Bear in mind that the majority of Gambians are Moslem so the most you can probably expect is that the hotels which cater for European visitors might do something to mark Christmas Day but the locals will have had their annual big knees up for Eid three weeks ago at the end of Ramadan!

SM

Thanks SMa...think you have answered my question...so in other words Christmas Day is just anormal day to the Gambians and restaurants should be open as normal?

Bearing in mind that my visit was in November, so I'm not speaking from personal experience, I would expect Christmas Day to be just another day. So, yes, restaurants will probably be open but won't necessarily be doing anything special to mark the day. Christians are a very small minority within The Gambia and interestingly enough my visit did coincide that year with Ramadan and because of my style of dress (longish white kaftan over trousers) adopted as a result of needing to be careful about exposing my skin to the full blast of the sun and anti-mozzie advice, the locals were always very circumspect about offering me food and drink between the hours of sunrise and sunset until they were sure that I wasn't Moslem and observing the Ramadan fast. Once I cottoned on to this I also realised that it offered some (though not total!) protection from the attentions of the bumsters!

SM

Thanks SMa. We will be more than happy to not be subjected to 'Christmas in the sun'!!! No fake trees or local take on Turkey dinner...woohoo!

Interesting point you made about your choice of dress and it 'deflecting' the bumsters......wish we had that option!

thank you again for your reply.