Gambia (and Central Africa in general)

[Amp34]

I've just booked myself a holiday to Gambia for a week and was hoping to get the usual shots of markets and locals. Any taboos I should know about, ask first, money/"tips"? Also anyone who has been to Gambia before any suggestions as to places to go (both photographic and general) near or within a good distance of the coast (where we are staying)?

I know it sounds rather random I guess, so really what i'm asking is anything to do with photography and/or Gambia.

Thanks

 

[Sarin]

The only tip i would give you is that everyone is looking for a "gift" (cadeaux). Yep, it's gonna cost you cos everything in this country has a price, even asking for directions. There's rarely any fixed price and you spend the whole time haggling for anything, even the basics like water. But it's a beautiful country with very friendly people if you get out of the tourist resorts. Keep a wad of small notes seperate to the bigger notes and take a money clip - this is the only place in the world where i've been peeling off notes like i'm a millionaire! Fags are cheap, £5 for 200 and the local beer is good (Julbrew if i remember right) I stayed in Kotu but there are a lot of tourist resorts along this coast looking the same. The Gambia has got a lot of wildlife if that's your sort of thing but don't think for a minute it's on the same level as Kenya. There's hardly any savannah in the Gambia, more scrub land. The Dudsgar (i think thats how it's spelt) waterfalls are worth a vist even if it's just to get some shots of the monkeys robbing daft tourists The pestering can get a bit tedious but if you take life at the same speed as the locals it's fairly non-threatening and plesant (just don't expect anything to get done quickly), the Gambia really is a great advert for bacardi rum if you remember that? (seriously easy going). If you want anymore info feel free to pm me.

 

[Amp34]

Thanks for the reply.

What sort of amount would a "gift" usually be, same with tips (porters/cleaners?).

We will be staying in Kololi and it were billing it as more of a beach holiday (in the wet season... *gulp*) as it was a cheap last minute deal. However as I've never been to anywhere other than north Africa the wildlife (that there is) is worth a few day trips. Having been to Egypt before I take it the pestering is similar to there and from what I understand it#s safe and easy to get around the country on your own?

Sorry for so many questions.

 

[jamesoliverstone]

I went on honeymoon to the gambia and its fanstastic. Just be aware of one major photography taboo (for want of a better word).

If you go outside the tourist areas, be careful of being seen photographing faces of people as they believe that your camera is revmoving their soul. People closer to the tourist areas tend to be fine as they are used to holiday makers and cameras, but head out to the villages and compounds and its a different story.

I would say point to the camera and gesture to ask if you can take the picture, that way you will get a less hostile response. I have seen some locals get very angry at holiday makers who take pictures of them looking into the camera.

Just a FYI

 

[bakedbeans]

I've just booked myself a holiday to Gambia for a week and was hoping to get the usual shots of markets and locals. Any taboos I should know about, ask first, money/"tips"? Also anyone who has been to Gambia before any suggestions as to places to go (both photographic and general) near or within a good distance of the coast (where we are staying)?

I know it sounds rather random I guess, so really what i'm asking is anything to do with photography and/or Gambia.

Thanks

With any country you haven't visited before, read the guide! It's always good to know background information and local customs. Have fun!

 

[Amp34]

I went on honeymoon to the gambia and its fanstastic. Just be aware of one major photography taboo (for want of a better word).

If you go outside the tourist areas, be careful of being seen photographing faces of people as they believe that your camera is revmoving their soul. People closer to the tourist areas tend to be fine as they are used to holiday makers and cameras, but head out to the villages and compounds and its a different story.

I would say point to the camera and gesture to ask if you can take the picture, that way you will get a less hostile response. I have seen some locals get very angry at holiday makers who take pictures of them looking into the camera.

Just a FYI

Thanks, I thought something like that would be the case.

With any country you haven't visited before, read the guide! It's always good to know background information and local customs. Have fun!

I've read a bit online, and am going to get a book out the library shortly, normally they don't have to much info on photography however, and I think first hand info is always better.

 

[bakedbeans]

Thanks, I thought something like that would be the case.



