Our February 2026 holiday
Contents
Introduction Travel to Senegal Gorée Island Joal & Fadiouth Banjul Kiang West & Bao Bolong Kuntaur & National Park Janjanbureh & Wassu Kunta Kinteh Island Dakar Conclusion
"Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffre, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoro and Binte Kinte."The opening words of "Roots" by Alex Haley
I used to have an objective to have visited as many countries as my age. Then I found that I was racing ahead with my international travel. Now my wish is the reverse: to live for as many years as the number of countries that I've visited! This latest trip takes my country count to 93 (I'm currently aged 77).
I travelled with my fiancée Tess to West Africa on a package tour organised by the travel company Jules Verne [click here], who subcontracted with the Greek company Variety Cruises [click here]. It was my first cruise, but a cruise made sense, given where we went, along a coast and up a river. Tess has been on many cruises and assured me that this one was very informal and not be compared to the usual large cruise ship experience.
Our destinations were the West African nations of Senegal and The Gambia. Visas were not required but evidence of yellow fever inoculation was necessary.
France had a strong presence in Senegal since the 17th century, but the British established a permanent military presence at the Gambia River in 1816 and the territory became a Crown Colony in 1843. The British wanted this control in order to combat use of the river for the transatlantic slave trade, having abolished its own participation in this infamous business.
Following independence of Senegal from France and of The Gambia from Britain, there was a brief attempt at a Senegambia Confederation, but this only lasted from 1982 to 1989.
Senegal owes its name to the Senegal River which borders it to the north and east. Along the whole of its western side, it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
Historically it was under French colonial rule from 1677 to 1960 when it was known as French West Africa. In African terms, it is a small country with an area roughly similar to Romania or Greece in Europe. The population is around 18 million. The largest ethnic groups are Wolof (40%), Fula (28%) and Serer (16%). There are six languages.
The capital is Dakar with a population of 1.3 million.
The Gambia owes its name to the Gambia River which stretches the length of the country - some 700 miles - with strips of land to its north and south. It is surrounded by Senegal on all sides, except for the western part which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
It was part of the British Empire from 1843 to 1965. It is the smallest country in continental Africa. The population is about 2.5 million. The largest ethnic groups are Mandinka (34%), Fula (15%) and Wolof (9%). There are 19 languages.
The capital is Banjul with a population of only 27,000.
Locals liken Senegal and The Gambia to the mouth and the tongue respectively - or alternatively to the mouth and the banana.
Senegal's currency is the West African CFA franc, while that of The Gambia is the dalasi. On board our ship, however, the currency used was the Euro, but credit cards were accepted.
Day 1: Friday - Arrive in Senegal
On Friday 13th, we started our trip. It was 4C and cloudy in London when we flew out of Heathrow Airport at 7 am heading for Brussels. After a trip of just 40 minutes and then a wait of four hours, we flew down to Dakar, a journey of 5 hours 40 minutes.
There is no time difference between the UK and Senegal and it was about 6.30 pm when we landed. We were spending one night in a hotel before beginning our cruise. The hotel was actually a seaside resort on the other side of Dakar, so it was around 8.30 pm when we reached our room in the 4-star Terrou-Bi Hotel [click here].
This is a rather opulent location by the sea and Tess and I only had time to have dinner and, next morning, breakfast there before we were off on our travels.
Day 2: Saturday - Visit Gorée Island and cruise to the Saloum River Delta
A sombre theme of our week in West Africa was reminders of the transatlantic slave trade that was conducted over some 400 years (16th-19th centuries) and involved the forced transportation of an estimated 12-13 million Africans to the Americas.
Indeed our holiday began with a trip to Gorée Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Dakar. Here, our local guide Omar told us about the island's slave trade history at the museum in Fort d'Estrées and the Maison des Esclaves, where captives were imprisoned before being shipped overseas. We paid our respects at the Mémorial Gorée Almadies, built by Guadalope to honour victims of the slave trade.
Afterwards, we strolled through the island's alleys lined with pastel-coloured buildings, now home to a thriving arts community. Then we stopped for lunch at an open-air restaurant called "Chez Thio" before taking the ferry back to Dakar.
At the port, we were immediately driven round to our cruise ship "Harmony V". Our cabin - grandly called a stateroom - was barely large enough to accommodate the double bed, but it was adequate and had a decent-sized window. The bathroom and shower were really small but again quite adequate. Toilet paper was not to be flushed but placed in a bin. There was WiFi, but you had to pay for it and it was slow.
