hi there......we have been to gambia a few times and it is a lot more expensive than people expect. there are taxis outside your hotels and in the town but if you walk to the end of the road there a more taxis which are yellow(i think) and they are much cheaper.....if you fancy a good daytrip there is a place next to ali babas in senegambia (they all wear red t shirts) and they do a trip called the 5 in 1 which is brilliant.....it costs about 30quid and you go to a school, a village, katcakilli crocodile place, thebeach where you have a bbq and onto the brewery for free drinks.....its well worth it......there is a big supermarket on the main road which sells food quite cheap......just enjoy yourself and experience the smiley coast.....lol xx
Tracan, you don't give any indication of where you are staying. The Senegambia strip is apparently cheaper than elsewhere in the tourist belt. We have been twice before and are going again next winter. The cost of a package holiday there at an equivalent standard of hotel to Goa is so much cheaper this year that the extra you pay for food and drink is more than compensated for IMO.
Don't go expecting it to be like India as it isn't. You can haggle but there are far less shops and stalls to look at, certainly no opticians etc. Always ask the price before you do anything, you'll be taken severe advantage of if you don't, the locals will try to pressure you into taking them on as a guide. You don't need one if you don't want one, you are perfectly safe to wander alone. Be firm but polite and ask them to go away.When you go out for a meal a lot of the guys act as runners for the restaurants, tell them where you are going and let them go with you. They earn a small amount for taking you there.
Gambia provides a different experience, the sun will shine, the beaches are cleaner, there's less rubbish than India,there's no jet lag and it only takes 6 hours to fly there.Most important you don't need the VISA and the hassle of getting one.
India on the other hand, has cheaper food ( and a bigger choice of eating places in Nth Goa) and drink, more going on in terms of markets and the like, much less hassle from the locals and doesn't require expensive Malarone anti malarials.The sex trade isn't in the open like it is in the Gambia either.
Enjoy it for what it is though, if you allow it to get under your skin it will. Remember the locals perceive us as very wealthy and we are in comparison. They will try to extract money from you in a whole host of imaginative ways. The greener you are the better the target.
On our first evening there ever we were approached in the street by a remarkably jolly bloke who was puzzled that we didn't recognise him as he was our room cleaner ( we had arrived about an hour previously). I didn't fall for that one and was even more amazed when exactly the same thing happened 18 months later. When he popped his head over the hotel beach wall a few days later and announced he was the local teacher collecting for the school he was totally stunned when I told him he couldn't be, he was my room cleaner ! He shot off in a hurry but I saw him take some money off a young couple further down the beach minutes later. I could tell you loads of similar stories. Just be aware !!!!
Don't go expecting it to be like India as it isn't. You can haggle but there are far less shops and stalls to look at, certainly no opticians etc. Always ask the price before you do anything, you'll be taken severe advantage of if you don't, the locals will try to pressure you into taking them on as a guide. You don't need one if you don't want one, you are perfectly safe to wander alone. Be firm but polite and ask them to go away.When you go out for a meal a lot of the guys act as runners for the restaurants, tell them where you are going and let them go with you. They earn a small amount for taking you there.
Gambia provides a different experience, the sun will shine, the beaches are cleaner, there's less rubbish than India,there's no jet lag and it only takes 6 hours to fly there.Most important you don't need the VISA and the hassle of getting one.
India on the other hand, has cheaper food ( and a bigger choice of eating places in Nth Goa) and drink, more going on in terms of markets and the like, much less hassle from the locals and doesn't require expensive Malarone anti malarials.The sex trade isn't in the open like it is in the Gambia either.
Enjoy it for what it is though, if you allow it to get under your skin it will. Remember the locals perceive us as very wealthy and we are in comparison. They will try to extract money from you in a whole host of imaginative ways. The greener you are the better the target.
On our first evening there ever we were approached in the street by a remarkably jolly bloke who was puzzled that we didn't recognise him as he was our room cleaner ( we had arrived about an hour previously). I didn't fall for that one and was even more amazed when exactly the same thing happened 18 months later. When he popped his head over the hotel beach wall a few days later and announced he was the local teacher collecting for the school he was totally stunned when I told him he couldn't be, he was my room cleaner ! He shot off in a hurry but I saw him take some money off a young couple further down the beach minutes later. I could tell you loads of similar stories. Just be aware !!!!
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