The Gambia - Travel Book Reviews

The following are some reviews of the travel books on The Gambia and what I have thought of them. This is NOT an exhaustive list – only the ones I have found to be the best of what is available.

• Lonely Planet: The Gambia & Senegal - (February 1999) This is the first travel guide I bought for The Gambia and is now hopelessly out of date (the map of the Kombos area is truly painful to behold). The first section of this book is devoted to describing the area of The Gambia/ Senegal in general then the following two sections are devoted to each of the two countries. The information is good if a bit basic and I would not rely on it for details but as a general introduction it is quite good. Rating: * * *

• Lonely Planet: The Gambia & Senegal (Country and Regional Guides) - (October 2002) This is the updated version of the book above and as such has many of the changes that have recently been made in The Gambia (including the many new roads). The information is informative but tends to be a bit thin on the ground when it comes to details (like phone numbers). But much better than the previous version. Rating: * * * *

• The Gambia: The Bradt Travel Guide - (November 2001) This is a good guide written by two people who lived in The Gambia for a number of years as ecologists. The focus on wildlife and fauna is shown throughout the book though there is some good, practical information on how to get around/survive in the country. Though not as exhaustive as the Lonely Planet guides the practical (if somewhat biased) information is quite helpful. Rating: * * * *

• The Good Tourist in the Gambia: A Guidebook for the Conscientious Tourist - (June 2002) This is an interesting book about how to be a responsible tourist in The Gambia – such as NOT giving candy/pens/etc to children (which encourages them to ask for more, and more, and more…). I found this quite well written if sometimes a bit impractical (eco-friendly is quite a foreign word in The Gambia…). Rating: * * * *

• Lonely Planet: Read This First: AFRICA - (April 2000) Ok, not a book specifically about The Gambia, this book does contain good, concise information about how to get around and what to see. There are sections for each country which contain a map and some practical information. A great overview of the vastness that is Africa – though don't rely on it for details… Rating: * * * * 1/2

Note: The book images have been shamelessly stolen from Amazon.co.uk.