A safety drill by the Greek captain Evangelos and lots of briefing by the Czech cruise leader Jacob settled us into the way of things.
All meals were included in the holiday package, which was the safest and most convenient arrangement, and Tess and I sat each time with the other two British tourists, a Canadian living in Switzerland, and a Portuguese with fluent English. The food and service were excellent.
We started to meet the other passengers: there were 28 of us from a variety of countries, including seven women from Lithuania and others from the Britain, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Canada and the USA. The crew numbered 19, so we were were well looked after. They came from Greece, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, and maybe more.
After dinner on board, we sailed south through the night along the Senegalese coast towards the Sine-Saloum River Delta.
Day 3: Sunday - Explore Joal & Fadiouth and sail to Banjul, Gambia
This morning, we arrived in Senegal's Sine-Saloum Delta, a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an important birding area. The park is a haven for lots of mammal and fish species, from marine turtles and dolphins to West African manatees and crocodiles.
Today's optional excursion started at 9.15 am and finished at 3.45 pm and it was an exciting time. Our yacht moored off the coast, while we took pirogues (motorised wooden canoes) to the the fishing village of Djiffer, where we made a 'wet landing' (shoes and socks off and trousers rolled up).
Then a coach took us one hour north to the coastal village of Joal opposite the island of Fadiouth which is set on land made of clam shells that are traditionally used in local crafts and architecture. Although Senegal is overwhelmingly Muslim, for historic colonial reasons, Fadiouth is substantially Catholic with a Church of St Francis Xavier.
We explored the island of Fadiouth by crossing new long wooden bridges and taking slim wooden canoes crafted from a single piece of wood and navigated with long poles, spotting giant herons and pelicans as we floated by. Back at Joal, we enjoyed lunch overlooking the island before returning to Djiffer.
On our outward journey, we had stopped to observe vultures devouring a dead donkey. Now, on the return journey, we halted to view a huge baobab tree, said to be the oldest in Senegal, some 1800 years old.
Late afternoon, we continued sailing south to our port for the night in Gambia's capital, Banjul, the gateway to the 700-mile-long Gambia River.
We were now in The Gambia and we were warned of something called 'GMT' meaning 'Gambia maybe time'. All timings on this cruise were very strict.
Day 4: Monday - Explore Banjul city & Kachikally Crocodile Pool, then sail to Tendaba
Today, our vessel stayed docked in Banjul so the group could enjoy an optional half-day excursion.
This was a tour of Banjul city, which sits on an island, St Mary, home to colonial-era buildings. The highlights included the mid-19th-century Albert Market, where stalls heave with fabrics, produce and household goods, the National Museum, offering a glimpse into the country's history, culture and archaeology, Arch 22, which commemorates the coup d'état on 22 July 1994, and finally a batik factory.
Also the group visited nearby Bakau, home to the Kachikally Crocodile Pool, which has sacred significance for Gambians, for whom crocodiles represent fertility. Dozens of West African crocodiles - less aggressive than Nile crocodiles - lazed on the banks while locals prayed and tourists were photographed with them. Many of the non-locals assumed that the crocs were somehow sedated; however, when the food arrived, this impression was quickly dispelled.
Tess and I missed all of this, since I woke early in the morning with a very severe case of what is dubbed 'Banjul belly'. I needed the attention of a local doctor and the prescribing of anti-biotics. I had to spend most of the day in bed and ate almost nothing all day, but quickly bounced back.
Meanwhile Tess watched fish being unloaded by local crew and sold by the operators of the Chinese-owned fishing boats. China has built The Gambia a conference centre in exchange for these local fishing rights - just one example from many of Chinese influence in Africa.
Mid-afternoon, we set sail upstream, delighting in observing some playful dolphins riding the waves created by our vessel. We eventually docked next to the riverside village of Tendaba.
The pre-dinner daily briefing featured a sad story from our local guide. Once, when he was away from home, his then wife and mother-in-law arranged for his two young daughters to be circumcised. He was so horrified that he divorced his wife and now has a new family. This was a stark illustration of how tradition and modernity still clash in this deeply Muslim country.
Day 5: Tuesday - Visit Kiang West National Park and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve
I made a remarkable recovery from my indisposition of yesterday and was able - with Tess, of course - to be part of the whole of today's programme.
After breakfast, there was an optional excursion by pirogue (motorised wooden canoe) to the south bank of the river. We landed at Tendaba, a predominately Muslim fishing village home to around 600 residents.
