During our first visit to The Gambia in 2001, we were being bothered by a 'bumster'  on the beach near Gunjur. Bumsters are young men who flock around the Hotels and beaches like wasps to jam. They will not leave you in peace until they have completed their scam. There far fewer bumsters around now as both the Government and local communities  are moving them on, as they are not good for the tourist industry. This guy claimed that he had no money and would therefore have no food that day unless we helped him out. Our friend Sulaman came running over and sent the man on his way. Sulaman told us that no one starves in The Gambia. Being mostly Islamic people, it is the responsibility of the community (a responsibility they all take very seriously) to make sure that everyone has a roof over their head and food in their belly. It would be heart warming to think that we, of the western world, could do half as much for our people.
 

As well as sharing our experience of Gambian culture with you on this website, we would be interested to hear any experiences that you have had. Please email us.

Please go to the links on the left hand side of this page for any that you might be interested in.