It would be wrong to say that Gambia is unrecognisable, flying to Banjul International Airport is just as it always was - there is a green and orange tapestry beneath you, broken by snaking sand roads and endless huts and houses, at night there is almost nothing to see - just the glimmer of a few lights - still a vast contrast with the approaches to Gatwick or Manchester or most European airports.

However smooth the touch down, once on the ground it feels as if you have landed on a poorly laid B road, but the terminal looks modern and has changed little over the last 10 years. Inside there are luggage belts but the termminal is not fully air conditioned so it is just as hot as ever waiting for your cases.

X-ray machines have been installed and are put to good use to find anything that import tax can be charged on - so if you are taking charity donations do be prepared to be asked to pay for bringing charity items to Gambia. Argue politely and with respect and you'll pay nothing, get stressed and you'll almost certainly pay or leave the goods at the airport.

The airport tax collectors really don't care if you pay or not - if you refuse they keep the goods and sell them. What ever you do, insist on an official receipt, at least that way the money does go into the Gambian public purse and not a airport officials back pocket - well one hopes it does.

If you want your case portered the charge is still £1 a case, but beware of the hangers on who will want to help and ask for their money as well, best to JUST pay the official porter - and none of the unofficial 'helpers'

The first big change over the 10 years is the road leading from the airport. It is now a fast flat well laid dual carriage way, with street lights and at the exit from the airport there is a rather grand ceremonial entrance structure. Back in 1997 the coaches turned right and took you down a rutted and potholed road through Lamin, Abuko and the suburbs of Serekunda, in many ways it was a better and far more dramatic introduction to The Gambia, still one of the poorest countries in the world.

Now the coach turns left onto a good dual carriageway heading towards Brikama, but shortly the coach turns to the right, past what looks like a fairly modern housing estate, this was the first of its kind in Gambia built by the TAF company under the banner 'Housing the Nation' Few local Gambians could afford the prices but many were bought with money earned abroad, the rest were bought by holiday makers and are now selling for 3 times or more the prices that were originally paid, £25K to £40K is the current price range.

Property is booming in Gambia, as you can see driving into the tourist hotel areas from the airport and not just small bungalows, large expensive looking two and three storey houses are being built everywhere. Many are still waiting for water and electric connections but those will eventually come, and in the mean time, generators hum away and water is pumped from wells or bore holes. The rapid expansion in building has brought about a glut of Estate Agents all of whom are hyping the prices and making big money at it - Good for the Agents but not very good for Gambia in general, soon local people will not be able to buy property in their own country.

Hotels are springing up like never before and there are now more beds available for tourists than there are seats on planes bringing them into the country. Gambia has started to advertise on satellite TV, to increase the number of tourists, but so far the increase in accommodation, restaurants and lodges has far exceeded the numbers arriving and most businesses continue to say that each season is worse than the one before.

When GTS started the DIRECTORY pages on the website in 1998, it was possible to mention every bank, supermarket, restaurant and lodge now it is impossible - there are dozens of supermarkets, bank are everywhere, shops selling everything abound - especially in urban Gambia which is all around the main tourist resorts where lodges and guest houses breed.

You might think that there was lots more to do - but sadly this is not the case, Fishing is still very popular but few of the start up businesses offering fishing last for more than a couple of seasons, infact few of any of the businesses that start in Gambia last more that a couple of seasons, so trying to keep track is simply impossible. Even the large hotels change hands and names almost as quickly as the small restaurants and bars.

The Senegambia resort remains the biggest and the brightest of the lot. But each of the resort areas now has a range of bars and restaurants, filling stations and supermarkets, craft stalls, bumsters and chancers.

In general the quality of services is improving each year, in general the prices, though rising are doing so in Dalasi terms and the costs to tourists are staying about the same - you get far more dalasi to the £ now than you did in 1997 when the exchange rate was 13D to the £, now it is around 48D. In early 2005 is was as high as 55D but has remained steady at around 48D for most of the 2005/6 season. You may only get 46 in your hotel but if you want to face the bank queues you'll get around 2D per £ more.

In 1997 it was 2D to send a postcard to Europe now it costs 10D, a coke at a local shop was 3D now it is 7D, a meal at the GTS Restaurant 5 years ago was between 50 & 100D now it's between 150 and 300D in UK terms between £3 & £6 about the same as 5 years ago.

For tourists staying in the bigger hotels there seems to be plenty of water and electric - there are laughs about 'a Gambia experience' when all the lights go off but within moments they are back on, as the massive private generators kick into action - for most Gambians who have a mains electric connection (and this is still far from the norm) - mains power is available for around 50% of the time, many still rely on carcoal for cooking and candles for lighting - more and more buy tiny generators to run a light or two or to watch TV and charge up the batteries of nations new obsession with mobile phones.

Few tourists even think there are water shortages the bigger hotels have all installed boreholes and can pump endless water for their guests, but in the real Gambia where there is mains water available it is generally either very good with almost no disruption of supply OR very bad with water only available for a few hours at night and even then with very little pressure. Most Gambians take water from wells MANY of which are highly contaminated with low levels of human and animal waste. Few Gambians are aware of the health problems of drinking contaminated water and many suffer from stomach and bowel problems, almost no one boils water from their wells for drinking - almost all have soakaways for general and toilet waste within a few metres of the wells they use for drinking.

