The Gambia is famous for a lot of Europeans under the term sunshine. The country consists of many resort hotels located on the so-called “Smiling Coast of Africa”. In fact, this wonderful, West African country has so much more to offer than just sunshine, lovely beaches and wonderful food, that it would be a crime if you didn’t get out there to explore the country.
There are so many wonderful animals to see and to capture on camera in this beautiful country. Let’s start with the primates. In The Gambia there are six primate species found– the vervet monkeys, red colobus monkeys, red patas, bush babies, baboons and chimpanzees. Bijilo Monkey Park is the best place to try to capture all of them. One word of caution though, please do not feed the monkeys. To see some of the chimpanzees, you should definitely visit the Chimp Rehabilitation Project. The chimps are viewed via the regular boat trips that run around the islands that the chimps reside on, while further wildlife experiences can be enjoyed in the form of majestic birdlife and several other from the above monkey species who find their habitat here.
One other part of the wildlife in The Gambia, unfortunately for many of you, are the (scary) crocodiles. The Gambia has a very special place where you can spot them; it’s called the Katchikally crocodile pond, located nearby Cape Point. Be warned though this is a serious tourist trap and the crocodiles are hardly what you could call ‘wild’. This is because some crocodiles are trained to be tame so people can touch them.
You can also spot some hippos from The Gambia River. When searching for them, the best option is to take a boat tour to Janjanbureh. During this tour there’s also a chance to spot some crocodiles! Also, bottle nose dolphins can be seen near the entrance to the river from the Atlantic Ocean.
To do a real safari tour in a wildlife park, you need to travel to Senegal, which is the country that The Gambia is surrounded by. In Senegal, specific; Senegal's Fathala Wildlife Reserve, you can join the tour to see a variety of the African wildlife species, including the giraffe, rhino, zebra, antelope and the buffalo.
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