Here we boarded a safari truck and continued to Batelling village, the entrance to Kiang West National Park which is a sanctuary for over 250 species of birds, as well as a host of animals including elusive baboons.
To be honest, in spite of visiting two water holes in the National Park, we saw few birds and personally I found that they were too small and too swift for me to take photographs.
However, as we left the National Park, we stopped for a fabulous display of dancing by the women and children of the local village. They were so colourful, so enthusiastic, and so welcoming that it made the morning. Of course, there was a collection.
After lunch on the yacht, there was another excursion by pirogue, this time on the north side of the river.
Here we explored the nearby Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve, which features six major bolongs (creeks) that attract a remarkable array of rare and migratory birds. Compared to the morning excursion, we saw - as well as a lazing crocodile - lots of attractive birds. However, as soon as our pirogue approached, the noise of the motor caused our feathered friends to fly off, making photography very difficult.
We spent the night docked in Tendaba.
Day 6: Wednesday - Sail to River Gambia National Park and Baboon Island, dock in Kuntaur
During the morning, we sailed up the Gambia River to Kuntaur. This was as far up the river as our boat was going to go - about two-thirds of the length or approaching 500 miles - and Variety Cruises is the only tourist company that takes a ship this far up the river.
Kuntaur is a serene village located on the northern bank of the river, known for its tranquil charm in spite of the obvious poverty.
Our local guide Kalifa took us on a walk around the village, which managed to take around two hours, because we were constantly surrounded by lots and lots of children who wanted to practice their English or at least view these strange creatures from another world. It was the start of Ramadan and there was no school, if indeed they were even of school age.
Nine-year-old Mohammed spent a lot of time with me and took me to his home, one room in a compound where I met his father and stepmother.
The community has one main street which is just a dusty thoroughfare for donkey-driven carts and some motorbikes, with a couple of shops and a local council office. It was utterly a different world and our visit was a moving and humbling experience.
In the afternoon, we boarded yet another pirogue (this one of two levels with a bar and a 'toilet') for an optional trip - three hours in all - to the southernmost tip of River Gambia National Park, where there are five islands which, combined, are home to 150 chimpanzees.
We were joined by a ranger who told us about the history and organisation of the park's fauna as we sailed. Amazingly, he had learned to identify each of the 150 chimps and to know each of their names.
We cruised slowly past the shores of Baboon Island, looking out for the resident chimps protected by the park's Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project. The animals were very hard to spot but, over time, we found about a dozen in ones and twos down by the waterline and behind protective bushes. I did not have the equipment to photograph them.
Apparently, sometimes one can see hippos in the local waters. We heard them, but they evaded us.
When we arrived back in Kuntaur, we were met at the pier with a performance by the Kankurang dance group, believed to have spiritual powers that ward off evil spirits. Kankurang refers to the family of Mandinka masquerades that were covered in head to toe by leaves or bark.
Day 7: Thursday - Visit Janjanbureh, the Wassu stone circles and cruise to Banjul
After breakfast, Tess and I joined an optional excursion by bus and ferry across the Gambia River to Janjanbureh, also known by its former colonial name, Georgetown. The ferry crossings were particularly fun.
There were no set timings - the ferry just goes when it is full - and aboard we had a four-by-four vehicle, a donkey-drawn carriage with a goat as cargo, local folk in their multi-coloured garb, and we western tourists.
The historical highlights on Janjanbureh included the busy market, the very old Methodist church, and the former Governor's Residence which now houses a variety of public functions. There is a modest triangular park which hosts the small Freedom Monument, whose centrepiece is a replacement tree for the original which, if reached and touched by runaway slaves, would free them from enslavement. Also there is the Underground Slave House (but this is closed because it is falling apart).
A nature feature of the island - pointed out to us by our cruise coordinator - was lots of bats hiding high up in trees. These were Gambian reticulated fruit bats.
After the return ferry ride, we visited the local school of Lamin Koto. This establishment has been financially supported for some years by Variety Cruises and passengers on its holidays, so the uniformed children lined up to meet us and sang us a welcome song.
In spite of this special funding, the facilities are terribly basic, with simply a black panel on one wall of each of the two classrooms on which lessons are written in English with a white crayon.
Finally, we continued to the UNESCO-listed Wassu National Monument, the country's largest collection of megaliths, mostly made of laterite and believed to be an ancient burial site.
