The Perfect 5-Day Route for The Gambia

This five-day route suits travelers who want to see the Gambia beyond the Atlantic strip and do not mind a few hot hours on the South Bank Road. The style is independent and fairly relaxed, with one quiet coastal day, two upriver bases and a single long return ride. You will use gelli-gellis around Serrekunda, shared bush taxis (sept-place Peugeots and minibuses) along the South Bank Road, the small ferry or boat crossings around Janjanbureh, and a chartered river boat for the national park.

Day 1: Serrekunda and Kololi Beach

Start in Serrekunda, the country’s largest urban area and the hub every bush taxi heading inland leaves from, so sleeping here makes the next morning easy. Spend the morning in Serrekunda Market, a maze of tin-roofed stalls selling dried fish, tie-dyed cloth, shea butter and phone credit, where nobody is performing for tourists. In the late afternoon take a gelli-gelli (around D15 to 25) to Kololi Beach for a swim and grilled fish at one of the beach bars as the light … read more 👉

This five-day route suits travelers who want to see the Gambia beyond the Atlantic strip and do not mind a few hot hours on the South Bank Road. The style is independent and fairly relaxed, with one quiet coastal day, two upriver bases and a single long return ride. You will use gelli-gellis around Serrekunda, shared bush taxis (sept-place Peugeots and minibuses) along the South Bank Road, the small ferry or boat crossings around Janjanbureh, and a chartered river boat for the national park.

Day 1: Serrekunda and Kololi Beach

Start in Serrekunda, the country’s largest urban area and the hub every bush taxi heading inland leaves from, so sleeping here makes the next morning easy. Spend the morning in Serrekunda Market, a maze of tin-roofed stalls selling dried fish, tie-dyed cloth, shea butter and phone credit, where nobody is performing for tourists. In the late afternoon take a gelli-gelli (around D15 to 25) to Kololi Beach for a swim and grilled fish at one of the beach bars as the light goes orange. Get to bed early; the garage at Westfield or Brikama is busiest before 8am.

Day 2: Tendaba and Kiang West National Park

Ride east for 3 to 4 hours to Tendaba, a riverside village whose camp sits right on the Gambia River’s wide brown estuary. The move makes sense because it breaks the long upriver journey in half and drops you at the doorstep of Kiang West National Park, the country’s largest protected area. Take an afternoon pirogue into the mangrove creeks across the river for kingfishers, herons and the occasional crocodile sliding off a mudbank, or walk the dry woodland behind the village where warthogs and baboons are common sights.

Days 3-4: Janjanbureh, Kuntaur, River Gambia National Park and Wassu

Continue 2.5 to 3.5 hours by bush taxi to Janjanbureh, the old colonial river town on MacCarthy Island. It is small enough to walk end to end in under an hour, with crumbling warehouses, a riverfront that empties at dusk and lodges that arrange boats. Sleep two nights here so the next day is free of luggage. On day 4 cross to the north bank and head to Kuntaur, the launch point for boat trips into River Gambia National Park, where rehabilitated chimpanzees live on the Baboon Islands. Landing is not permitted, so you watch from the boat, and hippos surface in the channels more often than people expect. Combine it with the stone circles at Wassu, a few kilometers away, where dozens of laterite pillars stand in rings that are well over a thousand years old, alongside a small museum explaining the burials beneath them.

Day 5: Back to Serrekunda

The return to Serrekunda is the one long day: 5 to 6 hours of road, so leave Janjanbureh at first light when the vehicles fill fastest. You will roll into the Kombos by mid-afternoon with enough time for a cold drink and a final evening by the coast before your flight.

If you have an extra half day near Tendaba, ask the camp about a boat into Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve on the north bank, a maze of mangrove creeks where you will rarely see another visitor.