INTRODUCTION:
Banjul, officially the City of Banjul (former
name Bathurst until 1973), is the capital of the Republic of The
Gambia, in West Africa, as well as the administrative centre
of the country and the seat of government.
The port city has a population
of about 31,000 and is divided into 3 districts. Its land area
is 12 sq km (4.6 sq. mi), and it is located on Saint Mary's Island,
at the southern part of the Gambia
River ria estuary. The flat island was leased by the British
colonial government, from
the King of Kombo, for 103 iron bars per annum in 1816, and the
Bathurst settlement was named after the Secretary of State for
the British Colonies, Lord Henry Bathurst.
ARRIVAL:
 The
Banjul capital is not usually the first stop for most visitors
on flights to The Gambia; after landing
at Yundum Airport, most
tourists go straight to the beach resort hotels
along the Atlantic coast, which are mostly in Bijilo,
Brufut, Kololi,
Kotu and Kerr
Sering. There is however the beach based, 4 star, Atlantic
Hotel.
There are three routes into the capital. If you are travelling
by road from southern Gambia, the coastal resorts or from the
airport past Serrekunda,
you take the Banjul-Serrekunda Highway, driving past thick banks
of mangroves in the Tanbi Wetland Complex
to your right, on the way to Oyster Creek,
which separates the mainland from the island, and is traversed
by Denton Bridge. After the bridge,
the road traces the west coastline of St. Mary's Island, until
forking at Independence Drive, with Arch
22 in front of you, Wallace Cole Road to your right, Marina
Parade to your left.
The second route is to detour just before the city by turning
right into Bund Road, this takes you to the ports area.
The third route is from the north bank of the Gambia River or
northern Senegal, through the Amdalai / Karang border crossing;
you go by road to the ferry terminal at Barra
(Niumi District) on the north bank of the Gambia River, from which
a scheduled ferry service
takes you across the river to the terminal on Liberation Avenue
in city's southern commercial district. Outside the terminal turn
right to go towards the Royal Albert
Market and the Atlantic Hotel; turn left and follow the Kankujereh
Road north west to connect with the highway heading back towards
Serrekunda.
ACCOMMODATION:
 Despite
its distinctive appearance, The Gambia's capital city can't be
thought of as everyone's idea of the idyllic holiday resort. Banjul
has only one tourist-class hotel, the Atlantic
Hotel. There are also a batch of 1 or 2 star hotels
and guest houses in the centre of town, serving mostly travelling
Africans. The best of these are a little tatty, while the worst
often charge an hourly rate. However, even some of these are worth
checking out for a budget-priced experience.
THE TOWN:
 Banjul's
commercial centre is around the docks at the city's east end.
Despite the port's small size it is a critical entryway for imports
as well as exports, and the roads near the waterfront are often
jammed with trucks and lorries waiting to load newly arrived consignments
such as sugar, rice and cooking oil as they are offloaded from
container ships. Some merchandise are destined for stores on Liberation
and Ecowas Avenue as well as the Royal Albert Market, others get
transported inland and to other countries in West Africa via entrepot.
The area just inland from the port is Banjul's main shopping
sector. You won't find shopping malls, large supermarkets or even
shops with glass window displays as the business of buying and
selling is carried out in a rather casual way on the pavements,
in the main market, or in simply laid out shops jammed together
along the ground floors of former colonial trading houses and
more modern buildings. You will see numerous street hawkers, many
of them from Senegal and Guinea, peddling sunglasses, counterfeit
CDs, car steering wheel covers, auto air fresheners and other
small items.
 The
best time to go sightseeing on foot to enjoy the architecture
is after 5pm or on Saturdays and Sundays, when many businesses
have closed for the day and private sector workers depart for
the Kombos. Some of the oldest houses you might see are made of
kirinting - bamboo weave houses covered in plaster and often painted
with whitewash. These were often the homes of poorer African immigrants
on Bathurst island constructed in the early part of the 19th century.
Many were still built into the 20th century and can be found along
Mam Mberry Njie Street, Essa Faal Street, McDonnel Street and
James Senegal St. From around the 1830s came the next development
in house style with the arrival of Christian Aku settlers from
Freetown, Sierra Leone, to the island who introduced sturdier,
Krio style wooden houses.