I've read a bit online, and am going to get a book out the library shortly, normally they don't have to much info on photography however, and I think first hand info is always better.

I can highly recommend the Lonely Planet guide books - you'll find most countries (even unpopular ones). The people who write the books are very experienced travelers and the information you get is priceless.

 

[Just Dave]

We went to Gambia last year stayed at the Kombo beach hotel Kotu, the bumsters and fraudsters are a real problem there they hassle you everytime you leave the hotel well they did but after a few days, they called Julie gangster wife and always left us alone, Im an easy touch or so Julie says, so they still hassled me a bit if I was on my own walking with me all the way to the shops and back, LOL, still got nowt though really, just cigs and the odd bit of change, but they soon get fed up and go and look for their next easy victim I mean tourist,they have lots of scams so be carefull of what they say its just a scam, other locals were friendly as they new we had a friend in Serrekunda, village, and they even asked us to join them for meals on a few occasions,

We did quite a lot whilst we were there as we knew someone who lived there and he arranged a friend to drive us around, the bird watching in Kotu is great I was out every morning with one of the birder guides called Ansu you can find him near the bridge on Kotu road, about 150 yds from the hotel who befriended us and he never wanted paying for his services although of course we did give him money and bought him some meals, Just wish Id had my long lens thenwe visited lots including the Bijilo Forest Park monkey reserve in the next town which you can walk to along the beach, from the Kombo hotel, also to Kachikally Crocodile Pool where I touched a crocodile, Abuko national park fab for animal/bird watching, Lamin Lodge, Paradise Beach, Banjul, visted our friends compound, and did much more, the locals did not like their photos being taken children didnt mind but some adults especially in Banjul did mind in and around the markets

We also took a suitcase full of clothes, dresses for little girls, football shirts, shorts pens pencils and small toys, paper, we bought the paper whilst we were there as its heavy, to give out to our friends family and compound neighbours, and local schools in Serrekunda, village where he lives, just out side Bakau, and before we went home we gave most of our clothes away as well, comming home with almost empty suit cases, in fact we left one big suit case that we took all the gifts we saved up over the year to take with us

we did one trip South gambia experience tour, we got from the rep, by the waythe rep was great. we did take some things to give to the schools there but they get much more as they are on the tourist route, its much better to get out into the villages and find a more needy school that get almost nothing as not many tourists pass by them

Nights out we ate in Kotu a most nights, and at Ali Babas on Senagambia strip a few of nights, great night out, and Sunday dinners, twice as we had 2 Sundays in Gambia, at Churchill's defiantly recommended, its a short taxi ride away from the hotel

Having a meal of Domoda( Peanut and meat curry with rice in this image) with the locals

Me with DJ our driver for 2 weeks, and a Crocodile

Dave

 

[Amp34]

I can highly recommend the Lonely Planet guide books - you'll find most countries (even unpopular ones). The people who write the books are very experienced travelers and the information you get is priceless.

Unfortunately the Library didn't have the Lonely Planet book of the area (my favoured publisher), however I did get a Rough guide and another book of Gambia.

Thanks Dave, some useful info there, I think the crocodile pool is a definate trip, same with the Abuko national park. The south Gambia tour was one of the tours I think we will go on (either that or the 4x4 tour, probably not both) and I did wonder if the school was rammed with equipment due to the tourist stops.

So general consensus is then that animals fine, however people generally not, so probably not many photos of the markets and people. Now I need to decide whether to take my 75-300 IS of 300 f/4 prime, i'm erring on the prime...

 

[Just Dave]

