Living in the Gambia
Aug 7th 2009, 12:45 am
#1
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Living in the Gambia
Hi, i would like to hear from brits living in the gambia. or people thinking of moving there. Is there an established ex-pat community there, and if so where do they hang out. Im thinking of moving there, but im having trouble finding information on the web. Thanks.
Nov 11th 2009, 3:05 pm
#2
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Joined: May 2008
Location: Lagrange 2
Posts: 1,507
Re: Living in the Gambia
Well I live there!. There are a number of established comunities:
old people
chancers
professionals (very small)
drunks.
Of these, the first are well settled and some have been here for 20 yrs. The chancers you find anywhere and they dont stay long. There are very few Brits working in Gambia and work permits are challenging - as would it be for a Gambian working in UK. The drunks hang about Senegambia with the girls and tend not to live too long.
This sounds a bit cynical but it sems to me that is how the demographics work. I enjoy living in Gambia but it is not easy. Although a poor country it can actually be quite expensive if you choose to live to the same standard as in the UK. But it does have all of the facilities and is becoming quite sophisticated. As a small and poor country it is easy to see development because it is cheap to provide aid there which makes a difference. So there are new roads, a new airport, lighting, water and electricity and so on - the infrastructure is quite good.
Why it is not east to me is because there is an issue of being ripped off because you are white - which I am. Also I have a farm there which relies on pumps, generators and vehicles (perhaps I really mean one of each). The quality of equipment is poor and skilled maintenance is very hard.
Don't get ill there though - or rather don't try and get cured. Next door is Senegal which is fine if you can't make it to the UK.
My categorisation on Drunks and Chancers suggests as indeed I observe, that Gambia is not for everyone - but I have been to most places and there is no doubt that the people are amongst the nicest on earth! I will be there for ever.
If you want any info then PM me and we can talk over the phone.
old people
chancers
professionals (very small)
drunks.
Of these, the first are well settled and some have been here for 20 yrs. The chancers you find anywhere and they dont stay long. There are very few Brits working in Gambia and work permits are challenging - as would it be for a Gambian working in UK. The drunks hang about Senegambia with the girls and tend not to live too long.
This sounds a bit cynical but it sems to me that is how the demographics work. I enjoy living in Gambia but it is not easy. Although a poor country it can actually be quite expensive if you choose to live to the same standard as in the UK. But it does have all of the facilities and is becoming quite sophisticated. As a small and poor country it is easy to see development because it is cheap to provide aid there which makes a difference. So there are new roads, a new airport, lighting, water and electricity and so on - the infrastructure is quite good.
Why it is not east to me is because there is an issue of being ripped off because you are white - which I am. Also I have a farm there which relies on pumps, generators and vehicles (perhaps I really mean one of each). The quality of equipment is poor and skilled maintenance is very hard.
Don't get ill there though - or rather don't try and get cured. Next door is Senegal which is fine if you can't make it to the UK.
My categorisation on Drunks and Chancers suggests as indeed I observe, that Gambia is not for everyone - but I have been to most places and there is no doubt that the people are amongst the nicest on earth! I will be there for ever.
If you want any info then PM me and we can talk over the phone.
Nov 11th 2009, 10:19 pm
#3
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Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Re: Living in the Gambia
hello, thanks very much for your reply. It was very kind of you to take the time to reply. I had almost forgotton that i posted the thread, it was such a long time ago and i didn't get any replies until now. I have been to the gambia several times over the past 8 years, as i am married to one (for my sins!) so i do know a bit about the place. I really enjoy the pace of life out there. I always stay with my gambian family, it's so lovely to let our 3 children run around free with their gambian cousins. How long have you been living in Gambia?. I would love to hear more about your farm?, what do you grow?. Thanks very much for your reply, its nice to know that i have a fellow brit that i can contact, if we do eventually move over there. The healthcare side of things does concern me, especially because of the children. What would you do in a real emergency?, i have been to the main hospital in banjul and it doesn't look very state of the art to say the least. would you have to travel to senegal or is there private hospitals?. We take it for granted, but we are so lucky here being able to just dial 999 in an emergency. I got so many questions to ask but i won't bore you to tears with them now, i would love to chat sometime tho. If ever the gambia gets too much and you are thinking of coming back, don't, it was dark here by 5pm and it's been freezing cold drizzling rain all day!. Thanks again for getting in touch. Megan.
Nov 12th 2009, 6:27 am
#4
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Location: Lagrange 2
Posts: 1,507
Re: Living in the Gambia
I certainly don't mind sharing my experiences of owning a home there for five years and living there full time for one ( although they may not be much use to you!). I spent most of my life travelling and don't like the UK very much.