Towards the end of the 19th century the French, Portuguese and
British merchants built trading houses typically with wrought-iron
colonnades at ground level and roofed balconies on the first floor
that can still be seen along ECOWAS Avenue, Rene Blaine Street
and Liberation Avenue.
On the north of the town is the Royal Victoria
Teaching Hospital (RVTH), government ministries in the Quadrangle,
law courts on Independence Drive and the new parliament building
just past the Arch 22 on the highway leading out of the entrance
to the capital. There are also a number of mosques in the capital.
The first mosque was built in the 19th century called the Independence
Drive Mosque, renamed the Masjid Abu Bakar Saddiq in 2014. Then
there is the King Fahad Mosque, constructed in 1988 and named
after Saudi Arabian King. It dominates the skyline at the north
of the city and is one of Banjul's most recognisable landmarks.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS & THINGS TO
DO:
 Low-rise,
often scorching, compact and teeming with mosquitoes in summer,
it's not an instantly appealing place. Its concreted streets seem
to exude pulses of oppressive heat during the humid rainy season,
with some smaller roads suffering occasional floods, which can
prohibit leisurely shopping strolls
and exploration around town.
During the winter season it's an entirely different affair; a
lot cooler and dryer, this is the time when most tourist visitors
arrive with their tour operators
or as independent travellers. The city however, is too compact
to provide many of the expected amenities and diversions of a
capital, and evening life is virtually unknown. The vast majority
of workers leave the city after working hours and head south to
their homes off of the island and onto the mainland districts
of the Kombos. This maybe because from about the mid 1980s a gradual
exodus of families out of the city and into the Kombos was well
underway.
Arch 22
 As
you approach the end of the main highway leading into Banjul you
will see to your right the rather futuristic looking parliament
building. Then straight ahead is a roundabout with a statue of
a soldier in the centre holding a small child, and above
and behind is the Arch 22,
which stands astride at the entrance to Independence Drive. Standing
high at 35m it is a huge, cream-coloured, free-standing monument,
built to commemorate the 22 July, 1994 bloodless coup when a young
army officer, Yahya Jammeh, took control of the country by ousting
President Jawara. It offers great views over the city, coastal
areas, the river and the mangroves of the Tanbi Wetland Complex.
The skyline of Banjul is also graced by the twin minarets of the
King Fahad Mosque and the State House, built by the Portuguese.
On the top floor is a small museum housing ethnographic Gambian
artifacts such a traditional textiles, agricultural tools and
weapons such as bamboo bows and arrows and wooden swords.
Albert Market
 One
of the biggest tourists attractions in Banjul is the Royal
Albert Market; it is a relaxed and oddly organised version
of the everything-under-the-Sun style of market ubiquitous throughout
West Africa. It is a maze of stalls and shops adequately spaced
by paved walkways. Behind the main front faηade, arcade, is two
floors of numbered and roller-shuttered shops. On the top floor
tailors work in booths side by side. In the first entrance alley
you walk past the gauntlet of hawkers and ghetto blasters on both
sides, giving you stereo music from different tracks.
 The
food stalls offer typical West African cooking ingredients such
as yellow, orange and deep red chili peppers, tamarind, Okra (ladies
fingers), bitter tomatoes, smoked catfish, very pungent, chopped
and dried sea snails, dark palm oil,
peanut past, a salted and dried pungent fish called 'gaija'. There
are also seasonal fruits on display such as oranges, lemons, mangos,
papaya and watermelons as well as imported apples and grapes.
Groceries are sold in variable quantities, from rice by the cup
full to cooking oil in 20 litre plastic bottle containers.
There are also stalls offering beauty products like shea butter,
lipstick, hair-extensions, hand-made and imported soap, and household
items of every kind such as buckets, cups, fans, flip-flops, sunglasses,
perfumes, incense, fulano powder, traditional medicines, clocks,
key-holders etc.
 There
are some good bargains to be had in clothing from the Far East,
and fabrics such as wax prints, cottons and designed damask in
vibrant colours. There is also a brisk trade in second-hand garments
which arrive in Gambia mostly from Europe. You can find a number
of fetish stalls, selling goat horns, loose cowrie shells, African
trade beads, kola nuts and the aptly
named bitter kola and much more.
