By rachelle.turk - 17 Jan 2022
Notes provided by Fiona & Iain Lewis, SY Ruffian of Amble
(The below detail can be accessed as an attachment also)
We, sailing yachts Cerulean of Penryn and Ruffian of Amble, wanted to put together this list of essentials for visiting The Gambia. We visited in December 2021 having first stopped in Dakar, Senegal and the Canary Islands. We hope you find these notes helpful.
Before departing for Gambia
Essential things to prepare before visiting:
Vaccinations and Malaria
A Yellow Fever international vaccination card for a vaccine administered at least 6 weeks prior to arrival in The Gambia is essential. (We acquired Yellow Fever Vaccinations Centro Salud in Portimão, Portugal and Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Get enough Malaria tablets for at least 4 weeks stay. (Or for your intended length of stay plus 3 days before and 1 week after). (We acquired prescriptions for this in the public health centre at Puerto Morgan, and then from the large pharmacy in Puerto Morgan who needed 36 hrs to fulfil the prescription).
Covid. Check the current covid vaccination requirements or PCR requirements on-line. At the time of writing (December 2021) fully vaccinated visitors did not require a PCR test. Your vaccination certificate will be scrutinized.
Mosquito net
Both boats had mosquito nets covering all opening port holes, and a net to cover the companion way.
In addition, we utilised net curtains purchased from Ikea in the Canary Islands to fabricate entire cockpit mosquito tents, using the bimini as a basis for the structure. These cockpit mosquito tents were invaluable, allowing us to sit in the cooler cockpit in the evening and early morning.
Mosquito spray
Repellent for you when you go ashore, and an aerosol killer for the boat. A couple of hours before going to bed we would spray our cabin, and close the door to ensure there were no mosquitos waiting for us!
Further upriver, larger flies, horseflies and Teste flies become a problem. The full cockpit mosquito net was good for these too.
Bird book
We do not have a recommendation for a bird book, but we would have found a west African bird identification book very helpful.
Camera
We think a good camera with a high specification optical zoom is essential.
Gifts
We took pencils, exercise books, crayons, biros, footballs, and gardening equipment (see below re schools).
However, we wished we had taken more. If you intend to visit schools we also recommend taking:
• School equipment: Black board chalks, rulers, desks, easels, paints, paper for artwork, overalls.
• Toys: any educational toy, please try to avoid anything plastic, the Gambia has no means to handle plastic waste so let’s not add to it.
• Children’s clothing. All sizes up to age 14. Especially boys shorts, boys football shirts, girls and boys t-shirts, underwear (especially for girls).
• Horticultural equipment: many schools include horticulture in the curriculum, but they need spades, garden forks, shovels, wheelbarrows, hoes, rakes, seed drills and more.
Generally, we did not give out other gifts. Preferring to donate physical gifts (we did not give cash) to the school or village medical centre so that any donation can be shared amongst the community.
On the rare occasion that we did give out individual gifts it was for providing a service of some kind.
Provisioning
As mentioned below in Going Upriver – shopping it is best to arrive fully provisioned, apart from bread and a small amount of fresh produce.
Spares
There are extremely few yachting facilities. Bring everything you need. No spares available.
Pre Arrival
Fishing boats
From Dakar South we encountered many open pirogue type fishing boats up to 50 miles or more offshore. They may occur further north also, but we understand that they do not go out when high winds are forecast.
These boats do not carry navigation lights, and have no comprehension of the rules of the road. On our route from Dakar we were advised that at night we should have a search light in the cockpit, and that periodically we should sweep the horizon in front of us. If there was a pirogue type fishing boat in the vicinity they would respond in return. As far as we can ascertain a white light being shone back at you is a fishing boat acknowledging that he has seen you, a green flashing light or a blue flashing light (or strobe lights) indicate that nets are involved. We were astonished at how many lights responded to our flashlight. After sweeping the horizon we also shone our flashlight on our sails, as this seemed to help give the fisherman an indication of our direction of travel.
We also encountered a large number of Chinese fishing boats, some extremely large, with no navigation lights and no AIS.
An extremely sharp lookout is therefore required all along this coast.
Arrival
Anchorage
The anchorage at Half-Die is somewhat exposed to the North east. However, it is essential that you anchor here and proceed to check-in at Banjul. There are a number of visible wrecks scattered around the anchorage. To our knowledge all the wrecks are visible at low water.
We used the fisherman’s dock for our dinghies, being careful to tie it at the end of the pontoon so as not to impede the fishing boats. (13° 26.5312' N, 016° 34.7331' W) The ramp up to the main dock is somewhat precarious, but the fishermen (who are unlikely to speak English) will assist you if they see you struggling.
Check-in
The procedure is lengthy and protracted. Allow 3 hours.
