I had always wanted to visit the tropics and when we decided to catch some winter sun, the Gambia - being only a 6 hour flight from the UK - seemed the perfect choice.
The heat coming off the plane was very strong after the below zero temperatures back at home. We were met by staff from the lodge, ready to take us to our African hut where we’d be spending the next week.
On arrival at the eco-lodge in the middle of the bush, about 45mins drive from Banjul airport through some typical Gambian towns and scenery, we put away our things in our hut and were ready for a cold Julbrew, the local Gambian beer (although, being a predominantly Muslim country, most Gambians don’t actually drink it).
The sun dropped and the birds’ chorus was replaced by the chirping of cicadas and crickets as the nocturnal animals and insects came to life. We had a delicious Gambian meal; chicken yassa, before retiring to our hut for what was to be a very muggy – and noisy night.
The next morning we woke up early, greeted by a beautiful fresh African morning. Our breakfast was packed with juicy fruits grown around the lodge. Our hut surrounded by banana trees, peppers, and other tropical fruits, all fed by the waste water from our showers.
As well as having a large fruit and veg garden, the lodge generates its own electricity, has composting toilets (that work extremely well) and a swimming pool with its own natural circulatory filtration system. The reed beds created for this provide a haven for the brightly coloured bird population – a great distraction when trying to read by the poolside!
As we were walking through the lodge’s nature trail with the guide, I started to become aware of a deep connection he had with the natural world. Every tree and plant seemed to have its purpose, be it medicinal, for food or spiritual beliefs for protection. They seemed to know the world around them, and didn’t take for granted its powers.
That's not to say that the Gambia doesn’t have its share of environmental problems; over-harvesting of the natural resources has lead to environmental degradation in many ways, as the Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group (GEPADG) explained to us.
We met up with the group to join them on one of their daily patrols through some of their sites to check for illegal activities and generally monitor and record species, water levels etc. They are doing an impressive job managing, monitoring and protecting 10 different sites in the Gunjur area. We had the pleasure of seeing some of their community forests, brackish estuaries and sea turtle nesting beaches.
They explained to us the various ways in which the environment suffers; palms are tapped to within an inch of their life for palm wine, trees are cut down for construction and firewood, accidental by-catch (like dolphins and turtles) is killed and sold and turtle nests are harvested, to supplement income.
Bush fires to clear land for agriculture are also a problem, we were told by the project staff, as is bush clearing for development.
The project are working very closely with, and are part of the local close-knit communities and fishing industry. They try and sensitivise people towards these issues without losing sight of the cause of many of these problems - poverty.
Local wages, including those in the tourism industry are very low and many people have some land to cultivate crops to supplement their diet and the women sell any surplus at markets.
We visited a local home, or compound, where 3 generations live together. The children share a mattress in the 2 room home, and water is retrieved from a communal well. As we entered the compound, the children gathered round and grabbed our hands, a slightly more timid welcome than the usual pointing and shouting ‘Toubab!’ we had grown accustomed to. Nevertheless, they would only let go of our hands after some sharp orders from their father.
With five different tribes in the Gambia, our guide, part of the Mandinka tribe can distinguish each from their dress and language. He speaks all 5 languages, he proudly told us.
He took us to see the bustling fishing centre in Gunjur where fish is caught, traded, smoked and dried, on and behind the beach. Large numbers of boats go out every day from all over West Africa to catch fish. Each boat tends to stick to a certain type of fish, we were told. The air was thick and uncomfortable from the heat, smoke and smell. The sights were impressive as the colourful boats laden with fish were coming in and people started wading into the sea with baskets on their heads to get the first pick.
Just sitting by the station on our way back, waiting for the next bush taxi to fill up (which didn’t happen that day because the government had declared it National cleaning day) gave us a real insight into village life, taught us how to ‘wait’ the African way and watch life go by. It didn’t feel like we had wasted a minute.
All in all our first trip to Africa was a great experience, albeit a little rough around the edges. Yes, the beaches were pristine, the sun ever-present, the bird-life awe-inspiring and being in the tropics was everything I’d hoped for – the sights, sounds and smells – but we got a lot more out of our holiday than just that.
The real highlight of our trip was getting to know a little bit about Gambian life, its people and traditions. Despite the Gambia being one of the poorest countries in the world, I felt that its culture and community spirit had a sublime richness. Now we’ve just got to save up for our next taste of it.
Interested? Why not go to this Gambia holiday accommodation yourself?
Article by
Iris Knoop, responsibletravel.com
If you would like to support the
Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group (GEPADG) or learn more about their work and bird watching walks, you can get in touch with them at: Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group (GEPADG), PO Box 21, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa. Tel: +220 4486301 / 9955063, Fax: +220 4486026 or simply email
gepadg@yahoo.com 
