General Information
General information about my travels and tours
What is Included in the Price
Pick-up and drop-off from and to the airport
All accommodation in the lodges is on a full-board basis
Bottled water during day trips
All boat trips and access to nature parks and bird hides
Full transportation during the trip
No booking fees; you pay for the trip upon arrival
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
The guide and the driver remain available 24/ 24 during the tour
Double room based on 2 persons per room
What is Not Included in the Price
Flights to and from Gambia
Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages in the lodges
Your travel insurance
Tips for local guides and captains (these are very small amounts)
All your personal expenses, such as purchasing souvenirs or clothing
Security tax of €20 or 1000 Dalasis per person. This tax must be paid in cash at the airport.
Water for brushing your teeth in the lodges
Supplement for single room
Travel documents
Vaccinations and Precautions
For Access to Gambia or Senegal, You Need a Valid Passport. Please Note the Following Requirements:
Validity Period: Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry.
Visa Page: The passport must contain at least one blank page for customs stamps.
A passport, also known as an international passport, is an officially recognized travel document in booklet form. It is accepted worldwide as identification and is essential for international travel.
For a safe trip to Gambia and Senegal, it is important to contact your doctor a few weeks before departure. You may need vaccinations. The following information provides an overview of recommended and mandatory measures.
Vaccinations
Yellow fever:
Mandatory for travel from Gambia to Senegal.
Not mandatory for Gambia alone, but strongly recommended.
Protection: One vaccination provides lifelong protection.
Hepatitis A and B
3 booster shots are required for lifelong protection.
Diphtheria, tetanus and polio (Di-Te-Per):
Booster shot recommended if the last vaccination was a long time ago.
Typhoid
Provides protection against infections for 3 years.
Rabies
Not mandatory, the choice is up to the traveler.
Mosquito protection and malaria
Malaria tablets
Strongly recommended for both Gambia and Senegal. Consult your doctor for the correct type of medication.
Mosquito protection:
Use DEET-based sprays and roll-ons, especially from the evening when malaria mosquitoes become active.
Moss lodges provide mosquito nets, but I will check this in advance.
Important warning
Malaria mosquitoes bite mainly in the evening, at night and in the early morning. If you develop a fever during or after your stay in a malaria area, it is essential to see a doctor.
Hygiene and drinking water
Hygiene
The hygiene standards in Gambia and Senegal differ from those in Europe. Take a well-stocked travel pharmacy, including anti-diarrhoeal medicine.
Drinking water
Tap water is not drinkable. Avoid ice cubes and only drink water from sealed bottles.
Avoid vegetables that may have been washed with tap water. Brush your teeth with bottled water.
Flight Information
The flights are not included in my tours and need to be booked separately by you. Fortunately, there are various tour operators and airlines offering flights to Gambia, such as TUI Belgium, TUI Netherlands, Brussels Airlines, and Corendon.
TUI: TUI offers flights during the high season, from October to April. On the return flight, TUI usually makes a short stopover in Cape Verde.
Brussels Airlines: This airline flies to Gambia year-round. Often, there is a brief stop in Dakar, Senegal. This stop lasts only 30 minutes and is just a short distance from Gambia.
I advise you to book well in advance to find the best fares and flight schedules.
Electricity
The Climate in Gambia
The mains voltage of electricity in Gambia is 230 volts. I advise you to bring a world plug; the sockets differ from those in Belgium and the Netherlands. Keep in mind that electricity in Gambia regularly cuts out. You can charge your camera batteries almost everywhere in the lodges.
The climate of Gambia is classified as a tropical savannah climate. The average maximum temperature is above 30° throughout the year. In the summer months, the temperature drops very slowly at night and it usually does not get cooler than about 23°. In the winter, the temperature drops a little further at night, to about 17°. The climatological year in Gambia can be divided into two halves in terms of precipitation. It does not rain from the end of October to the beginning of June. The rainy season in Gambia starts from the second half of June. This means that a large amount of rain falls in a short period of time. The heaviest showers usually fall at the end of the afternoon or in the evening. The humidity is also high during this period.