To show respect to the officers, it is a good idea to dress professionally. Long trousers and a collar for men, skirt or trousers covering the knees for women, even in the heat. Showing the various officers respect and patience does, we are told, help make the process smoother.
The procedure involves visits to numerous offices, all located in the port confines but are very hard to find, unless you have someone who understands the procedure and locations with you. Offices to visit include Health officer, Customs, Immigration, Customs again and the Gambia Ports Authority to obtain a permit to go up the river.
It is also wise to bring a yellow safety waistcoat for each crew member, to wear in the port during check-in. This will avoid any opportunist selling you one at inflated prices!
If you can come prepared with 2 x photocopies of each passport, yacht registration and insurance papers; although there are plenty of places where copies can be made, but this will extend the amount of time required to complete your check-in.
Check-in Costs:
The River permit
€22 (only required if you intend to venture beyond Bintang Bolon).
Chart
The Port Authority will offer you the opportunity to purchase a chart for €15, but it is of uncertain date, does not have the Senegambia bridge or power cables marked on it.
We found Navionics to be adequate, although the depths were not always accurate and the bridge is in the wrong place!
Tide tables
We purchased the Port Authorities printed tide tables for a small amount (around €3), which differ from those times and heights given upriver by Navionics, but we found the printed tide tables from the port authority to be more accurate.
Tourist visa
For British, European and New Zealand passport holders a 28 day tourist visa is free of charge (make sure you ask for 28 days or you will only be given a two week visa, this gives you time to enjoy the river and stay longer, if weather and tides require it). If you want to stay longer than the visa given then an extension requires returning to Banjul. We believe the extension costs 1,000 Gambian Dalasi.
Check in Agent fees
Check-in Agent fees – we paid €30 per boat.
Backhanders
We have heard that yachts who did not use a check-in agent were asked by Customs to pay an unspecified fee, for which no receipt would be given. We recommend not paying any fees for which a receipt or permit does not apply.
Check-out
Much simpler than check-in. A visit to Customs followed by immigration.
There should be no costs at check-out. However, Customs demanded 500 Gambian Dalasi on our check-out. We refused to pay; we had run out of Dalasi anyway! This did not seem to prevent immigration from stamping our passports.
Recommendations
We employed an agent. This certainly made the process much easier, less stressful and ensured we were not taken advantage of. We had heard of others who were asked for money to grease the palms of those issuing the required papers, especially customs – see note above.
We used Muhammed Keita (email: keitamuhammed21@gmail.com Whatsapp: +220 753 4064) and, although he did not quote a set fee, we paid €30 per boat (to include check-in and check-out) and he seemed happy with this. He also assisted with finding a bank to withdraw local currency and purchasing a SIM card.
It is important to understand that most Gambians with secure, safe jobs earn less than 100 Euros a month (2021 prices).
Thanks to the generosity of another cruising boat Muhammed now has a handheld VHF radio. At the time of writing we do not know what his callsign will be. But if making contact with him by email or WhatsApp it might be worth asking if you will be able to contact him via VHF on arrival.
Muhammed’s permanent job is as a security officer for the port. Consequently, he is very well connected. However, this can mean that you will have to compromise on the check-in/out time to suit his working hours. Also, please note that he does not have a car or a bicycle. And so, walks for 40 mins to Banjul to assist with each check-in.
Banks/Cash
We found the only bank that accepts cash withdrawals from Mastercard or Visa is the GT Bank. There is one in Banjul and Lamin. Cash withdrawals are a maximum of 2,000 Gambian Dalasi, but you can make up to three withdrawals a day. Bank fees are applicable for each withdrawal. There are no ATM’s up the river, so you will need to get all you need before leaving Lamin or Banjul.
SIM Card
Africel provide the mobile network in Gambia. Senegalese, or other West African SIM cards will not work. There is an Africel store in Banjul where SIM cards and data/phone packages can be purchased. We found that we had good coverage down river of the bridge and intermittent 3G up the river.
Sim card notes
If wanting to use your phone Hotspot for other devices, make sure this is working on your phone before leaving the store. We found it needed to be activated, which was quite a complicated process (certainly not as straightforward as in other countries). Once the hotspot settings are installed, do not allow your phone battery to die, as the settings are not saved on the phone.
Post check-in
Lamin Lodge
The anchorage at Half Die is not very pleasant, so as soon as you have checked in you will probably head to Lamin Lodge. This is a nice, safe and protected anchorage.
The lodge itself is a simple dock and bar with restaurant. It is owned by the widow of a German sailor and welcomes visiting yachts.
Between Banjul and Lamin there are a few shallow patches, we recommend transiting on a rising tide. As you approach the lodge, the starboard side of the channel has 4-5 meters of depth, whilst the port side is less than 2.5m. Before you reach the lodge there are some permanent berths and some mooring balls. Here the depth shoals very quickly. Deep draught boats should therefore anchor on the starboard side before reaching the mooring bouys.
