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As part of our commitment in supporting responsible tourism, the TTAG with the assistance of Gambian Experience and some donations from local saw mills.
We were able to recently build and hand over to the Gambian Tourist Authority, five life guard towers on the beaches in tourist areas, ensuring the safety of Tourist and citizens alike. .
For your Safety always check sea conditions, look for the nearest flag which will indicated the colours : WHITE—SAFE SWIMMING
BLUE – SWIM WITH CAUSION
RED — DANGER , NO SWIMMING
WHITE WITH BLACK CROSS — NO LIFE GUARD ON DUTY
Enjoy your Gambia Holidays!
Our members are involved in Gambian restaurants, tours, excursions, eco-tourism, car rentals, and shops within the vibrant Gambia Tourism Industry.
Please visit our website www.ttag.gm
Though the Gambia is small it offers a wide variety of sites offering tourist excursions and attractions. There are numerous land-based tours, mixed excursions and river trips.
Starting from the coastal holiday resorts of Kombo North you can begin with the various tourist attractions of Banjul the capital where there is Gambia national Museum on Independence Drive, the bustling and livelyAlbert Market, the huge arch at the entrance to the capital or marvel at some of the colonial architecture.
A few kilometres away from the capital and towards the coastal areas you get to the major vacation locations of Bakau, Cape Point, Fajara, Kololi, (Senegambia strip) and Kotou where you can enjoy local attractions of endless goldenbeaches and almost guaranteed sunshine and other leisure activities such as watersports, quad-biking, golf and tennis. These areas are where most tourist choose to spend there time with its numerous restaurants, bars, shops and local night clubs particularly in the Kololi & Senegambia areas.
At Bakau there is the Craft Market, Katchikally Crocodile Pool (whose crocs are allegedly said to be so tame they allow tourist to touch them) further inland you find Serrekunda town with its dazzling and hectic market, Sunday Wresting and tie-and-dye factory. There is also the Bijilo Forest Park which is within easy walking distance from the Kairaba or Senegambia hotels. The destinations of Brufut Heights and Brufut Gardens are becoming an increasingly important resort destinations.
For the more adventurous you can take a one-day or half-day excursion further down the coast of theTanji Village Museum and bird reserve where you can hire a boat and take an excursion among the mangroves with amazing unspoilt scenery. You can also go for camel safaris at Tanji which is located just after the bridge on the left.
Birdwatching is possible even within the tropical gardens of the major hotels and many actively encourage birds to breed on their hotel complexes. However the Gambia has many wildlife & bird reserves such Tanji and Abuko Nature Reserve which is a 20 minutes drive from most hotels.
Abuko forest is also home to hyenas and various species of monkeys.There are numerous safari camps located up-country and most are to be found on the river banks offering reasonably descent accommodation.
For the even more adventurous you can visit the Tanbi Wetland Reserve which is located directly south of the capital. It is a large expanse of creeks and mangrove swamps with plenty of opportunities for cruising, bird watching fishing.Fishing excursion opportunities are endless. You can choose both sea or creek fishing as well as the river itself where you can hire a boat from numerous tour operators located at Denton Bridge.
Be sure to also see:
Abuko Nature Reserve Bao Bolon (also spelt Baobolong) Fort Bullen Basse Santa Su Brufut Heights and Gardens Resort Jinack Island National Park of Niumi Kanilai Game Park Ancient stone circles at Kerr Batch Pirang Forest National Park Tanji River Karinti Bird Reserve Wassu Stone Circles.
Enjoy your Gambia Holidays!
Our members are involved in Gambian restaurants, tours, excursions, eco-tourism, car rentals, and shops within the vibrant Gambia Tourism Industry.
Please visit our website www.ttag.gm
Makasutu a 500-hectare piece of bush in the Kombo central district of the republic of The Gambia is deemed by some to be a devil's home. They say he is there in the form of a ninkinanko or dragon, and protects the hidden crown and clothes of King Jatta from Busumbala who was killed 200 years ago by the Muslim king Kombo Silla on his way east to take over the country.
Jatta's men took the crown and clothes and placed them for safekeeping in the area of Makasutu, now known as the Big Forest. This skyline of ancient baobab and strangler trees looms over the eastern end of Makasutu and is now under the self-imposed guardianship of Echin, a Jola tribesman.
The devil is not the only presence there to ward off encroachers. Along with him are jinns and giants -- spectral creatures that straddle animism and Islam. They help watch over an Edenesque orchard, which is thought to appear to those with a purity of heart trekking across the land. Mandingo tribesmen tell you in ominous undertones that you can eat the fruit of the orchard while you are in the forest but can never leave with it.
When the Islamic wave came down through the Sahara in the 12th century it gave Makasutu its name, and greater protection from the men who wanted to ravage the bush of timber and wildlife. It became a place of prayer, and so a Mecca (Maka) in the forest (sutu). It was strictly protected by local kings and marabouts who said that no tree could be felled or animal hunted in the sacred grounds. The land until the turn of the century was used only for godly communion. Men prayed and boys recently circumcised in the name of Allah were brought to bathe in Mandina Bilon -- a tributary of the main Gambia river that lies five kilometres to the north. The Bilon brings fish to Makasutu as the tide swells; from its sandy banks grow thick lines of mangroves, and from their grey tentacles the Koran women collect oysters.
As the 20th century moved in Makasutu with its untouched supply of wood and wildlife became a new mecca for the people of Kembujeh and neighbouring villages. It was on the verge of being stripped bare, when in 1992 Lawrence Williams, an architect, and James English, an engineer, came across the land and decided it would make a perfect location for a retreat and oasis for overlanders coming down off the Sahara. They bought the land from the Sanni family who had ancient ownership rights, and after eight years of fencing and planting thousands of trees the land once again has found a protectorate.
Makasutu has become a model for ecotourism in Africa. Local women continue to grow crops on the western portion, and oyster women come and collect as ever, but now the birds are returning in droves to the trees and baboons stop at the safe haven on their migration route. Momadou Jeeba, a Jola tribesman, has been manager at Makasutu for the past seven years and revealed that tong before Williams and English arrived he and others had dreams that two whites would come by river and settle at Makasutu and keep it from harm -- a myth that has now turned into reality.
The Karon tribe oyster catchers were utilising the `fruits' of Makasutu long before the ecotourism project. Mangroves cover the banks of the Mandina Bilon and oysters cling to the branches submerged under the water. The women reach the branches by canoe and chip off the oysters at low tide. The women play an important role in keeping Makasutu fused with the local community.
Enjoy your Gambia Holidays!
Our members are involved in Gambian restaurants, tours, excursions, eco-tourism, car rentals, and shops within the vibrant Gambia Tourism Industry.
Please visit our website www.ttag.gm
