Discussion
After flirting with Goa, we've actually booked The Gambia for Christmas/NY this year.
Seems good value compared to Goa and Thailand, flights much much more palatable (obviously shorter, which helps). The flights to Goa seemed excessive!
Found a nice looking eco-lodge that gets amazing reviews, away from the usual touristy North. Looking forward to it! Anyone been?
https://footstepsinthegambia.com/gambia-accommodat...
Seems good value compared to Goa and Thailand, flights much much more palatable (obviously shorter, which helps). The flights to Goa seemed excessive!
Found a nice looking eco-lodge that gets amazing reviews, away from the usual touristy North. Looking forward to it! Anyone been?
https://footstepsinthegambia.com/gambia-accommodat...
My parents went to Gambia about 15 years ago, they said they would never go back there. I don't think they were ready for the level of poverty they saw, such as seeing women outside the complex putting babies on sheets of newspaper.
Everybody was trying to sell them something or get money from them. One guy came up to my dad saying he had a nice T Shirt and my dad was so pissed off with the whole thing by this point he just took it off and gave it to him.
My mums summary of Gambia? "It's the pits"
Everybody was trying to sell them something or get money from them. One guy came up to my dad saying he had a nice T Shirt and my dad was so pissed off with the whole thing by this point he just took it off and gave it to him.
My mums summary of Gambia? "It's the pits"
Outside of the touristy areas, the poverty is truly 3rd world and often quite shocking sadly.
If that's where you're heading, as a white person it'll be difficult to have anything resembling a normal holiday, unless you're in a completely detached and secure area, including the beach.
I would be very careful with anyone self-identifying as a 'guide' or who frequents your area offering help or advice (check out the definition of 'bumster') - that entire system is corrupt to the core;
Not necessarily to blame the citizens living there who do anything they can to scrape a survival, moreso the government and sketchy history of the place.
If that's where you're heading, as a white person it'll be difficult to have anything resembling a normal holiday, unless you're in a completely detached and secure area, including the beach.
I would be very careful with anyone self-identifying as a 'guide' or who frequents your area offering help or advice (check out the definition of 'bumster') - that entire system is corrupt to the core;
Not necessarily to blame the citizens living there who do anything they can to scrape a survival, moreso the government and sketchy history of the place.
Rosscow said:
Only one way to find out
Absolutely!I think many people's opinion of Western Africa is shaped by unrealistic expectations, assuming similarity to what one might find in Santorini or some lavish oasis of luxury.
These are some of the poorest nations on earth. They are wonderfully chaotic. Nothing works. Corruption is so open it's almost funny (when I went o Sierra Leone, a Police Officer helped me with my bags and then demanded $5 for doing so!).
Yet for the intrepid traveller with eyes open and expectations aligned with reality, they can be truly magical places to visit. One of those places where the phrase 'travel broadens your horizons' truly applies.
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