This particular collection is part of the much wider Senegambian collection which encompasses around 29,000 stones located in some 2,000 individual sites. The dating is uncertain, anywhere between the 3rd century BCE and the 16th century CE.
Just 15 minutes after we were back on board, we began the long journey back downstream to Banjul. Late afternoon, we stopped for a while at a place called Kaur where some of us went for a walk to the local village, but it was almost 40C, the market had closed, and the place was a tip. A significant source of local employment is peanut processing, which we found being carried out in dilapidated warehouses, usually for the Chinese market.
The evening consisted of the captain's cocktails (which Tess asserted was not to be compared with the equivalent on large cruise ships), the captain's dinner (which was essentially the same as our other shipboard dinners), and music and dancing organised by a Greek translator passenger who had a striking sense of 'joie de vivre'.
Day 8: Friday - Tour Kunta Kinteh Island and sail overnight to Dakar, Senegal
This morning, as our ship dropped anchor, we boarded a small boat to Kunta Kinteh Island, formerly known by the British occupiers as James Island.
Strategically positioned near the mouth of the Gambia River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean, the island was ruled during the transatlantic slave trade by the Portuguese, Dutch, French and then (from 1661) the British. In colonial times, it was called St Andrew's Island, but given its present name in 2011.
In 1976, the island became famous as the setting for Alex Haley's book "Roots", which tells the harrowing story of an enslaved man, Kunta Kinteh. The book was made into a television series.
There is virtually nothing to see on the island now, but much to feel. The island is only about a third of its original size and almost nothing remains of the structures that once housed the slaves and their captors.
We headed back to the ship for lunch and then sailed on to Banjul. While docked at the capital, we had a visit from, and short performance by, the local player of a special West African 21-string instrument called the kora. It made a beautiful sound.
At this point, the seven women passengers from Lithuania left us. The rest of us sailed north back to Dakar in Senegal.
On our last evening together, one of our group made a slide presentation on his work and of his photographs. Joe Grabowski is a Canadian educator and naturalist who runs a non-profit foundation called Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants [click here]. His photographs - mostly birds with some chimps, crocodiles and dolphins - were absolutely stunning.
Day 9: Saturday - Dakar city tour and departure
Our ship reached Dakar in the early morning and, after a final breakfast, we said farewell to the crew and disembarked.
We then took a city tour of the capital's main highlights led by a local guide called Elhadji: the Marché Kermel food market (completed by the French in 1910), the Byzantine Cathedral of African Remembrance, the stately Presidential Palace, the National Assembly, and Independence Square.
At this point, we had an enjoyable visit to the impressive and informative Museum of Black Civilisations [click here] . This was built for the Senegalese by the Chinese and opened in 2018. The ground floor is devoted to the emergence of humankind on the African continent, while the upper floor is allocated to contemporary African art.
Lunch was in a local restaurant called "Chez Loutcha" where most of us played safe and ordered omelette.
In the afternoon, we strolled around the artisan market of Soumbédioune to browse the crafts and fabrics. Next, from a neighbouring hillside, we looked down on the impressive Mosque of the Divinity with its twin towers.
Finally, we drove to the top of a hill where there is located something called the Monument of the African Renaissance [click here]. This is a huge structure of man, woman and child and, given its Soviet-era styling, I was not surprised to learn that, while designed by the French, the construction in 2008-2010 was supervised by North Koreans. It has always been a hugely controversial endeavour.
There a lift to the head of the male figure but it only takes four passengers at a time. I queued for the privilege.
Dinner was at a delightful location, called "Le Ngor", overlooking the rolling waves of the ocean.
Then we headed to the airport for our return home.
This was quite unlike any other overseas trip that I have made (and I've now done over 200).
It was on a cruise ship, but a compact one with excellent staff and fascinating passengers. I particularly enjoyed making friends with a retired colonel from the US marines! The local guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, but had very strong accents when using English. The temperature was consistently in the high 30sC - a wonderful contrast to the cold and wet of the English winter.
It was not holiday with ancient ruins or grand mosques or dramatic terrain. Instead it was a visit to a part of the world unknown to most tourists and we felt that we were seeing an authentic version of Africa, full of warm hospitality but scarred by deep poverty. Such a trip would be appealing to anyone with an interest in rivers, birding, wildlife and rural Africa outside the cities.
For Tess and me, it was an opportunity to spend quality time together before our forthcoming marriage. One of the local guides noticed us holding hands often and dubbed us "the happy couples" [sic].