- When you arrive you will be greeted by one of the lodge “boatmen” who will come out on a paddle board, dug out canoe or small boat. The first “boatman” that comes to you is your boatman, he will look after anything you want – laundry, tapalapa (fresh Gambian baguette) in the morning, cleaning, hull cleaning, boat guardage, boat trips for bird watching, even Gambian cooking lessons. If you haven’t already anchored he will also tell you the best place to anchor.
- Prices. The Gambian way is to not give prices for their services, but to say “Give from your heart”. This is very confusing to us Europeans, however one enterprising German boat has worked hard with one of the “boatmen” who plies his trade outside the Lodge – Senna – to prepare a price list. We found this to be very helpful so we have attached it here. However, this is for your guidance only.
- Recommendations: both boats had laundry done (one boat by Senna, the other by Karim) the laundry was spotless, smelt lovely, and was ironed (ironing is recommended because this kills the turbo maggot). We also had tapalapa delivered for breakfast daily, this came promptly around 8 in the morning. The early morning birdwatching tour and walk to the silk-cotton tree is a must for those interested in birds and wildlife. We also had a cooking a lesson with Senna, this was quite special – cooking huge vats of rice, fish and vegetables with peanuts (Domada) which was shared amongst our four crew, Senna and all the personnel who hang around outside Lamin Lodge hoping to sell goods or services to tourists who come to visit.
Going upriver
If the North-easterly winds are blowing, take care to check the weather forecast to see if the winds are also upriver. As wind over tide quickly creates a nasty short chop.
The bridge
Like us, you will read and receive many conflicting details and information relating to the height of the bridge. As one of the boats authoring these notes had an air draft of 19m, we decided to drive to the bridge and measure the height ourselves.
Here are our measurements and calculations (note, these are our calculations and are not official, so we take no responsibility if found not to be accurate):
Date measured: 10 December 2021
Time measured: 12 noon
State of tide: LW at Banjul – 09:47 (0.5m)
LW at Ballingho - +05:28 = 15:00 (0.8m)
HW at Banjul – 23:51 (1.7m) (9 December)
HW at Ballingho - +04:38 = 04:30 (1.9m)
Range = 1.1
Tide had 3hrs remaining = approx 360mm
Tide coefficient: 52
Height of bridge apex from road level to water at central arch: 22.5m
Height of bridge construction from same point measured from, to bottom of bridge construction (note, we used a drone to confirm the weighted measuring line was at the correct height): 3m
Air draft available at apex at 12 noon on 10 December 2021 : 19.5m
Plus drop in water to low tide : 360mm
Available clearance for 19m airdraft = 860mm
The yacht with 19m air draft went under the bridge a few days later at low tide and had approx 800mm spare room.
On Navionics the bridge is marked but in the incorrect place! The correct location for the middle of the bridge is 13° 30.9936' N 015° 34.3684' W
The Apex of the bridge is marked with (unlit) Red and Green Channel markers. On either side of the channel markers, both up river and down, there are some unlit fish traps, but they are easily avoided when entering the channel.
About 5 miles upstream from the bridge are new uncharted overhead electricity cables which span the river. Their height is not known. Keep close to the south side where there is plenty of air draft and depth. We passed under the cable at 13° 29.5318' N 015° 30.3963' W
Bridge Recommendations
Only use the calculations and times provided in the book from the Port Authority (mentioned above under check in costs – Tide tables).
If air draft is 19m, remove anything on the top of the mast that can be removed!
Have someone up the mast with communications to the helm, when slowly approaching bridge. (When going up river you can approach very slowly because the 2.5 knot river current will be against you).
Take a picture of the pylon and channel markers once under so it can be compared on the when return.
Note: the return passage will be with the current, so speed cannot be so easily reduced, and, if possible, make the return trip with a greater tidal range.
The tides/currents
We found Navionics tide times were incorrect, sometimes by over two hours, so only used those provided in the timetable book purchased from the Port Authority.
The flood and ebb stream run for approx 1:20 after high and low water. The stream is significant so planning a passage on the river needs to take these into consideration.
Flood tide current going up river lasts for approximately 7 hours, but is not as strong as the Ebb tide which doesn’t last so long, but has a stronger current.
Pilot books
We used “Cruising Guide to West Africa” by Steven Jones published by RCCPF ISBN 0 9527771 26. Our copy is from 1997, we do not know if there has been an update or reprint since, but even the 1997 version was valuable and adequate for our needs.
Baboon Island
The chart implies that you can proceed to Baboon Island leaving the smaller island either to port or to starboard when going up river. In reality we found that the depth fell to 2m when leaving the smaller island to port, but that we had plenty of depth when we left it to starboard.
