Gambia: Beyond winter sun in West Africa
From exploring local markets and open-air galleries to marvelling at the wildlife, Chloe Cann discovers a colourful country with a warm welcome
Anyone who’s watched Alfred Hitchcock’s 1962 thriller The Birds might feel understandably uneasy about visiting Gambia – an Eden for our winged friends.
At less than half the size of Wales, it may be one of Africa’s smallest countries but it is home to some 570 bird species.
BBC presenter and ornithologist Chris Packham calls it an “ornithological nirvana”.
And our guide Mucki from West African Tours keeps a tally of just how poorly the UK compares.
“Seven species of vulture in Gambia, one in England,” he jeers as we bank left and right over rural dirt roads in our converted military truck.
“Ten species of heron in Gambia, six in England,” he adds, the one-upmanship continuing for the duration of our stay.
We’re on our way to the “Holy Forest” of Makasutu (Maka coming from the word Mecca, and Sutu meaning “forest” in the local Mandinka language).
“There are no Gambians that don’t believe in the devil, no Gambians that don’t believe in witchcraft, no Gambians that don’t believe in religion,” says Mucki, ducking as branches crack on the open-top canopy roof, half of the resident flora seemingly finding its way into our laps.
Local folklore dictates that in the thick of the 4,324-acre bush, amid the palm trees and mangroves ‐ lived the Ninki Nanka.
A dragon-like beast, it is now merely a legend that parents use to threaten naughty children.
Though some say the Ninki Nanka remains, guarding the crown of a tribal king who was slain in battle in the forests’ depths some 200 years ago.
Miracle of the forests
The only beasts we encounter at the private ecotourism reserve are baboons.
And I succumb to the total and utter tranquillity of a cruise along the forests’ waterway, the Mandina Bolong, to the sound of water trickling through the mangrove’s stubborn roots, the popping noise made by the amphibious mud skippers and the gurgling song of the laughing dove.
It is hard to believe that this green haven is just a 20-minute drive from Banjul airport.
That the reserve still stands thick with foliage and bursting with life today verges on a miracle: it was on the brink of being stripped bare when entrepreneurial friends James English and Lawrence Williams visited in 1992.
At first, local landowners were hesitant to sell off the sacred land, which the two Brits wanted to use for their eco-tourism venture.
But they managed to convince them, slowly acquiring more and more acres of land vulnerable to deforestation.
We paddle in dugout canoes to Mandina Lodges, which sit within the private conservation area.
With nine wooden cabins – some on stilts over the water – the premises appear to be a cross between a clean version of Glastonbury music festival and a Tibetan Buddhist sanctuary.
Room to grow
There are few guests in any of the properties we visit in November, and Lawrence concedes that the Ebola epidemic has hit the nation hard, even though no case of the disease has been documented in the country.
Tourism accounts for 40% of Gambia’s annual economic output, with more than 20,000 people employed by the sector.
And 60% of all tourists to Gambia come from the UK.
Despite the problems local hoteliers have faced – some having to lay off staff, others closing permanently – Lawrence is sanguine: “Here, tourism is just beginning,” he says. “There’s so much scope for growth.”
Encouraging more people to visit has long been on Williams’ agenda.
With high-profile friends, including members of rock groups Muse and Pearl Jam, he had plans for a music festival but found it to be a logistical nightmare.
Instead, he spearheaded an open-air gallery project, named Wide Open Walls, with murals painted straight on to the houses of small neighbouring communities.
And international street artists now visit every year to breathe new life into the project.
The aim is for visitors to hop from village to village on an “art safari”, Lawrence explains.
In the village of Galloya, we admire rainbow-hued Cubist paintings, comic strip-style drawings and monochrome sketches as curious locals congregate to welcome us.
There would be little reason for tourists to visit the village were it not for the outdoor art.
And a truckload of Westerners appearing still provokes an avalanche of attention: bare-chested little boys run through fields filled with swaying spears of millet to meet our truck, waving and squealing “hello”.
What’s cooking?
On Africa’s smiling coast locals seem so pleased to see foreign visitors that we receive the same hero’s welcome wherever we go.
Local entrepreneur Ida greets us with a bright smile and an even brighter array of full local regalia for us to sport when we step into her home.
Her Gambian home-cooking school is named Yabuoy, meaning “mother”, in tribute to the woman who raised Ida and her four sisters.
But before we get our hands on ladles and pestles, we’re off to buy to the raw ingredients.
Tanji Market feels like the exotic slice of Africa you may once have read about in story books or seen in documentaries.
Women balance buckets on their heads, and babies in the smalls of their backs; stallholders crouch under umbrellas to avoid the sun, hessian sacks stretched out before them with clusters of cabbages, sweet potatoes and wrinkled chillies in traffic-light hues atop; wooden tables heave with silvery heaps of John Dory and barracuda; the motors of boats hum in the background as men line the beach with wheelbarrows, waiting for fresh catch; and the smoky scent of barbecued fish fills the air.
It’s a hive of activity, but at a deliciously languid pace.
Without Ida, it might have felt intimidating. But with her I feel at ease.
Back at her house, we get to work on the vegetables for local dish “benachin” – literally “one pot”.
It’s a combination of spicy tomato-flavoured rice and root vegetables and can be prepared using any kind of meat or fish.
We chop okra, grind cumin and peel carrots before adding a salted sea snail – “the Gambian version of an anchovy,” Ida says – to a pot crackling with oil.
Almost any topic is up for discussion and the one-on-one time with Ida and her team can provide a fascinating insight into Gambian life.
Our conversation covers local superstitions and witchdoctors while we prepare the meal.
An hour later, we sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labour, using curled fingers to scoop up the rice, and talking about the struggles of being a female entrepreneur in what can seem like a male-dominated society.
From Ida’s, we travel further up the curled lip of the southern coast to get back to our hotel, Ngala Lodge.
A boutique, adults-only property, it opened six luxury suites, named Macondo, last year to celebrate 20 years in business.
The new accommodation offers the hotel’s many repeat visitors the opportunity to sample something different on their return.
One of them explains the appeal of this developing West African nation to me as the sunset casts a rose gold light over the ocean: “Perfection doesn’t offer you an experience. The hotel is quirky – our suite was designed around a bespoke piece of art. Gambia can be challenging but you never feel threatened. It’s a bit different but it’s safe.”
Some clients may be scared off by the exoticism of Africa or perhaps the cases of Ebola that never actually materialised here, but there is really no valid reason for them not to consider Gambia – unless they’ve watched The Birds, that is.
Book it: The Gambia Experience offers seven nights’ B&B at the Ngala Lodge, staying in a standard air-conditioned suite, from £899pp, based on an April 8 departure. The price includes return flights from Gatwick and transfers.
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