But I knew that wasn't true. I did need one. Everybody does.

© Guardian, 17 March 2008

Scorpions sting twice, but still get squashed

2007-09-14T09:59:00.000+01:00

Boo. It would have been great for The Gambia to have got through. But it wasn't to be. The national football team are out of next February's African Cup of Nations in Ghana despite beating Algeria 2:1 at the Independence Stadium in Bakau. But the "Scorpions" have proved they can mix it with the big boys. And if you look at how many smaller African countries never even get it together to enter, or just withdraw because they can't get the players home, or can't afford the travel, then it's clear that The Gambia really does have a future. And 8 points , after all, wasn't too shabby.

Curing AIDS in The Gambia. Not just any peanut. . .

2007-07-17T23:41:00.000+01:00

More evidence of Jammeh's Thursday-only AIDS cure.

But the man who hosted last year's African Union summit won't share his herbal secrets with anyone else. Only his Gambians can benefit from his special knowledge - other Africans can whistle for a cure.

It's a sad business, even the Minister of Health is backing Jammeh.

But you can only laugh in despair at the rubber gloves. . .Surely he primes himself with bananas, peanuts and powder before visiting these infectious patients? Hmm, it's a dangerous world though. Wouldn't want to pick anything up while out curing. . .

Thanks to the rather cool www.recruitingofficer.com for the heavenly peanut pic.

And missing Gambian footballers, too.

2007-06-21T00:34:00.000+01:00

The circumstances in this case aren’t sinister, merely farcical. The Gambia could have beaten Cape Verde, to stand a good chance of qualifying for the African Nations Cup in January and February in Ghana – which would be a first ever for the national team, The Scorpions. But their keeper missed one of the few flights from Dakar to Praia. And then they had two players sent off, which presumably will stuff their chances of beating (relatively) mighty Algeria at their next qualifier on 8th September. It would be wonderful if they could crack it and go through to Ghana. It would create a football frenzy for the whole of the 2007/8 tourist season. And heaven knows, Gambians need to focus on the positive these days.

Where are these people?

2007-06-21T00:29:00.000+01:00

The Gambia’s “disappeared”

Ousman Jatta – missing
Kanyiba Kanyi – missing
Momodou Lamin Nyassi – missing
Ndongo Mboob – missing
Buba Sanyang – missing
Chief Ebrima Manneh – missing

Where are these people? In one of West Africa’s smallest, most easy-going, most tourist-friendly countries, being arrested (if you’re Gambian) is a dangerous business, as these recent reports indicate.

“Release suffers setback” runs one headline from the local paper, Foroyaa.

Setback? I’ll say. Some technical difficulty Your Honour? Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, we just don’t have the prisoners. In fact we don’t know where they are.

President running out of diseases to cure

2007-04-05T13:22:00.000+01:00

President Doctor Yahya Jammeh has been much in demand in the country's handful of hospitals since the beginning of the year, when he discovered he could cure AIDS with special potions and a personal visit. Most officials are maintaining a dignified silence on the spectacle, though the health minister has endorsed the cure, but as the treatment requires a high level of commitment from the patients, including giving up their expensive anti-retroviral drugs, it can only be a matter of time before nature takes its course and somebody's relative feels they have to speak out. Meanwhile, Jammeh's talents are broadening to include diabetes and asthma.

Plymouth to Banjul by luck

2007-02-13T14:29:00.000Z

The front-runners in the annual Plymouth Banjul challenge are due into the Gambia any day now. Inaugurated in 2003, this slightly batty amateur trans-Saharan race was inspired by the famous Paris–Dakar Rally. Unlike the Paris-Dakar, which follows a different route every year and invariably causes trouble (for participants lost or injured, and for local bystanders injured or killed) the Plymouth–Banjul follows the same – rather straighter – route across the desert each year. And it ain't about speed. Participants have to follow a few idiosyncratic rules – notably, no car may be worth more £100 at the outset, and all must be auctioned for charity at the end in the Safari Garden Hotel.

Marigold, the 2CV in the picture (© Lucie Mathiszig, top pic) actually made it last year, and can still be seen on the sandy streets of the Gambia (second pic) – it was bought by Geri and Maurice, who run Safari Garden.

From the Rough Guide's introduction to Serrekunda

2007-01-12T00:03:00.000Z

Serrekunda, the largest town in the country, lies just 3km inland from the resorts. Spending a little time here is an excellent way to get close to the heart of Gambian life; the centre of town gives you a strong flavour of modern, urban West Africa – a choking racket of diesel engines, with music blaring from hundreds of cassette players and radios, and streets lined with half-collapsed wooden trolleys and bricolaged stalls selling a riot of dust-covered imports. The focus of all this is the town’s central market – in fact central Serrekunda is effectively just one big market. It’s a lot of fun to wander round here, and not unsafe, as long as you keep any valuables out of sight.