The official anchorage for baboon island is south of 13° 36.6’N. It used to be marked by a sign however all that remains is a couple of rusty poles that are difficult to see.
Beware of fishing boats that masquerade as park rangers. There is no charge for anchoring, however the rangers will offer you different “tours”. To avoid being duped by a charlatan, do not pay for your tour in advance – the knowledgeable and well-informed park rangers take their fee after the tour and always hope to get a little personal money on top.
Visitors
Some anchorages you will find that children or young people will row out and come to see you. In these circumstances we did not invite them on board, although we know of others who have without any issues. It is useful to have a stock of notepads and biros to donate to these visitors if they ask for them, or to give slices of watermelon to small children.
Occasionally a fisherman will approach you perhaps to sell fish, but most likely to ask for water to drink. As we don’t carry plastic bottles on board, we just offered a large glass of non-chilled fresh water, this was always received very gratefully.
Schools
We know of two junior schools that are easily accessible by boat. Bombale and Jareng Tenda.
We only managed to visit Bombale Community School. The headteacher and deputy head were delighted to receive our visit, and were very grateful to receive our gifts. The children were extremely excited to meet us, and took delight in giving us an impromptu singing, drumming and dancing party. Although this might also have been end of term exuberance!
We were humbled by the limited resources the schools had, and wished that we had brought more.
See Essential things to prepare before visiting:Gifts
Street food/restaurant food
Many guidebooks will tell you to avoid street food. However, using prudence, we found buying Tapalapa stuffed with mashed beans to be a delicious brunch alternative. Fish Yassa seems to be served in every restaurant we visited, a good local restaurant will serve excellent Yassa (a slightly spicy onion sauce), the touristy restaurants we found to be not so tasty.
Water
Many villages have bore holes with a water tap. We know of several boats who topped up their tanks using a jerry can or two.
We topped up our tanks at Lamin Lodge, and drank the water from there without any ill effects.
Please only take the water you actually need. Water is a precious resource for these villages, so do not take of their generosity blindly.
Shopping
Some fresh vegetables and bread will be found in most villages, but it is very limited. The best source we found was Lamin market, about a 20 minute walk from Lamin Lodge. But it is best to stock up well before arriving.
As a general guide some of the prices we found during our trip:
Tapalapa bread no more than 10 Gambian Dalasi per loaf
One Egg 7 Gambian Dalasi – sold singly, check if you are buying fresh uncooked eggs, or hard boiled!
Street food tapalapa with mashed bean filling - 25 Gambian Dalasi
Can of Fly spray - 80 Gambian Dalasi
Lunch out between - 150 – 400 Gambian Dalasi per person
Can of Sprite or similar - 50 Gambian Dalasi
Diesel/Petrol
We bought reasonable priced diesel and petrol using our own jerry cans from the petrol station at Banjul. (in December 2021 a litre of diesel was 52 Gambian Dalasi). They only take cash.
Things to be aware of
Dress
When going ashore the female crew felt more comfortable wearing t-shirts and skirts, culottes or even a sarong tied like a Gambian skirt.
Shaking hands and eating
Only offer the right hand to greet someone when shaking hands or giving a fist bump. Only eat with the right hand. One of our crew was left-handed and found this difficult, but felt ostracised if she slipped up and used her left hand to eat.
Children
Every village we visited we felt like the pied piper with hoards of children calling out the greeting for white person to us “toubob, toubob”. Some of the more touristy villages were quite blatant in asking for cash or gifts. We always resisted. Most of the time saying “Hello, how are you” will be greeted with an enthusiastic “I’m fine, how are you?” and will erupt with giggles if you respond correctly with “I’m very well thank you”. Outstretched hands we turned into handshakes, or high fives. We resisted all requests for sweets, cash or other gifts.
Fishing nets
There are lots of fishermen working the river in small wooden boats and dugout canoes. Be on the lookout at all times for drift nets which are sometimes attached to a boat on one end and allowed to drift downstream. The far end of the net will often be marked with a small boy and possibly a flag on it.
Other nets are just strung across the river with small floating buoys marking the net and flags at each end. If the fishermen are watching, they will direct you to the best side to pass but they are not always watching where their nets are, or what is coming towards them. Act early and remember this is their livelihood so try to avoid damaging the nets.
Fresh fish can be purchased from the boats. We paid 200 Gambian Dalasi for a big fish that fed four people.
Photography
Please be respectful when taking photographs of people and always ask permission first. The Gambian people DO NOT like having their photograph taken, and most of the time they will decline.
Rubbish
You will see a lot of rubbish in the river, villages and on the banks. Do not add to the problem – take all rubbish away and dispose of it in Banjul when you return. The only thing we threw overboard was organic matter.
Helen and Steve Fiona and Iain
Cerulean Ruffian of Amble
www.handsOnDeck.co.nz Ruffian.uk
@hansondeck @sy_ruffian
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