The south gambia trip in one of those massive 8 wheeled vehicles to be honest is a bit of a let down for me, although it does get you out and about, but as we got about a lot it might just be we saw a lot, back to the trip, we visited a school were all the children were made to sing for us and they had a massive donation box out in front about 4ft square people just put their donations books pencils paper money whatever, so they expected a lot, out side the school lots of children lined up on each side offering email address to tourists, in the hope they would send them things from back home, we visited a datepalm distillery compound called uncle Johns distillery, and got to sampled some, very strong alcohol, same there lots of children begging for shoes and clothes and money, one thing dont take sweets as they cant afford to go to the dentists if they can find one, we gave them little toy cars and small dolls and blow up beach balls, we also visited Paradise beach again as we had already done that, the fishing scene there is good and they dont mind photos being taken, quite large boats being rolled in up the beach on logs by 15 to 20 men, is a sight to be seen, and the local women and children sat on the hillock on the beach taking the catch of sea snails out of the shells, people were generally very nice there, one guy shouted of us and we ah what tale we going to get now LOL, couldnt have been more wrong he came over and gave us a giant snail shell may 10" long and 3-1/2" diameter for nothing we did offer money but he said no it is a present, we did give lots of kids toys pens and paper there we also visited Kim Kombo wine vineyard where they make lots of different wines, http://www.kimkombo.gm/, we also stopped for dinner, Julie just said the trip was OK,

but as I said we got about a fair bit on our own with our friend, and the schools were more needy elsewhere to be honest, like I said in my other post,one of the schools we visited in Serrekunda it had one class room with the roof caving in, and about 50 young children in, not a poster on the wall or any thing we gave them a map of the world amongst every thing mention before, one poor little boy was so excited he threw up everywhere poor little mite,

but please dont let me put you off the trip thats just my opinion like I just said Julie just said it was good, as shes reading it as I write

everywhere you go when they see white people they shout 2 bobs, it comes from the old colonial days when English people employed locals and paid them 2 bob (2 Shillings a month) to work for them,

Which hotel are you staying at

Dave

 

[Amp34]

Hmmm, although that sounds ok it seems to be like a lot of the other trips, focusing on giving things to the poor etc. Without trying to sound harsh that's not really my thing, although my GF reckons african children are cute lol. I'm much more interested in seeing the landscape and wildlife . I have no problem with bumsters, just wear my glasses, ignore them or say no and carry on but being expected to give is something I can't stand (and something that looks like I will have to put up with). Having said that, you mention maps, I have a load of National Geographic posters lying around that I never use, worth taking?

We're staying in the Kairaba Hotel on the senegambian strip, apparently quite nice, and i'm guessing we'll spend quite a lot of time there.

 

[Just Dave]

Hi andy

Not everyone wants money off you, as you say just ignore them and theyll move on, the bumsters aint really that bad, just a bit annoying at times, when you just want a nice quite stroll, dont get me wrong there are lots of very friendly folks who just want to chat, the schools do expect donations which is fair enough, as they dont have much, think they would like the maps of the world and National Geographic posters.

Kairaba Hotel is not far from the monkey park which we liked heres a shot of Julie when a green vervet monkey ran up her back onto her shoulder

wild life is great especially birds as they have over 550 resident species, amongst my favs were the many different owls which you can see at Abuko, if your into birding go there and Kotu is great for rollers about 6 species, 3 kingfishers malachite, giant and pied, cormorants, cardinals, many finches, egrets, herons 3 types, eagles, vultures, (No not the bumsters ) wild boar, monitor lizards, think my fav bird I saw was the umbrella heron, which is black and as it stands in the water looking for fish it opens its wings over its head like an umbrella the fish swim into the shade and bang they catch them, I have shots of them I'll dig them out as their on a cd, this little chap a fire finch used to come everyday to our room as I put water on a saucer, crumbs of bread and one of the local man gave me some seed to feed it,

Dave

 

[Sarin]

We went to Gambia last year stayed at the Kombo beach hotel Kotu

I stayed in the same place, was a decent hotel when i went in 2002.

Like Jamieoliverstone said a lot of the locals think that if you take their picture you are stealing their soul which is why they get a bit mad - not all of them think this, the younger generation around the tourist resorts are relaxed. I must admit i didn't "donate" much whilst i was there but i was surprised what a pair of black socks can buy you in the Gambia! Apparently they can't be bought easily in the country and the younger guys think that bright white socks look a bit silly next to their dark skin.