From the "Getting Around" section of the Rough Guide

2006-10-12T00:02:00.000+01:00

The Gambia has no railway lines, and no internal flights except by private arrangement. The most common way to get around is by road, which is often a slow, dusty and bumpy experience. Travel is severely hampered by the state of the country’s roads. The major artery which runs all the way along the south bank of the River Gambia from Banjul to Basse, via Serrekunda, Brikama, and Soma, was sealed in the 1970s, then neglected so badly that a few stretches (most notoriously the 100km or so west of Soma) are currently a nightmarish mess of potholes. The photo on the left was taken on the north bank, a relatively smooth stretch of dust (or mud, in the rains) between Kerewan and Farafenni.

In many ways cycling is the ideal form of transport in The Gambia. It gives you total independence; you can camp or take your bike into hotel rooms with you. If you get tired of pedalling you can transport your bike on top of a bush taxi or bus (reckon on paying about half-fare for it). A bike allows you to explore well off the beaten track. Routes that can’t be used by motor vehicles because they’re too rough, or involve crossing creeks, are all accessible. With a tough bike, you can follow bush paths and if your tyres are up to it you can also ride along the beach at low tide (leaving the bumsters standing). You can rent bicycles from a number of bike rental stalls on the coast, mostly near major hotels. The quality varies hugely. The going rate is reasonable at around D200-300 (£4–6/€6-9 per day), with discounts negotiable for longer periods. These two Dutch cyclists on their way up to Tendaba camp, had cycled from Dakar, Senegal

Jammeh wins again

2006-09-24T00:04:00.001+01:00

Yahya Jammeh, former army lieutenant, has won the presidential election for the third time in a row, voted in by just under 40% of the electorate. There was a lacklustre 59% turnout. Jammeh won 67.3% of the votes, with the two oppostion candidates, Ousainou Darboe and Halifa Sallah getting 27% and 6% respectively. No surprise, in a country with the least free media in West Africa and all significant power in the hands of one person.

Interestingly, The Gambia's traditional musicians are caught up in Gambian power politics. As a recent story by Lucy Fleming on the BBC website shows, they risk being damned if they sing praises and damned if they don't: some of the country's best kora-players – musicians who regularly appear at international music festivals – are obliged to put a positive spin on the country's political leaders in a way that sits uncomfortably with modern democratic principles. Neil Young singing Let's Impeach the President this ain't.

Photo from Mittelbayerische

Bintang Bolon and Bintang Bolon Lodge

2006-09-24T00:03:00.001+01:00

70km east of Serrekunda on the Bintang Bolon ("bolon" means creek), is the traditional village of Bintang, a relaxed place with a tiny commercial district and an impressive modern mosque dating from the 1980s. It's a fine place to spend time in a quiet creekside environment. Like all the River Gambia’s mangrove creeks, the bolon is tidal, and stretches of gunmetal-grey mud are exposed at low tide, inspected by crabs and wading birds. It’s a great place to observe the life of the river: fishermen glide by in dugouts, women search for oysters and kingfishers dart onto their prey.

For several years Bintang Bolon Lodge (tel; 4488035 or 9929362; B&B with showers) was an enchanting place, but its maintenance fell behind and gradually the huts built on stilts sank into the creek. Now the owners seem serious about renovating it. The new rooms, which are fresh and simple, each have a veranda overlooking the bolon. The main attraction is the large bantaba restaurant (the white roofed building you can see in the bottom right of the Google Earth satellite shot), a peaceful, breezy spot, also built over the water. Given a little notice, the staff will prepare a meal from whatever’s available locally – fish is abundant, of course. They can also make arrangements for you to explore Bintang Bolon by canoe.

Books about The Gambia from our "Contexts" section

2006-09-24T00:01:00.000+01:00

West Africa has produced quite a few world-class authors, but The Gambia doesn’t have a vibrant contemporary literature scene of its own and Gambian fiction is rarely available outside the country. The in-print choice of books about The Gambia is also pretty limited and books about Africa that touch on The Gambia are not much easier to find. A few publications that may be useful to travellers visiting The Gambia, such as the various hand-stapled Mandinka and Wolof language manuals, are sold in hotel shops, at the airport and in Timbooktoo, the country’s only well-stocked bookshop, in Fajara.

