The Gambia: River Cruise

“I can’t believe we live here.” That’s something my husband and I say to each other almost every weekend, usually over cocktails at the beach, staring out at the ocean while our children practice backflips in the sand or trot off on a pony. Or when we simply sit in our backyard overlooking the pool, the massive baobab and mango trees, listening to a cacophony of birds (especially the two hornbills who swing by every morning and pound on your windows to draw out bugs).

Yes, ladies and gentlemen: The Gambia is nice. When I told people I’d be relocating here I got a few snide comments from some of them who have been here before, and I suppose some of these had merit. I mean, it’s likely that the city beaches weren’t as lovely and clean twenty years ago as they are now, and that restaurants didn’t serve avocado toast or latte macchiato yet. Probably most of the shiny beach resorts didn’t exist ten years ago. I’m sure life here was much less convenient. The new highway is less than two years old. It used to take two hours to get to the airport—now it takes only 25 minutes.

Still, The Gambia must have always been a peaceful, tropical place with wonderful people and great seafood, right? Unless you’re struggling to get by—what’s not to like?

Tourist season is open

The tourist season started at the end of October with the arrival of the first charter flights from the UK and The Netherlands. All the restaurants are now open, including the vegan one, and supermarkets are relatively well stocked. Beach bars are more lively and I trip over bird watchers every time I go out for a run. It’s not that it’s suddenly crowded though—The Gambia is, and will probably always be, a chill and quiet place.

Now that the rainy season is over and the roads have mostly dried, it’s easier and generally more attractive to explore the countryside. The climate changed from hot and humid to pleasant and dry, and you can even feel a slight chill in the air if you wake up early enough. In other words: no more excuses to stay in and around the house all weekend. Time to see more of The Gambia!

The river cruise experience

To me, the most obvious thing to do in The Gambia, besides going to the beach, is to take a boat onto the Gambia river. In my mind, such a trip wouldn’t include swimming because of all the crocodiles and hippos who live in the water. I imagined wearing a safari hat and binoculars on this river cruise. I was wrong.

The river cruise we took departed right from Denton bridge, which is basically in town, a 10-minute drive from my house. The double decker boat provided coffee and lunch, champagne, and ample shade. There were stops for swimming and fishing (we didn’t get around to the fishing). We had a great time just lounging around.

What I didn’t see or hear anything about was birds, crocs, or hippos!! Sure, I saw a few birds on the shores, but we went too fast to really look around. As for the larger animals I hoped/expected to see, I suppose they don’t live so close to the “big” city? Clearly, this was more of a party boat experience than a water safari. Oh well.

The mystery remains

During my first four months in The Gambia I’ve had a lot of fun, did a lot of sports, and made a lot of friends. I know most of the nice places to go now, from cultural performances at the Alliance Française, to sushi at sunset in Kololi, to padel at the brand-new courts in G7, to lunch at the crocodile pond in Bakau and dinner over live music at the Ngala Lodge.

What I certainly don’t know anything about yet is what happens outside of the greater Banjul area. I thought the river cruise would offer a first glimpse of wild animals and village life, but it didn’t. There’s a reason we haven’t just jumped in the car to explore the upriver area though: our Volvo isn’t a four wheel drive and due to its low clearance can’t handle many of the roads in here. So we’re currently looking for another car that can take us anywhere we (might) want to go.