You might already know that I recently spent 2 weeks in The Gambia. This was part of the Tropical Medicine Diploma I was doing in London over the winter. I was there with 8 other doctors to explore and experience The Gambia and their health care system. We had a great time with some definite highlights but also a few low points.
Highlights: traditional psychiatric healers, traditional bone healers, community health workers, visiting Farafenni hospital, visiting Sol and Momadous’ family, the pot hole road, the Christian health center, the Gambian fishing villages, the women and children.
Low points: poverty, sex tourism, being a tourist, the pot hole road, Banjul market, actually most markets.
The Gambia experience started at Gatwick at 6am on Good Friday, with all the other holiday makers flying off for Easter. Our check-in line was a funny mix of white Brits in Hawaiian T-shirts and smartly dressed African nationals. I think the airport was best described as a shopping mall with planes (or a shrine to consumerism), rather than duty free shopping area. The highlights of the flight were definitely the Sahara desert, which took hours to cross, and the Senegalese coast which was one long, long, long beach. We arrived at Banjul airport which resembles Hobart’s 'international' terminal with the added bonus of oppressive heat and the rhythm of drums in the background.
The Gambia is a fantastic holiday destination if you live in Europe, its cheap, the sun always shines, people are friendly and it’s Africa! Many people go on a package holiday deal for seven days and stay in the coastal resorts. At out hotel, we were lucky to see several vintages of tourists come and go. The main activities seemed to be sun baking in as little as possible, reading books and drinking beer. You could probably stay air conditioned and beered up from the airport to the hotel and back again with out setting foot in the ‘real’ Gambia. Not to be too critical, I too drank beer, enjoyed the pool and sun baked (with cozy on!) Despite the predominate religion being Muslim.
Our trip got off to a slow start because we arrived before Easter which is a public holiday. We spent the Easter weekend enjoying the hotel, situated on the beach and exploring the local tourist sites. It was good time to wind down from the exam flurry. We visited the local forest reserve which is virtually the only forest left due to deforestation. We saw many cheeky monkeys, birds and lots of very, very dry rain forest.
A highlight was a visit to the mangrove area around the Gambia river were we stopped at the Lametine lodge, a picturesque tree house built for westerners on the river edge.
There was also the memorable visit to Banjul market which was a definite Gambian experience. In the evening there was often entertainment in and around the hotel, a highlight being the Jola Jugglers.