marta goes places

I had never thought I would go to The Gambia. It's not a traditional tourist destination. I wasn't even sure where it was on a map, and other African countries, such as Kenya or Tanzania, were already on my bucket list. But I saw that my acquaintance Inés led a group with the agency Huellas Nómadas, specializing in alternative travel with small groups, and went for it.

We met at the airport in Barcelona to fly to Banjul. I would have never guessed it, but low-cost airline Vueling operates a direct flight between Barcelona and the Gambian capital. It made things very easy.

The flight didn't feel long. I had the full raw of seats for myself, and I spent half of the time sleeping and half of it reading. The Banjul airport seemed tiny, and it was very crowded when we landed. It felt steamy, and I was wearing too much stuff because we avoided checking bags. It felt exciting, though! Most of the group had never been to Africa, and we were all looking forward to this trip.

We met our guide, Sulay, and chatted with him while we waited for Inés and a couple of other people to get SIM cards for their phones. He introduced us to Lorenzo García, another Spanish guy and president of the organization Correcaminos Solidarios, who regularly travels to The Gambia and stayed in the same place as us.

The group seemed really nice. Irma, Laura, and Samuel are three friends from the Canary Islands. They are entertaining and friendly and spent most of the flight chatting with some Gambian guys sitting near them on the plane. Eli and Andoni are a slightly older couple from Navarra who had traveled to Uganda on a previous trip and wanted to revisit Africa. Sara is a 26-year-old engineer who lived in China for a few months, loved it, and wanted to return. Cristina is a fun-loving nurse who has spent some time in Kenya and Tanzania and done some volunteering work. Ivette is a sweet midwife from Terrassa, near Barcelona. And Inés, who I knew from school, has spent years working in many different travel-related jobs, on cruises, organized trips, media visits, and so on.

We still had 45 minutes to arrive at Amdalai Camp in Brikama. We were aware that The Gambia is fairly poor and infrastructures are very basic, so we were not surprised to learn that we wouldnt have hot water nor barely any pressure. The place, however, was actually fairly nice, with little double cabins. We decided to pick roommates at random, except Eli and Andoni, who stayed together, and Inés was my first one.

But first, it was time for dinner! We had one of the local dishes, chicken with rice and a caramelized onion sauce called Yassa that originates from the Wolof people. It ended up being one of my favorites! We stayed up chatting for a bit but went to bed soon after. It was already past midnight, after all.Read more