Visiting The Gambia

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• published: 03 Jan 2015
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We just returned from a trip of a week visiting The Gambia. During the visit there was an attempt for a coup against Yahya Jammeh, the president of The Gambia. He became president in 1994. Via a coup. Local people mentioned that since then, there has been an attempt for a coup roughly every three years. More information about this attempted coup on the following website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/gambia/11322107/Sandhurst-trained-officer-led-Gambian-coup.html As tourists we did not notice anything of the attempted coupe, we where alerted by family back home. As a wink therefore this video with things to do on your trip to The Gambia / while waiting for the next attempt for a coup. During our trip we stayed in the Senegambia hotel. When you consider staying in this hotel, consider the "Deluxe Villa". This is similar in pricing compared to a apartment, but the villa is much bigger, has a terrace, has a safe and has two separate bedrooms. Locally this Deluxe Villa is known as Z4 and as room 2902. More information about the Deluxe Villa, here: http://www.senegambiahotel.com/beach/index.php/en/accomodation/deluxe-villa Our travel scheme has been: day 1 Arrival with the weekly Corendon flight from Amsterdam to Banjul. In the evening we met separately with two guides for planning trips. day 2 Rented a bike and went for sightseeing the area. First stop was the Bijilo Forest Park, which is very nearby the strip in Kololi. The afternoon we cycled to Serekunda. day 3 Visited the Makasuta Cultural Forest, Tanji and went for bird watching day 4 Visited the Fatalah Wildlife Reserve in Senegal, herefore we took the ferry from Banjul to Barra and from there rented a car. After this we went to St James Island and visited the slave trade museum. With the car we drove to the village “Juffureh”/”Albreda”, from where we took a 10 minute boat trip towards the island. This day covered both the "Roots by Land" trip and the "Trip To North Senegal" from Arch tours. With a small group, these trips can easily be done in one day and saves taking the same ferry twice for two days. Do be advised to take the first ferry, which for us left from Banjul at 0700AM but this differs per day. A special thanks to our tour guide, Jane Joof, who was willingly to offer and arrange this customized trip, also for a small group of 2-4 persons. Jane has his own company which can be visited on http://www.justgambia.com. day 5 A day of rest on which we went for a walk on the beach. day 6 Visited the Abuko Nature Reserve which is 12 kilometer from Kololi. Here we saw crocodiles, therefore being a perfect alternative for the Kachikally Crocodile pool in Bakau. Next to Abuko we visited a bird show of Alan Ames and visited his small 'zoo' which has eagles, cheetahs, monkeys and a small lion. More information can be found on http://www.gambia.co.uk/blog/2014/05/28/abuko-nature-reserve/ After this we went to the Lamin Lodge for lunch, after which we visited a local compound. day 7 The second day of rest on which we went for a walk on the beach. day 8 Had a golf training at the Kololi Beach Club [http://www.kololi.com/kol_golf.php]. This is much smaller then the Fajara golf course, but for beginners more then adequate. In our trip we skipped a visit to George Town and area, since this is 2 days trip during which you travel by car for 5 hours [one way]. For us, this was to much traveling. The restaurants for diner which we liked in Kololi where the following: 1) Tohonga African Queen, especially the sizzlers are advised. This is also one of the few restaurants open for lunch. 2) The Kololi Beach club, they regularly have shows, or very nearby the beach and less expensive then restaurants on the strip. As a non-member you are not allowed to take the closest entrance, but you have to walk via a smelly and quiet road towards another entrance. Access via the beach is also possible, but the guards mentioned the [small?] risk of being robbed here. 3) Love 2