Travel and literature

Jens Finke Chasing the Lizard’s Tail: By Bicycle across the Sahara. Entertaining and insightful travelogue, recounting Rough Guide author Finke’s solo journey from Morocco to The Gambia, with vivid descriptions of pre-coup Banjul, where his travels came to an abrupt end.

Mark Hudson Our Grandmothers’ Drums. Rich, absorbing story of the author’s stay in the village of “Dulaba” (Keneba) in the Kiang West area; Hudson immersed himself in traditional rural Gambia by befriending a group of village women, and become an honorary member of their kafo, or working cooperative. Occasionally shaky on anthropology, but frank and revealing on the intricacies of Gambian women’s lives.
Elspeth Huxley Four Guineas. This account of Huxley’s trip through the four Anglophone colonies on the eve of independence is full of credible conversations – and the occasional lapse into racist angst. Probably only available in libraries, or second-hand.
Rosemary Long Under the Baobab Tree; Together Under the Baobab Tree. Cheerful and chatty autobiographical accounts of a Scottish writer’s new life married to a Gambian, running a tourist guesthouse on a shoestring in the Kombos in the early 1990s, with plenty of homespun wisdom about grass-roots Gambia as seen through expat eyes.
Mungo Park Travels into the Interior of Africa. A bestseller in its time, this is the Scottish explorer’s own account of his two journeys in search of the source of the Niger.
Ann-Britt Sternfeldt The Good Tourist in The Gambia. Brief but refreshingly thoughtful and honest guide to responsible tourism in The Gambia, showing how to enjoy the best of the country’s attractions while supporting local businesses and appreciating the natural environment.
Bamba Suso et al Sunjata. The legend of the founder of the Mali empire, which once reached as far as present-day Gambia. The Penguin edition presents two strikingly different Gambian versions of the epic.

History and politics

A.E. Afigbo et al The Making of Modern Africa. A detailed, illustrated guide in two volumes, putting West Africa in the wider African context up until the first big changes after independence.
Adu Boahen Topics in West African History. An excellent introduction to basic themes in West African history by one of Ghana’s most respected historians.
George E. Brooks Landlords and Strangers. The history of West Africa prior to the peak of the colonial era, drawing on oral records and written documentation to trace the significance of climate and inter-cultural communication in the region’s development.
Basil Davidson Africa in History. Lucidly argued and readable summary of Africa’s dominant nineteenth- and twentieth-century events.
Ada Dinkarala et al Historic Sites of The Gambia. Solid background information on topics as diverse as slave-trading, forts, shell-mounds and stone circles.
Cheikh Anta Diop Pre-Colonial Black Africa. Diop asserts that Western civilization had its origins in Africa. First published in the 1950s, this book encouraged a whole generation of students to reinterpret the past from an African perspective.
Harry A. Gailey A History of the Gambia. Published in 1980, and largely superceded by his later Historical Dictionary, but one of the few books available.
Arnold Hughes and David Perfect A Political History of The Gambia, 1816–1994. The history of the country prior to the 1994 coup, focussing on The Gambia’s coming of age as a multiparty democracy.
Arnold Hughes and Harry Gailey Historical Dictionary of The Gambia. Definitive coverage of the country’s history from pre-colonial times to the present, with short biographies of key figures and entries on events, institutions and cultural topics.
Patrick Marnham Dispatches from Africa. Although published in 1980 and now inevitably dated, this journalism remains devastatingly sharp. Includes an essay on The Gambia.
Mungo ParkTravels into the Interior of Africa. Absorbing account of the youthful Scottish explorer’s two journeys (1795 and 1797) along the Niger.

Society and culture

Thomas D. Blakely et al Religion in Africa: Experience & Expression. Thorough examination of religion in Africa and the diaspora.
Simon Broughton et al The Rough Guide to World Music, volume 1: Africa and Middle East. This authoritative work, published in a new third edition in September 2006, discusses the Gambian kora masters in the context of West Africa’s musical heritage, and includes features on Senegambian stars, CD reviews and playlists.
Samuel Charters The Roots of the Blues: An African Search. Charters’ serendipitous journey (The Gambia, Senegal, Mali) aimed to find the blues’ roots in West Africa. While he failed, his other discoveries make great reading.
R.J. Harrison Church West Africa A traditional geography reference – excellent and unexpectedly absorbing.
Thomas A. Hale Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music. A comprehensive look at griots – male and female – of Niger, Mali, Senegal and The Gambia and their roles as historians, genealogists, diplomats, musicians and advisors.
Patience Sonko-Godwin Ethnic Groups of the Senegambia Region. A brief and graspable social history of the region.
David E. Maranz Peace is everything: the world view of Muslims and Traditionalists in Senegambia. A wonderful book, though a dense read, that paints a complex and positive view of Islam. Good, too, on Muslim brotherhoods.
Claudia Zaslavsky Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures. Includes a chapter on warri games.