Trading has increased beyond imagination, BUT few traders are now doing well, the bonanza Gold Rush days are over, supply now matches or exceeds demand and so prices and profits are the lowest I have ever known BUT sadly so is the quality of many of the goods available - in Gambia CHEAPNESS is the deciding factor, quality is of little importance as long as it works or can be 'managed' (a Gambian term for what we'd call bodged!!)

Gambia is a hard place to do business in the 9 years we have operated we have seen large numbers of ex pats come - appear to flourish for a year or two and then leave shortly after broke and often in debt. Money in Gambia is like water on the sand, it seems to be doing something but disappears without trace and often without any lasting benefit.

For tourists it is a great holiday destination with a wonderful atmosphere and an enormous feeling of spirit that lifts some visitors into a state of un dying love, sympathy and generosity for the place, others simply hate it. The only middle way is for the visitors who just ignore the country they are in - they arrive in the hotel, un-pack - stay within the hotel grounds for all of their stay - re-pack and go home, having enjoyed the wall to wall sunshine and got better tans than they would have from the tanning parlour in their local high street and probably paid less £'s for it as well.

So what is there to do.

There are many places to see and many new experiences to have.
The Bakau crocodile pool where you can pose for a picture next to a basking crocodile, The Bijilo monkey park, where a few nuts or bananas will provide a sure photo opportunity. The Arch 22 museum and observation platforms or the national Museum in Banjul, There are markets in all the bigger towns, our favourite is Serekunda but there is also the more famous Albert market in Banjul. In Tanji there is the excellent Village Museum. There is fishing galore and bird watching everywhere. The Abuko nature reserve is a small slice of land showing how Gambia was before the land was cleared - it isn't a zoo by European standards but there is loads to see if you keep your eyes open, most sights depend on the time your visit. There is a great fruit distillery to go round and have samples of local fruit liqueurs. There are beach buggy excursions. micro flight trips to see Gambia from the air, a variety of water sports activities as well as trips into unspoilt Gambia to see how people actually live and the richnes of their culture.

More than all the above, Gambia offers something that seems to be unique, it is a place where people can get back in touch with people - it is almost the only thing that Gambians do, so they are very very good at it - People are the most important thing in a Gambians life, they endlessly visit relatives and friends and just sit and talk or even just sit enjoying the company.

Because The Gambia has such a different, varied and rich culture it can be fascinating to tourists who are in any way interested in the place they are spending their holidays. Multiple wives, the Gambian tribal & later adopted Islamic tradition is of great fascination to monogomous cultures. Women are horrified but fascinated by what they see as the barbarity of female circumcision, generally condemmed as part of Islamic edict but actually ancient tribal practise. The music, the drumming, the dancing, the rythym and colour of life, the food, the fascination and glamour of it all, is so different and so alien, the Muslim prayers, what appears to be a deep spritualism and sensitivity and gentleness and understanding of the people is both aluring and captivating.

I cannot RECOMMEND Gambia highly enough, it puts into perspective our western lifestyles and our western ways and I think makes most people feel humble that we have so much but have so much discontentment, where Gambians have so little and are so obviously relaxed & happy, not with their poverty but with their way of life.

BUT don't be too taken in - Gambia is no better and no worse than anywhere - it has some wonderful things to offer but it is just as hard to live in Gambia as it is anywhere, which is why so few businesses and so few expats last for more than a few years in the heady haze that is a Gambian holiday.

10 years has changed the economy of this tiny country, & just beneath the surface there is plenty still to do and see, it is easier now than it was 10 years ago - but the bumsters and chancers are still around to exploit tourists if they are allowed to do so - so let the buyer beware. I still think GTS has a great deal to offer to tourists in providing a means to see and experience The Gambia in a secure and safer way than going it alone - if tourists want to help GTS & GETSuk offers a way of channeling money to where it is most needed in a fully monitored and secure way.

Membership of both GTS and GETS continues to rise and the good we are able to do continues to increase every season. Adam and I continue to love what Gambia has to offer and enjoy what we are able to provide both to visiting tourists and to the local people who benefit from the two charities.

If you want further information about how you can help GTS or GETSuk then please contact us by email and we will do our best to help you help us.

The Rough Guide to Gambia by Emma Gregg gives GTS an embarrasingly enthusiastic write up in several of its sections, but quite apart from that, it remains the best guide book to the Gambia. For visitors who want to get more from their holiday, it really is a MUST purchase.

For those who enjoy a more pictorial and quite different approach, Michael Tompkinsons book Gambia is wonderfully illustrated and provides a chatty and very readable text with some great insight into how Gambia operates.

For those who find their Gambia visit has set fire to their curiosity about Africa, a subscription to the quarterly magazine 'Travel Africa' is an excellent way of getting acquainted with the wonders of Africa, pictorially it is splendid and has something for everyone from bush safari visits to high luxury.

Above all Africa is different but more accessible than ever before & Gambia is a wonderful stepping stone into the continent and its people.

Francis - April 2006

If you have never visited Gambia we think and hope you'll enjoy it - if you are already a Gambiaphile we think GTS and GETSuk can add a dimension that will increase your love of the place and its people.

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