stephanmarc

We visited Gambia 2 years ago and booked with tillys tours, run by a British lady so no problem getting back to the Ship on time. She has loads of local information so well worth contacting. Ship excursions are great for the company of larger groups, seeing things off the beaten track or having a tour personalized for you and your interests is a different matter. Who ever you go with, enjoy your visit.

The last Saturday in every month is "Clean the Nation Day" in Gambia (set setal) the President declared this some years ago as a means to encourage everyone in this little country to clean up their environment. Even the security forces, police, Immigration, Fire service etc all join in with this. No traffic is allowed to move about, all shops and businesses have to close - in order to join in the work. Not a bad way to try and help the environment really. You need to be aware of this if your Ship is due to dock on the last Saturday of the month. Restaurants, Bar's and Hotels in the main tourist area's remain open of course as do many of the beach bar's- quite a quirk...

Defiantly not able to do the Roots Tour as a Cruise Ship stop, it takes some 3hrs each way by boat to reach there then you need time to visit the village and Museum. Talk to Jackie at tillys tours she will arrange great day tours for you and will make sure you are back at the Ship in plenty of time. Try visiting a local village, the sacred crocodile pool, serrekunda and Arch22. You only go out in small groups with tillys tours and if its a weekday, why not ask to stop off at a local school - maybe drop some pencils / pencil sharpeners / balloons / bubbles off for the children who have so little. There are no toys in schools in gambia.... Enjoy your visit, we had a great time and have used Tillys tours both from the Ship and as holiday visitors to the Gambia.

we have visited neighboring Gambia a few times over the past couple of years assisting a charity and we have traveled into Senegal from there as recently as early December, the price of the visa has risen to $50 but you can get it easy enough at the border crossing so I dont imagine there being a difficulty for Cruise Ship passengers. As I understand it, group travelers from Gambia into Senegal have been made more than welcome and not delayed, the Cruise lines will, I am sure, have made the necessary arrangements as these Countries are reliant on the Tour industry for much of their income.

A fantastic and important thing to do - well done. Remember pencil sharpeners as often the children are using raw razor blades to sharpen their pencils and I would suggest thinking twice before giving sweets. TOOTH DECAY and lack of dentists in Africa as well as lack of money to pay for dentists too. Balloons are also a great idea and bubbles. In Gambia if you are using tillys tours and it is a week day the British woman will happily incorporate a stop at a local school, she also runs a UK reg Charity so can make sure items donated reach where they are most needed, it may be worth contacting her through tillys tours. Elsewhere, if it is a weekday that you are visiting, ask your tour guide to stop at a school so you can hand them over to the children yourself. I would not recommend giving such items over to Port Officials, corruption is rife even when it comes to school supplies so be aware. Have a great time.

Goree in Dakar is a great trip to do, lots about the Slave History. In Banjul look for tillys tours they do great day tours, we visited the sacred crocodile pool which was informative as there is a good cultural museum there, we then went to Serekunda and Arch22 in Banjul itself. Run by a British woman who is tight on time so no worries about making it back to the Ship in plenty of time. Dakar and Gambia are 2 lovely places to visit.