The bumsters around the hotels are very good at giving you presents that are free one minute but then expect something for it a few metres down the road. There are "official tourist guides" in the Gambia as they are aware that the tourists don't like getting hassled. They hang around all the major hotels and wear tanned uniforms. For not very much they will wander around with you and are very knowledgeable, this saved me loads on the "official" hotel trips which were 3 times the price for the same info. I went on the trip to James Island - where the film Roots was done. It was a plesant day out on the river then a visit to a village after with optional donations of course

Don't be scared to get a better exchange rate with the guys that hang around outside the hotels. The Dalasi is a closed currency and you can't order it before you go. I'm not condoning changing money on the black market but you get a way better rate than at the hotels (just ask the taxi drivers) If you want to see something really impressive go to Banjul and change your money there, the guys walk around with sports bags full of currency and peel and count it off at a rate to rival the best money counting machines in the world.

I really enjoyed the Gambia, not as much as Goa but i would definetly go back. As long as you realise that it's almost a third world country and is what you might call proper Africa - dirty and smelly at times but thats part of the experience. Expect chaos at the airport when you arrive, they are notoriously slow at customs, made worse by the searing heat and you still wearing your UK clothes, queing on the other side of the barrier to the drinks machines that are guarded by a copper with an AK47 who gets really ****ed off if you nip under the barrier to buy one - personal experience and the first time in my life that i thought i was going to get shot for a can of coke.

 

[Amp34]

Thanks again for the answers.

I'll look out those posters them perhaps, and the monkey zoo sounds good. I think we are going to go on a morning birdwatching trip too, it sounds like it can be a laugh.

Luckily i'm not with my dad, he's terrible for accepting "gifts" from people like that. Proper Africa is part of the reason I decided to go, to se what it's actually like, and yep smelly, crowded, noisy and dirty is what i'm expecting .

One last question, I noticed in one of the guide books that they charge duty on electronics and phones, even used ones, which sounds a bit worrying. I assume neither of you were charged anything for bringing your cameras and such into the country?

 

[Sarin]

I got dragged in for the customary extra chat whilst entering the country. I didn't have a digital camera with me at the time but i paid duty on something and i suspect that it was just to get the guy to hurry up and let me go? Everyones at it but don't make it sound like a bribe. Usually the phrase "is there anything i can do to speed this up" normally goes down well. I wouldn't worry though, loads of people go through Gambian customs every day with no problems

 

[Amp34]

That's not the answer I was hoping for...

Just a bit worried about taking £1000 or so's worth of camera and lenses and then being charged 10% on it!

 

[Amp34]

Well I'm back.

Had a good time and it didn't rain too much (only really 1 and a half days, with some nights as well) however it did mean our Lamin lodge trip was a washout.

The wildlife is beautiful and i'm seriously thinking of going away on a photo holiday with one of the companies that do them. The people on the other hand, I found them to be mostly either normal (standard british behaviour, occasional hello and smile) or really "friendly", those really "friendly" people were normally just after your money... However we didn't go out into the sticks too much (other than a few trips out) and the people in the outlying villages seemed to be much more friendly (just like the culture here, as soon as you get into the countryside everyone says hello etc,).

We also went to a security guards house (to see "the real gambia" as he put it), it was an interesting experience, mostly becauase although he kept saying he hadn't invited anyone back, while letting slip (accidently) that people had been. The greetings we got there from the children etc were also very different from the actual kids who hadn't/rarely seen the white people in the countryside. He also spent the rest of the holdiay when he saw us hinting he wanted money...

Overall it was actually a bit of a suprise, mainly becuase it was nowhere near as poor as I thought it as going to be (and my girlfriend mentioned the houses, clinic and markets were much cleaner and better than those in Zambia that she had worked in for a couple of months).

I think it really is one of those places that you do need a "friend" as such that you know isn't just after your money (haha to them, we're students without any ) to guide you round, and in fact the guides we had on the tours we went on did seem more like the Gambians I was told about, happy and smiling etc. You definately need to go into the country to experience the "real Gambia" and the wildlife (hippos, crocodiles and more monkeys).

I'll post a few photos shortly, although some of my wildlife shots are a bit disappointing, poor light (and no monopod taken on trips as well as trying not to annoy the GF too much) and my long lens' autofocus ********* up halfway through mean a lot of them are a bit soft...