The issue of healthcare is a problem for acute cases and you have to take care to protect yourself against malaria because it can be fatal. Other than that there are good and cheap facilities there as well as the RVH in Banjul. There aer a couple of good dentists too. But the problem is that the doctors can do a lot of medecine but they cannot really treat difficult problems because they just don't have the drugs or the equipment for complex cases. Being healthy and looking after yourself and being very alert when driving will minimise your need to interact with the doctors.
I make the bold assumption that your chidren are under 8. There are good schools there. Mine go to SBEC which is truly an international multi cultural institution where all pupils have to be bilingual (English and French). It costs about £700 pa each. Others are about the same and some are no good. We live in Bijilo which is close to the school and is a nice place and we do not thus have the very real risk of driving to and from school twice a day. The combination of the development of the country and the availability of reasonably good cars and the absence of driver training - and some sheer arrogance makes the roads dangerous at times.
My farm is in Old Yundum. We have tried to grow everything - ground nuts , vegetables, spices and herbs, bananas and citrus fruits, corn, potatoes and tomatoes. Farming is not easy - it is hard physical work and there are pests - milliedes, nematodes, birds and monkeys which conspire against you. Some things we will never succeed with others we have suceeded with. The Dept of Agriculture is helpful and there is training available and agriculture - back to the land is a real priority taken seriosly. That said, you can play at it if you want because the cost of setting up a farm or smallholding is cheap for labour and indeed land. As a commercial proposition you probably need a huge investment and do it properly. We are going for three crops a year so will need to irrigate in the dry season. So we have a well and have chosen to hand pull the water because I am currently in the UK looking after my very ancient father and just no-one can manage the pump, pipes or generator. So we've hired a boy for £40 a month plus food and he waters. You need about three quarters of a boy per hectare (100m x 100m) and more for the big jobs such as weeding and harvesting. My strategy is to gradually move to fruit trees which take about 5 yrs to reach maturity. Because simply they do not need any attention and we are getting older!
I have avoided the ex pat community. This is because what I see is not appealing to me. We have British friends and their circles are sociable in the way that ex pat circles are. But the bars and clubs are not for us and, frankly, perhaps the ex-pats do not mourne our absence from their circles. Possibly we are more busy than most though. Having a Gambian husband will not exclude you at all socially as many of the expats male or female are married to Gambians.
Enough for the time being!
The issue of healthcare is a problem for acute cases and you have to take care to protect yourself against malaria because it can be fatal. Other than that there are good and cheap facilities there as well as the RVH in Banjul. There aer a couple of good dentists too. But the problem is that the doctors can do a lot of medecine but they cannot really treat difficult problems because they just don't have the drugs or the equipment for complex cases. Being healthy and looking after yourself and being very alert when driving will minimise your need to interact with the doctors.
I make the bold assumption that your chidren are under 8. There are good schools there. Mine go to SBEC which is truly an international multi cultural institution where all pupils have to be bilingual (English and French). It costs about £700 pa each. Others are about the same and some are no good. We live in Bijilo which is close to the school and is a nice place and we do not thus have the very real risk of driving to and from school twice a day. The combination of the development of the country and the availability of reasonably good cars and the absence of driver training - and some sheer arrogance makes the roads dangerous at times.
My farm is in Old Yundum. We have tried to grow everything - ground nuts , vegetables, spices and herbs, bananas and citrus fruits, corn, potatoes and tomatoes. Farming is not easy - it is hard physical work and there are pests - milliedes, nematodes, birds and monkeys which conspire against you. Some things we will never succeed with others we have suceeded with. The Dept of Agriculture is helpful and there is training available and agriculture - back to the land is a real priority taken seriosly. That said, you can play at it if you want because the cost of setting up a farm or smallholding is cheap for labour and indeed land. As a commercial proposition you probably need a huge investment and do it properly. We are going for three crops a year so will need to irrigate in the dry season. So we have a well and have chosen to hand pull the water because I am currently in the UK looking after my very ancient father and just no-one can manage the pump, pipes or generator. So we've hired a boy for £40 a month plus food and he waters. You need about three quarters of a boy per hectare (100m x 100m) and more for the big jobs such as weeding and harvesting. My strategy is to gradually move to fruit trees which take about 5 yrs to reach maturity. Because simply they do not need any attention and we are getting older!
I have avoided the ex pat community. This is because what I see is not appealing to me. We have British friends and their circles are sociable in the way that ex pat circles are. But the bars and clubs are not for us and, frankly, perhaps the ex-pats do not mourne our absence from their circles. Possibly we are more busy than most though. Having a Gambian husband will not exclude you at all socially as many of the expats male or female are married to Gambians.
Enough for the time being!
