Gambia luxury accommodation

Kartong is a village that until recently had very little cash income. The recruitment at the retreat of up to seventy men and women on the construction of the retreat has led to a major income stream into the local economy. New skills are being learned as people are trained (to build in new ways and to become proficient as waiters, housekeepers, security and restaurant staff).

Over the last four years we have been training Kartonkas (as people from Kartong are called) at the other hotel run by the company to be waiters, security and housekeeping staff. The proprietors have been instrumental in the establishment of ‘Kartong Association for Responsible Tourism’ (KART). Funds have been raised through the Association to support attempts to set up a community forest, including the appointment of Forest Wardens whose task was to police the forest and to discourage illegal tree felling.

More than 5,000 trees have been planted at the site and informal ‘education’ of local people in conservation is a regular feature in all our contacts. The building of retreat incorporates virtually all the current techniques for sustainable construction. Foundations, walls, domes and vaults (there is minimum use of cement, glass and wood) are made from compressed earth blocks made with a hand operated machine imported from India. The blocks are stabilised (made stronger) by using lime that is made by burning the oyster shells discarded by the women who harvest the oysters from the mangroves. The earth now being used includes ‘recycled’ laterite dust that is left over in the quarries where laterite stones are mined for use as aggregate. This gives a wonderful terracotta colour to the blocks. The machine used to make the blocks is very versatile as it takes a wide variety of moulds leading to blocks of many shapes and sizes. The water tower made at the retreat with the blocks has excited so much interest that they are now being introduced to a number of villages by NGOs and a separate company (Earthworks Limites) has been established to bring the benfit of the water towers to other rural villages.

There is no electricity in Kartong. The retreat has solar panels to generate its electricity and solar water heaters (that produce copious quantities of very hot water). Compact fluorescent bulbs are used everywhere and a prototype solar ice making machine is on the way. Future plans include a wind turbine (and so a hybrid renewable energy system) and a dream is that a small (20 kilowatts or so) wave energy generator will be introduced if the right people come along to make it and a small enough system is available.

Water is a problem in Kartong and it is important to use it sparingly. At the retreat grey water is recycled and used to irrigate fruit trees, composting toilets minimise the use of water in the lodges and a huge rainwater-harvesting cistern will be built during a later phase. There is no large swimming pool but each pair of lodges share a small plunge pool. These, between them, use a fraction of the water that a large pool would require.

During the construction phase between 70 and 90 people were working at the site and the village economy – previously virtually cashless – is enjoying a boom (the owner of the local video hall who shows all the major satellite televised football matches is ecstatic as his takings have increased dramatically!). All the fish used is caught and purchased locally and increasingly eggs, poultry, meat and vegetables will be purchased from the village. In the longer term the construction of a small eco-village is planned. This will also benefit local people by providing employment and involvement in craft businesses.