As you go deeper into the market you will find the Banjul
Tourist Craft Market (bengdula). There is a varied selection
of batiks, leather goods, cheap and valuable jewellery such as
bangles, silver necklaces and bracelets, djembe drums, etc. There
are also a few stalls selling antiques such as wooden masks from
the West Africa region.
Commercial Area
 Albert
Market spills out into the neighbouring road called Liberation
Avenue and adjacent roads, where stores and stalls sell mostly
cheaper, low quality clothing and footwear, plus a potpourri
of household items and counterfeit CDs. There are also fabric
importers who also distribute to the public on a retail basis,
and offer an excellent range of imported fabrics in African and
overseas designs. You can find many goods often sold at higher
prices in Europe a lot cheaper in and around the market - as for
quality the old doctrine of caveat emptor applies. Remember that
as a general rule you need to try to haggle
prices down by 30% to 40% lower than the initial asking price
- 1/3 reduction is a good, general rule to remember. If you can't
agree on a price then walk away, many will call you back, and
that is a sign they are prepared to go lower, even if they don't
say so immediately.
A worthwhile place to visit is the shop at the St. Joseph's
Adult Education and Skills Centre. Based inside a colonial
Portuguese building, the centre has provided skills training to
disadvantaged women aged between 16 - 26 for over two decades.
Here you can buy handmade clothes, knitted items, embroidered
purses or take a tour of the of sewing, crafts and tie-dye classes.
It is open weekdays in the mornings to early afternoons except
for Friday when they close at mid-day.
(Tel no: +220 4228836, email:
stjskills@qanet.com).
Around the vicinity are banks and bureau de change, where you
can change your foreign currency or your travellers' cheques,
as well as some small but clean restaurants.
Gambia National Museum
 The
museum is in Banjul's northern sector
on Independence Drive and was officially opened on 18th February,
1985. Within the pleasant front garden of tamarisk and palm there
is a drinks stand and shaded seating area as well as toilets,
administrative buildings and stores. The building used to house
the Bathurst Club house
consisting of European members only.
Even though it is quite small, cramped, and dimly lit, it contains
some interesting, though sometimes not easy to find, artifacts
- some a bit dog-eared, yearning for restoration. As you are about
to enter the main hall you will see a Kankurang
mask 'guarding' the door. Inside the display hall you will
find numbered exhibits in a semblance of a circuit, from
the late 19th and 20th centuries.
You can find colonial era written and printed ephemera, including
a passenger ticket from Bathurst to Liverpool on board the Elder
Dempster Line's 'MV Apapa' - a so called a banana boat, bananas
being one of the chief exports of the Gold Coast at the time.
There is also a gathering of Oku marabout (Yoruba) pieces such
as a bridal basket, waist beads called 'bin bin', an engagement
calabash gourd, which would hold the bride's kola nuts, dowry
and other oddments.
 The
museum also collects books, colonial maps,
traditional music string instruments, cooking utensils such
as large wooden mortars and pestles, large calabash gourds, Neolithic
pottery, masks, the bau / worro (holed board game), handicrafts,
large paper model boats called fanals,
prehistoric tools, historical documents and photographs relating
to the material culture of The Gambia. In some of the dimly lit
corners, you'll see, among the crumbling ethnographic pieces,
revealing old maps, papers and information about local migrations
and conflicts in the Senegambia region, a few captivating pictures
of kora players called jali, as well as masked dance ceremonies
from an earlier era. Don't miss the life-sized Kankurang - a potent
spirit incarnate, covered in baobab bark (from whom women, children
and the uncircumcised must hide).
(Tel no: 4226244, Email: musmon@qanet.gm)
Bird Watching
 If
you are keen on birdwatching then
head toward the most southerly road in the Banjul capital called
the Kankujereh Road (Bund Rd.) which passes through bird
rich saltwater wetland habitats with numerous bird species. It
goes past the Gambia River estuary mudflats to your left
with its rusting, mud sunken ships which are home to cormorants
and pelicans roosts. At low tide, the mudflats are used as feeding
grounds by striated herons, African spoonbills, gulls, waders
and terns.
To your right is some re-claimed land followed by the Tanbi
Wetland Complex of mangroves to your right and left. Here
you might spot black headed plover, yellow billed storks, little
grebe, or the Senegal thick-knee. The best time to go is when
there is light traffic such as after 11 am up to 5pm, but Fridays
after 3pm and weekends are the best times to visit. Note: much
of the area is strewn with scarp metal so sturdy boots and a stick
might be useful.
