“Welcome to the smiling coast of Africa.” It’s a phrase you’ll hear so often it feels like Gambians have a legal obligation to announce it whenever they meet a tourist. It’s an apt sentiment for a nation that fights adversity with a determined smile, but a more accurate slogan would be: “Welcome to the smiling river of Africa.”
Swallowed by Senegal, the West African nation’s borders slither for 140 miles east along the Gambia River, never extending north or south for more than 30 miles at their greatest extent. Meandering into the heart of Africa, the Gambia River is the lifeblood of a nation, and it’s here, among islands and mangroves, that you’ll find an abundance of wildlife.
A six-hour flight from London Gatwick, with no time difference, English as an official language and winter temperatures roaring past 30°C, the Gambia could be the alternative African safari destination you hadn’t thought to try.
And with tour operators like Tui offering week-long flight and hotel packages from little more than £600 throughout the winter, it’s a bargain too.
Wildlife on the Gambia River
Something moved in the trees. A rustle of leaves, and a primal screech as a monkey flew through the branches.
“It’s a red colobus,” said our guide – who, in typical Gambian fashion, only wanted to be called “Captain Smiley” – as we hiked in the shade of the baobab forest. “They only have four fingers on each hand, so they’re useless on the ground. But in the trees, no monkey moves faster.”
I was taking a break from the golden beaches with an overnight trip to River Gambia National Park, where the country’s wildest nature is found away from the resorts and hotels that line the Atlantic coast.
Given that the Gambia (with a population of 2.5 million) is the smallest nation in mainland Africa, you can leisurely circumnavigate the entire country in just two days.
As we drove along the North Bank Road from Banjul, the coastal capital, Omar Jabang – founder of local company Omi Tours – explained with a shake of his head how European slave traders once transported Africans along the Gambia River to ships waiting off the coast. We stopped to see an ancient stone circle, built by people who’d long ago disappeared, before Captain Smiley met us at River Gambia National Park.
The park protects a series of large islands and wildlife sanctuaries along the river. We hopped in a boat and Captain Smiley guided us along the water from Kairoh Garden – where we would spend the night in rustic, riverside lodges – to Baboon Island, where a family of chimpanzees was building nests in the tall trees.
Since 1979, the islands have been home to a successful rehabilitation project that reintroduced the once-extinct chimpanzee back into the Gambia.
Chimpanzees aren’t the only primate thriving in the national park: back on land, Captain Smiley explained how villages have come together to protect one of Africa’s largest populations of red colobus monkeys.
The Communities for Red Colobus Project is collecting vital analysis on the species while training local rangers and tour guides, part of a drive to create a sustainable tourism industry while protecting nature.
I was hoping to see one of the National Park’s many hippos, too, but it wasn’t to be.
As Captain Smiley explained, the hippos hang out on land in the flooded rice paddies until the dry season – from November to April, which is also the Gambia’s high season – when they retreat to the river and are much easier to spot on safaris.
A budget safari destination
Most of the Gambia’s hotels are located along the Atlantic coastline, where potential wildlife sightings are slimmer than in River Gambia National Park.
For those on safari, though, several nature parks and wildlife reserves are found a short drive away – just skip the Kachikally Crocodile Pool, where crocodiles are force-fed so much fish they can’t move when tourists visit.
“The best place for wildlife is always the Gambia River,” guide Kalipha Maneh confirmed when he picked me up from the Ocean Bay Hotel for a morning of bird watching on a nearby tributary. “Nature is everywhere in the Gambia, but the wildlife is on the river.”
The crocodiles were hiding beneath the water’s surface that day, but as we paddled out among mangroves in a precariously balanced pirogue – a small wooden boat – Maneh pointed out black kites, long-tailed starlings and little weavers as the cooing of doves mixed with the squawk of a parakeet. It is rarer to see larger animals, but birds are bountiful here.
If an East African style safari experience is more your thing, traditional wildlife drives are just a short hop away over the border in Senegal.
Protecting some 23 square miles of bushland less than an hour and a half (border and ferry crossings permitting) from Banjul, Senegal’s Fathala Wildlife Reserve was established in 2006 to protect the endangered giant eland, the world’s largest species of antelope.
The reserve is now home to reintroduced populations of zebras, giraffes, lions and even a solitary rhino, which can all be found on a day trip from the Gambia.
Cross the border to Senegal in the morning, enjoy a 4×4 safari, then be sitting around the pool at your hotel in the Gambia with a cold beer in hand by late afternoon. I’ll drink to that.
Getting there
Tui offers week-long flight, hotel and breakfast packages from £615 per person.
Omi Tours provides overnight excursions to River Gambia National Park, including transport and accommodation, for 7,000 Gambian Dalasi per person (approximately £87).
