Preparation: visa, currency, vaccination, malaria

Visa

Most of the European countries don't need a visa to go to The Gambia. Being Polish I didn't have to have one, however, B being Portuguese had to get one. Apparently you can get visa on arrival, but keeping in mind what the airport looked like, I would prefer to be prepared. Remember to check with your Ministry of Tourism or Embassy.

Currency

The official currency of The Gambia is Gambian Dalasi. I am pretty sure it's going to be difficult for you to exchange it in your country and even if you do, you will probably get a terrible exchange rate. We exchanged polish zloty to euro and then exchanged it in the Gambia to Dalasi. There are different opinions if it is better to bring Euros or Dollars but the difference is not too big so you will be good with both. To exchange money in The Gambia go to Western Union, they have a fixed rate and it is the best rate we've seen during our trip. What's more Western Union is easily accessible almost in any bigger city in The Gambia.

We also used Revolut in the cash machine. This can be tricky as cash machines often run out of money in the Gambia. This was the case also for us and the first cash machine we tried was out of money so we had to go look for a second one and there are not too many in The Gambia. So overall Revolut worked but this is a risky thing, it's better to have cash with you.

Vaccination

There is a full list of obligatory and recommended vaccinations you should take before going to The Gambia and which are checked at upon entry to the country. Some of them need to be taken a few weeks in advance so make sure to check that and take care of it soon enough (2 months before going there are supposed to be the perfect timing). We decided to do all of the recommended vaccinations but first and foremost talk to your doctor and ask for his recommendations.

Obligatory:

Yellow fever

Recommended:

Meningococcal disease

Rabies

Cholera

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Polio

Diphtheria

Tetanus

Additionally, our doctor recommended us to take some basic medicine with us just in case. I ended up having a separate small handbag for medicines first time in my life but I suppose it was worth it to feel safe.

Last but not least - remember about the sunscreen! I have dark skin tone and usually don't use it at all but with the heat getting to over 40 degrees you need to man up and use one for your own safety.

"If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it" - cheers to lifelong truths of Baz Luhrmann.

Malaria

The Gambia is in the high-risk region in terms of malaria. Remember to ask your doctor about that. There are no vaccinations available but most doctors recommend prevention in the form of pills. We have done that and taken the pills in total for about two weeks.

You will also need a mosquito net to put around your bed as there is no better prevention than avoiding these little bloodthirsty bastards. Most of the hostels will have these for you but to make sure I would recommend having one with you. In case you don't, always ask at the hostel before booking or get one in The Gambia. We've heard they are pretty easily accessible and cheap there but didn't have the chance to try it ourselves.

We once had the chance to sleep at a hostel that had the net but it was in a rather... poor condition. I had to go creative.

Last but not least - repellent. You will need strong mosquito protection to spray on yourself. There are different opinions about it since this kind of spray is also not healthy for human not only for mosquitos but we decided since we were staying there only for 11 days we preferred risking the unhealthy repellent rather than mosquitos giving us malaria. We used strong MUGGA DEET and it worked fine. There was one time we forgot to use it and immediately we were bitten by several mosquitos leaving really big marks on the skin, so be aware!

Also, all of the above being said I would advise you to get travel insurance for the trip. It does not cost a lot and you sleep calmly.