Sports Fishing
 You
could also go back towards the Denton
Bridge and hire a local pirogue (long canoes - some with an
outboard motor) which can take you out on the quiet waterways
of Oyster Creek, which are rich fishing
grounds for keen anglers. The dense mangroves are particularly
interesting and home to around 70 species of fish and other wildlife
such as tilapia, mullets, Atlantic mudskippers, shrimps, crabs
and mangrove oysters. The fish fauna are of pelagic or demersal
species in the fry, juvenile or sub-adult stages. You can also
pick up a larger, more professional boat to take you up river
or for some blue ocean sports fishing.
Restaurants & Nightlife
 Banjul
has an acute dearth of
restaurants, especially in the evenings, but there is still
some good quality basic food served from local diners and fast
food establishments during the day. The Ali
Baba Snack Bar serves European and Lebanese snacks, dishes,
cold drinks, and freshly squeezed fruit juices. It's ideally located
in the commercial district and close to the market and shops.
On the same road is the King
of Shawarma Cafe which has similar Middle Eastern cuisine
plus dishes like fish & chips. If you feel the need to sit
at a beach bar and restaurant facing the Atlantic ocean then try
Nefertiti Beach
Bar, just off the entrance of Marina Parade, near the Arch
22. It is at the end of the road leading past the registrar of
companies and near the Atlantic Hotel; it is Lonely Planet's top
choice among the places to eat.
There is virtually nothing in the capital city by way of night
clubs as most people have left the town by 7pm, not to return
until the next working day. The only night spot worth visiting
for tourists is at the Atlantic Hotel, which is elegant, air conditioned,
and opens till late. The people who do hang out in the evening
are usually Gambians and foreigners, in front of their accommodation,
drinking Attaya or visiting friends nearby, otherwise the streets
are virtually empty. The only sounds you'll hear in the early
evening are the various, distant calls of the muezzin, from minaret
loudspeakers.
Other Attractions
 Other
places to see in Banjul are the War Memorial & Fountain,
near MacCarthy Square, erected to commemorate the coronation of
Britain's King George VI in 1937. You can also visit MacCarthy
Square which is surrounded by a colonial atmosphere, with
eye-catching 19th-century architecture. It is used for public
events such as Independence Day ceremonies, open concerts and
cricket. There is also a children's playground with a modern play
area which has colourful slides, swings, rocking horses and a
small course.
HEALTH & SAFETY:
Though a capital, Banjul has a typically relaxed small-town ambiance.
If you have business to get on with, whatever you need to accomplish
here can usually be done in relative safety - and at less than
three square kilometres, the town can easily be crossed by foot.
The police
security presence, after the bridge crossing, is low-key. It's
a town with individuals always on the move, so take the same safety
precautions as in any urban area during the evenings. There is
also a fire
station in town.
TRAVEL INFORMATION:
 To
get to the Banjul capital from the resorts takes about 20 minutes
by car from the main resorts of Kololi
and Kotu. The cost of a typical taxi
fare for such a trip can vary between the cheaper yellow taxis
and the more expensive green taxis.
When leaving the city there are two taxi ranks available: one
is on the Independence Drive opposite the Gambia National Museum
- if you want to go to Bakau,
and the other is on the Mosque Road, with yellow cabs and assorted
mini-vans going to Serrekunda
(Westfield Junction) and Brikama Town.
If you want more exclusive travel then ask for a 'Town Trip' to
your destination. There are costlier green taxis outside the Atlantic
Hotel. Having said all this you can pick up a cab anywhere, at
any time, assuming they are empty and you wish to travel alone.
If you are going north across the Gambia River you can take the
ferry service to Barra
(7am to 11pm - tel no: 422 8205).
Travel update: As at 15th November,
2022, the Bund Road (Kankujereh) is open.
Hotels
Map
Photos
Resorts
[Geographical coordinates: 13°27′11″N 16°34′39″W
/ St. Mary's Island Division]
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Attractions
Nature
Reserves
Resorts
Bakau
Banjul
Bijilo
Brufut
Cape
Point
Fajara
Gunjur
Jinack
Island
Kartong
Kololi
Kotu
Makasutu
Sanyang
Serrekunda
Tanji Village
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