"Gunjur, a hidden paradise" Gunjur by johndavid1988

In October 2006 I visited Gambia for the first time with some friends. When we arrived we drove from the airport in about 45 minutes to Gunjur where we where going to stay. We passed the busy city of Brikama with its lively market (and big pot holes) and then we entered into lush bush land with all kinds of palm trees, baobab and other trees. We drove through some small villages like Sifoe and Kity were kids waved at us. We stopped for a little while in Sifoe and we made friends immediatly/

This was a real eye opener we were in Africa and it was nothing like back home. But we felt at home immediatly also because our driver, the manager of the lodge we were staying, told us very enthoustiacly about all the things we saw.

Gunjur Beach Lodge

We had done some research before we left and had booked 2 nights in Gunjur Beach Lodge...we ended up staying there 5 nights. As we were so impressed by the location.

Whilst surfing on the net we visited their website and to our opinion the website does not do justice to the place. It is a lot better then they say. The food was good, the staff very helpful and friendly....so why move to another place if you found a perfect place?

The room was basic but we had all we needed. Breakfast in the garden is something special. The sound of the Ocean and the birds wakes you up and it's difficult not to start the day with a quick dip in the sea.

The local petrol station in Gunjur

We enjoyed every minute not only in the lodge but also in the surrounding area and villages. We wandered along the beach to the fishing village and saw the day to day life of the fisher men (including the smell). But we knew where the lovely fish we ate at night came from....fresh from the Atlantic.
One day we joined a fisher men trying to help him catch fish and we succeeded, it was a nice day out. A good tip from the manager of the lodge.

We met very interesting people who were helpful and told us a lot about their culture and history whilst exploring the villages like Gunjur, Berending, Madina en Kartong.

• Pros:rural Gambia, very relaxing, quiet, lot's to see, very friendly people
• Cons:some roads are very bad
• In a nutshell:A real typical Gambian village, a true experience