In 2005 I started sponsoring a little girl in The Gambia. She was just 6 years old. A few months later I visited The Gambia for the first time and, of course, I arranged to visit her, her school and her family. Nearly 8 years later I am still sponsoring her and...
I recently shared with you the wonderful welcome we received in the village of Kanuma in my post On the Trail of the mythical Kumpo of Kanuma. This was a great experience for all of us, a real treat, but the main reason we visited this remote West African village...
When I heard that a kumpo, a mythical character of the West African Jola tribe, had been spotted near the village of Kanuma, just a few hours drive from where we were staying in The Gambia, there was only one thing for it; I was determined to arrange an expedition f...
In the very early hours last Friday morning my alarm went off. Finally the day had arrived and it was time to start the journey that I had been looking forward to for months. Seven of us were heading off to The Gambia for a few full-on days of exploration, adventure...
A photo essay from West Africa about the people who make a place feel like home
If you have ever been to The Gambia, or indeed any of the surrounding West African countries, you will no doubt have seen the local men gathered together around a small teapot. This well-loved past time involves a lot of chattering while drinking scolding hot and...
The Gambia is a fabulous location for wildlife watching. Bottle nose dolphins can be seen in the estuary of The River Gambia. Hippos live in the protected area of the River Gambia National Park, as do chimpanzees. Closer to the coastal tourists resorts, monkeys...
This week's travel snap is also my entry for Round 46 of Travel Photo Roulette with the theme of 'Smile'. If you'd like to enter you'll find all the details and all the entries on the website 2Away who are the hosts for this round. I took this photo while visiting a...
The Gambia is justifiable known as ‘The smiling coast of Africa’ as everywhere you go you will find a smile to greet you. These two ladies, cleaning fish at Sanyang at the leisurely pace that is typical of this little West African country, were only too pleased to...
Last December when I visited the small West African country, The Gambia, I enjoyed a wonderful morning learning how to cook a traditional Gambian meal with the charismatic Ida in her family home. By lunchtime the smells from the cooking pot were driving us all to...
Ida teaching tourists to play an ancient traditional game from West Africa is this week's travel snap. I love the expressions on their faces. Can anyone beat Ida? I first came across the game of wuri when I saw a family playing it in a back street in Mindelo on São...
When I received a copy of a new cookbook through the post I eagerly ripped open the parcel, as I’d been looking forward to reading The Gambian Cookbook – Recipes from the Smiling Coast, ever since I’d been asked by the authors to review it. My first impression was...
Following on from my earlier post about World Food Night, featuring a colourful bowl of fish benechin, I wanted to share with you the wonderful morning I spent with Ida Cham-Njai learning how to cook Gambian style! I joined a small group of tourists on Ida’s cookery...
Just a few miles north-east of Brikama, which is the second largest town in The Gambia, you will find Makasutu Forest, a lush green wilderness fed by a tributary of the River Gambia. Now a private eco-reserve with a handful of luxury lodges, the owners have worked...
Have you ever cooked for 900 people for a wedding and have 1,500 turn up! No, unsurprisingly, me neither. Jonathan Groves, the superb chef at Ngala Lodge has. Last month, while staying at this beautiful boutique hotel in The Gambia, West Africa, I was lucky enough to...
The Gambia is known as the smiling coast of Africa for good reason and I love the smiles of this brother and sister playing around together at a Jola Festival where the brother was initiated. You can read about the fabulous day I had and see more photos on my post An...
Eating akara, dancing to Baatin and saying goodbye to The Gambia Thursday morning and it's our last full day. After another school visit in the morning (on behalf of The Gambia Experience's School Development Fund), Shelagh and I spend the afternoon visiting our...
Children's smiling faces and shouts of "Kathryn" and "Shelagh" greet us in Jeddah, a poor district of Brikama. It's Wednesday morning and we're off to visit Jeddah Progress Nursery School in Brikama (for children 4 to 7 years old), a school Nyodema has been supporting...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! This week's photograph is of the children at Jeddah Progress Nursery School in The Gambia. Although The Gambia is a Muslim country they are very tolerant of other religions and it is not unknown for Muslims to join in...
Cooking fish benachin and visiting the newly built school at Dairuharu Monday I'm up fairly early today as I'm going on an excursion run by The Gambia Experience 'Cooking with Ida'. Nine of us from various hotels arrive at Ida's and are shown two racks of colourful...
