Touching nature

For those looking to experience a bit of the wild, The Gambia also has a lot to offer even without moving too far from the cities.

First off, seeing goats, chickens and even cows roaming around is a totally standard thing. Ok, cows perhaps a bit less in the cities but as for goats… that was a bit of a surprise.

At Kachikally, not too far from the more “luxurious” Cape Point resorts, you will find the crocodile park. I have to say that this is one of the places I was more eager to see and sadly it was also a bit of a disappointing one. To get there you need to go through the slums, which is an experience unto itself, and when you get there you pay 100 dalasi to look at a bunch of completely inert crocodiles. I mean, it's not like I expected there to be a show of any sort but there was something off about the whole thing.

Upon entering the croc park and after walking for a short while you reach the croc area and you are almost just on top of them. The first impression is quite imposing but then you notice that they will not move for anything. At this point, a bunch of tour guides offer to help you take pictures and touch the animals but you soon find out that it is all a bit of a scam and that you could probably tap dance on those animals without much risk. Let's just say that I have some suspicions…

At Bijilo though, the monkey park is actually a lot more fun.

Though it is home to quite an array of fauna and flora, the Bijilo monkey park is particularly famous for the Green Vervet monkeys and for the Western Red Colobus monkey species. It appears to actually be forbidden to feed them but as you enter the park the staff itself sells you both bananas and peanuts to give to the monkeys. If you do decide to do this do remember to bargain very hard with the vendors as they really tried to pull a fast one on us. Fortunately, I had A who was by then a bargaining veteran and managed to set things straight! Bananas and peanuts in arms, we had a nice walk in the park and sure enough, we did see the monkeys and managed to feed them as well. The green monkeys are fairly friendly and easy to feed but the red monkeys are far more shy and less prone to come near humans so do be a bit more careful around them.

At Bijilo park you can also enjoy a nice walk while taking advantage of the shade cast by the trees. On this walk, at different points, you can also walk straight onto the beach as well. A dramatic scenario change from the bushes to the sand which in our case was sadly destroyed by the foul smell of trash. A real shame...

Moving inland and already at Kafuta, we stayed at the Roots Guesthouse with Amy, a wonderful hostess which blessed us with both her company and food.

With direct access to the river it was only natural that to dive in and bathe in the its waters. We were a bit apprehensive at first but Amy had told us it was fine and another couple was in the water so we did the same. It was great! Just… being in the water near the mangroves and chilling out. Just so laid back and far away from everyday life…

Taking advantage of the goodwill of Sama, a dude who hung out at the lodge and who at every chance he could, tried to court our young A, we also went for a walk in the forest trying to find wild monkeys. Though after about 2hrs of walking we only managed to see a few wild bulls it was actually a lot of fun and, though very briefly, on the second day of trying we did manage to see a few of them in the morning. Actual monkeys in the wild!

The nights at the lodge were also interesting. Lots of bird sounds and quite possibly the loudest bat in Africa blessed us with their chants. Charming. Occasionally loud, but charming.

No stay in The Gambia is complete without a boat ride though.

We hopped on a small fisherman's boat at Kafuta and had a tour upstream to the lodge of one of the local communities. As our host paddled up the river, we looked at the huge mangroves, the birds in the river and the tranquillity of it all. We also heard that at certain points up and sometimes even down the river there were fairly large crocodiles. This news had us a bit surprised after having swum in that same river the evening before…

Many boat tours are offered in different areas and I suggest you think about what you really are looking for. We seriously thought about going upstream to a place where hippopotamus roam but eventually decided that it was a bit pricey and out of our way but… it is the one thing I would most like to go back for.

There are also many parks for bird lovers.

We are not really big connoisseurs of birds but as it stands, in this country there are hundreds of species to be seen and appreciated and while staying at Tanema Creek we managed to see many different birds, including pelicans.

Finally, for those with a less limited budget, there is also the option to do a day safari to Senegal and then return to The Gambia. A day at Fathala wildlife park will let you see Rhinos, Giraffes and Zebras and for sure would make for a spectacular detour. We didn't do it but if you have the time it might be the thing to do

Indeed, if you want to touch the wild, this is a country for you.