Gambia for download (pdf, 11kb)

Banjul


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Travel time: November 2000

The Gambia was only a stopover to Mali because the Belgian airline Sabena overbook some of their flights up to 50%. You should be prepared for some unexpected.

People try business as usual especially with foreigners. Therefore they´ll tell you sometimes the untruth or rip-off. So don´t believe everything.

Banjul
From the airport to the city center you can take a official taxi for 200 Dalasis at night or accept the offer of boys waiting to give you a lift with their own car for 150. I don´t know what will happen when you are stopped by police at one of the checkpoints on the way to the center. With the official taxi we haven´t had any problems. Depending on the age of the car it´s less than one hour drive.

Hotel Princess Diana on July 22 Drive, Tel: 228715, is close to the big city gate which you see when entering the city but it´s more than 1 km to the center and double to the ferry. The rundown rooms with fan and shower / toilet are 175 Dalasis for a single and 200 for double. No mosquito net but rental girls. Beer can be arranged by the hotel owner how is quite helpful.

To the pier a taxi is 5 Dalasis per person. There you can get breakfast for 10 Dalasis with coffee, sandwich and omelet, change money or take the ferry across the river Gambie for 3 Dalasis. Here you can wait in the hot and crowded waiting room and aware pickpocket or stay outside in front of the big steel gate which will be opened finally. First ferry at 7 am every two hours till 7 pm but don´t count on the schedule. Crossing is less than 1 hour normally.

Try to be the first leaving the ferry otherwise the big and more comfortable busses to Dakar had left and you have to take one of the crowded taxi bus for 3000 CFA per person which takes around 8 hours on temporarily rough road. Border crossing is no problem.
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