Andrew Renshaw

Hi all,

Went to Gambia 15 -22nd of November for work and some holiday - stayed at
Badala Park in Fajara (the hotel is fabulous and well worth a stay, all mod
cons and really helpful staff and also went up country. It has been two
years since I have been and the bumsters are back. You have to be willing to
get aggressive to get rid of them (there is no danger though). Prices have
gone up as well. It is still a fantastic country and the Police and Guards
are very helpful.

I found that you have to now avoid the green tourist taxis as they have got
too expensive, £6 sterling for a ten minute ride. Aim to get one of the
green and yellow bush taxis and aim to pay no more than 15 Dallasi (40
pence).

Hotels are now offering the same exchange rate as the black market for
exchanging Dallasi. Which is a bonus.

Serrekunda market was bustling and Banjul was fun - only once in Banjul did
I think I was going to get mugged but I think the two guys realised they
might get hurt.

The Mosquitos were in force and I got bit silly. Be very careful and make
sure you take precautions.

The country on the whole is friendly and welcoming and I look forward to
getting back soon. So if you are thinking of a trip now is the time.

A

Tom

In article <[email protected]>, Andrew Renshaw
<[email protected]> writes
    >Hi all,
    >Went to Gambia 15 -22nd of November for work and some holiday - stayed at
    >Badala Park in Fajara (the hotel is fabulous and well worth a stay, all mod
    >cons and really helpful staff and also went up country. It has been two
    >years since I have been and the bumsters are back. You have to be willing to
    >get aggressive to get rid of them (there is no danger though). Prices have
    >gone up as well. It is still a fantastic country and the Police and Guards
    >are very helpful.
    >I found that you have to now avoid the green tourist taxis as they have got
    >too expensive, £6 sterling for a ten minute ride. Aim to get one of the
    >green and yellow bush taxis and aim to pay no more than 15 Dallasi (40
    >pence).
    >Hotels are now offering the same exchange rate as the black market for
    >exchanging Dallasi. Which is a bonus.
    >Serrekunda market was bustling and Banjul was fun - only once in Banjul did
    >I think I was going to get mugged but I think the two guys realised they
    >might get hurt.
    >The Mosquitos were in force and I got bit silly. Be very careful and make
    >sure you take precautions.
    >The country on the whole is friendly and welcoming and I look forward to
    >getting back soon. So if you are thinking of a trip now is the time.
    >A
I'm happy to support most of the above comments. I've made five trips
recently to do voluntary work in The Gambia, and I spend a lot of the
time living in one of the villages. No electricity, running water or
sanitation as we in the West know it! But my friends are hospitable and
supportive and I feel safer walking through the village at midnight than
I do in my hometown in Cheshire. The Gambia is a third world country.
Poverty and Malaria are endemic. I witnessed an elderly man fall to his
death from a tree where he was attempting to gather a few pieces of
fruit to sell in the local market so he could buy a cup of rice to feed
his family. "This is Africa, Tom!" said one of my friends. No ambulance
with flashing lights rushing to a clean modern hospital. Just a battered
bush taxi to take an old man's body to the mortuary. There are beggars,
there are bumsters, but there is huge unemployment. Go to The Gambia,
enjoy the sunshine and the friendly people - and travel out of the
holiday area to meet and greet and make friends. They will at first see
you as somebody with immense wealth, and will make unreasonable demands
- so would I in their circumstances. Find a school to support, sponsor a
child's education, make a donation to a clinic or hospital. It's a tiny
country, about the size of Yorkshire. You can make a difference.
Tom (SHINE-Africa, Reg. Charity 1103463).
--
tom