Hassle - Kev. Date of travel: Nov 2007
If you don't mind being hassled all the time then the Gambia is ok. Every time you go out off hotel you have a bumster ( local name for unofficial guide) if you don't have these, hotel has them at £8 a day. Weather was great and rest of people are fine.

We Love The Gambia Again - Den & Ian. Date of travel: May 2007
The Gambia is great! Full stop...cheap...hot...great beach...great inland adventures. We always stay in Kololi sometimes called Senagambia, it's brillant, plenty of nightlife for the young and old. Restaurants to go to are La Scalas & Sherrillians which is run by Omar who used to be "The Man" at La Scalas. We are going for the first time out of season, in fact in just 3 weeks from now - mid August can't wait and then again in November can't wait. Oh and by the way, the bumpsters have almost ALL GONE.

Gambia - Jackie and Lucy Kitchen. Date of travel: Feb 2007
I went to the Gambia in February 2007. What a culture shock. The holiday was the best I have ever had. The people and Gambia are great and the experience will stay with me forever. Yes there is poverty but the people make up for that ten fold. I have had a life change and look at life differently now. My 11 year old daughter went back to school and told her peers just how lucky they are to receive a free education. It has inspired her to run fund raising with her school and they intend to send money and books out to the local school we visited. We travelled round by local jeep, it was very cheap and we saw lots of places a lot cheper than travelling with the tour operator. An experience I would not have missed.

The country is great - Bob and Janet. Date of travel: Dec 2006
A great country with many happy and very friendly people. They need to do something about the bumsters on the beaches if they really want to attract the tourists.

My travel in the Gambia - Paul Lodge. Date of travel: Apr 2006
I visited the Gambia in April 06 and in May 06 I returned so soon because its a wonderful country, yes the bumsters are a pain , but say no and pretend its not your first time then you'll really leave you alone I found. The best way of seeing Gambia is to hire a motorcyle from Dave n Dees in Senegambia £20 per 24hrs Serakunda is an excellent town typical African bustle city, a lot better than Banjul. Another great way to travel is by bush taxi with the locals instead of a 300 dalasi trip, it'll only cost you 5 dalasi well recomended. If Gambia in the resort villages were more child friendly Gambia would over take many European countrys in tourism.

Gambia return - Steve Woodward, Chris Goodall. Date of travel: Mar 2006
Lovely country but after visiting for last five years I can see a change, as the rich seem to be richer and the poor poorer. 4 x 4s seem to appear, not like the old Landrover at the airport. I was relieved of 5 mobile phones which I had bought for the teachers at Tallanding school and these were donated by people in England. We have over the past 5 years provided computers and generators to the school at enormous transport cost, yet it is still almost impossible to deliver a crate of equipment for the school without huge problems. On the way out the x ray and conveyor machines were alledgedly broken so all luggage was hand loaded and hand searched, so check in took two hours ten mins, not exactly good logistics. Have to improve if they want more visitors. Tour Operator: Thomson

Mike and Liz. Date of travel: Nov 2005
A stunning holiday combined with a culture shock! A wonderful friendly people, almost over the top, welcome at the airport, just wanting to help. 36 degrees at 4.30pm on 3rd November! the air conditioning is necessary,at the hotel. There is a man made white sandy beach with palm trees, right by the swimming pool . The adventure out into the mangrove swamps, in a very bouncy ex-swiss army truck seating just 26 intrepid tourists was a real thrill, baboons, termites and birdlife in abundance. A local guide, just £5 for a day, is needed on a stroll around the capital to navigate the warren of little back streets,silver and fish markets and to keep the beggars away. We plan to go again very soon, and keep in touch with the friends we made in a beautiful country. Tour Operator: Thomson

Richard and Milla. Date of travel: Jul 2005
We have just returned from our second holiday to The Gambia, and loved it. Lots of lovely people and fantastic weather - mid 30s All the beggars can be nuisance, but they will leave alone if you say no firmly. We stayed in Kotu at the Kombo Beach Hotel, the hotel staff were very friendly, but nothing is rushed! The hotel rooms were much better than we expected - more comfortable than many hotels we've been to in Greece. We'll definately be visiting The Gambia again for our holidays!