Natural history

Clive Barlow et al Field Guide to the birds of The Gambia and Senegal. Excellent, authoritative bird bible for the region, by a renowned British ornithologist resident in The Gambia.
Stella Brewer The Forest Dwellers. The story of Brewer’s chimpanzee rehabilitation project, now located in the River Gambia National Park.
Jonathan KingdonThe Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Beautifully illustrated, and very detailed, the essential companion for real enthusiasts.
W. Serle and G. Morel A Field Guide to the Birds of West Africa. Comprehensive guide for the whole West African region, with specially commissioned illustrations.
Rod Ward A Birdwatchers’ Guide to The Gambia. Detailed information on some of the country’s prime ornithological sites, accessibly presented.
Silva & Schaltz A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of the Gambia and West Africa. Excellent pocket guide, with CD-Rom (see www.vogeldocumentatiefonds.nl)
John Willliams A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Africa. Great fun to have with you if you can carry an extra book, though it is fairly selective.

Fiction

T. Coraghessan Boyle Water Music. Lengthy, meticulous – and at times outrageously funny – fictionalization of Mungo Park’s explorations. Boyle’s vision of the West Africa of two centuries ago is utterly captivating: if you take just one book, take this.
William Conton The African. A rags-to-premiership story by a Gambian writer from the colonial era: still a classic, this was a bestseller in 1960s Gambia.
Ebou Dibba Chaff in the Wind; Fafa. This highly accomplished Gambian author, now living in Britain, describes life in 1930s Gambia in Chaff in the Wind. Fafa is the tale of a remote trading post on the River Gambia.
Alex Haley Roots. An entertaining American saga to read on the beach – only the first few chapters are set in Kunta Kinte’s semi-mythical Gambian homeland, but village life is vividly described.
Lenrie Peters The Second Round. A readable, if downbeat semi-autobiographical account of an African doctor’s experience of culture shock when he returns home after working abroad. This Gambian author has also published several collections of poetry.
Tijan Salleh Kora Land. Verse with an uncompromising take on West African politics and social manoeuvring, from a Gambian poet and essayist who tackles themes such as corruption, poverty and injustice.

Tendaba Camp

2006-08-26T21:29:00.000+01:00

Tendaba village, huddled around the grounds of Tendaba Camp, has a down-at-heel, shanty-town atmosphere and isn’t much visited by tourists staying at the lodge. Hassle from begging local children can make some new arrivals at Tendaba feel uncomfortable, though it’s no worse than in any other touristy area of The Gambia. Even though Tendaba (“Big Wharf” in Mandinka) is quite a distance from the Atlantic, the Gambia River here is broad, salty and tidal, exposing swathes of mud twice a day. In the distance is the grey-green fringe of tall mangroves that marks the opposite bank.

Tendaba Camp (Tel: 5541024 or 9911088), lies in a prime location on the riverbank side of the village. The “VIP rooms”, self-contained and complete with TV, all have views over the water, as does the restaurant, with its big, cone-shaped thatched roof, and the Bambo Bar by the jetty. The remaining accommodation (the lodge has 150 beds) is in thatched and whitewashed round houses, crammed together in a grove of neem trees as tightly as caravans in a holiday resort, and out of sight of the river. These rooms are very plain, with African-style cement-and-foam beds and shared washing facilities, but they have more a genuinely Gambian character than the pricier riverside rooms. All the rooms have mosquito nets and are sprayed every evening, with good reason.

Although Tendaba is rarely fully booked, and it's all very low-key and basic by international standards, a place on this scale could never be described as intimate, and it has more of a mass-tourism feel than any of the other up-country bush lodges. Standard excursions organized by the lodge include a recommended creek trip across the river and up the Duntu Mallang Bolon on the other side. You arrange these at the bar and go from the end of the main jetty

One of the lodge’s greatest assets is its small but clean swimming pool, with decent showers, available to anyone visiting for the night or just for a meal – reason enough to make a diversion here if you’re travelling on the highway. Tendaba started up as a hunting lodge, but tends to downplay this these days, since birdwatchers far outnumber hunters among the guests.

If you want to do things in strictly local style at Tendaba, then you can eat at Bouywallo restaurant on the waterfront just next to Tendaba Camp, which serves great domoda. Meals need to be ordered in advance and prices are negotiable. The owner can also arrange pirogue trips.