Ingrid & John. Date of travel: Mar 2005
We had a great time in the Gambia. It was our first intercontinental holiday and we loved it! We stayed at a nice and simple hotel: Mannjai Lodge were the staff was ever so helpful and friendly. Instead of going on safari with expensive Western tour operators we came in contact with a wonderful local guide, Boy Leigh. Thanks to him we really had great excursions for about a third of the price the tour operators asked. We loved driving through the bush in "our" own private chauffeured jeep instead of, like many other tourists, trampling around with 80 other tourists. We received a message that Boy Leigh has a new website: www.boyleigh.com where you can reach him and get an idea of where to go in The Gambia. So, The Gambia really is worth a visit! Hope you have as much fun as we did.

Wonderful - Melanie Turner. Date of travel: Feb 2005
Had a wonderful time at this resort. When you see all of the little children there with the biggest smiles in the world it makes you realise how lucky you are!!! We met a guy called Abdul-he had the whitest socks in the world!-he was a local tour guide and took us to non-tourist places-we saw so much more and for a lot less money. The hotel was the Senagambia hotel- the staff couldn’t do enough for you... This is definitely a resort that I will be returning to in the near future Tour Operator: First Choice

Debbie Pitts. Date of travel: Jan 2005
I stayed in Bijilo with 8 friends who were on their first visit to The Gambia. Money can be easily exchanged in Kololi with no commision and a very good rate of exchange, better than at home. People are very very friendly. A large and varied range of places to eat and drink all at very reasonable prices. You can buy more things there now like medicines from the chemist at very reasonable prices. Make sure you visit some locals in their own homes. They offer a very warm welcome to their homes. Also the local schools we brought pencils and pencil crayons with us to give out. You are made welcome in the shcools anytime of the day with no need for an appt. We had a trip on the river for the day very relaxing and well worth a look. Infact we all enjoyed it so much a couple of us are going back in April, the rest are going to return and try to make it an annual trip, from now on. Tour Operator: Thomas Cook

Total relaxation - A. Thomas. Date of travel: Feb 2003
We have been to the Gambia now many times starting the first time in 2002, it was recommended to us by my ex-sister in law as she had been to Cape Point with her new husband and my neice and nephew. We booked the first time and we arrived to one hell of a culture shock - you arrive at Banjul airport, the heat hits you, nothing works and you get swamped by the locals, from there a short transfer to whichever area you're staying - we were in Kotu/Fajara area every time and have just booked to return in April 2008 in the Kololi area. You will get to your hotels, where although a poor country most hotels are really great and not at all basic (I have stayed at a lot worse in the EEC), the staff are great - can't do enough for you at any time, the rooms are always clean and tidy. The resorts are fab, so cheap it's unbelievable, you can eat out for a fraction of the cost at home - the only places we found were dearer were the Indian restaurants, but still worth a visit. The Chinese restaurants are a must, along with Ali Baba's in Kololi, Mamas, Bamboo restaurant, and Franciscos in Kotu. Any trips arrange through the locals not the reps, it's far cheaper and not as hassled, we used a local taxi driver who had his own car for the whole holiday and it was like having our own chauffeur. The people are great, the bumsters are not too bad - learn to speak a little Walof , be nice to them and tell them bi-masi-jama (leave me in peace please) and they'll certainly leave you alone as they then know your well travelled and a regular visitor to their country. I cant wait to return over and over I come home so relaxed, monged out and stress free it's a shame to come home. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a stress free relaxing holiday. I enjoyed it more than the Caribbean, the EEC (various places), Kenya was an equal par but a lot longer flight and only a plus if you wanted an African safari which isn't available in the Gambia, but once you've done one safari, The Gambia is a better option as the flight is half the time and the experience is just as tremendous.

Mark. Date of travel: Oct 2002
The thing that surprises me most about the Atlantic beach resorts of the Gambia is how unlike most beach resorts they are. When reading about them beforehand, I'd envisaged high-rise hotels, nightclubs spilling onto the beach, and fat tourists with their arses hanging out of their swimming shorts. The only one I've managed to find is the latter, and that only once (though it was a depressingly memorable sight). Once we'd found our home for the weekend, we decided to explore and soon discovered that the coastal resort towns of Bakau, Fajara, Kotu and Kololi, which from south to north make up the Gambia's Atlantic tourist area, are tiny. Perhaps it's the effect of the off-season, but these places feel nothing like beach resorts in the same way that Banjul feels nothing like a capital city. They're far too laid-back and pleasant for that. From moxton.net