Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur The Gambia 3d/2n

If you go to The Gambia you really need to get out of the famous strip area and go inlands! The country has so much to offer and has a rich culture and history that needs some more exploration!! Don’t get me wrong…I did like my swimmingpool and resort along the smiling coast of West Africa!!

What better way to explore an area then to get on your bicycle and cycled your way around the place! I did that at Wassu and saw the Stone Circles and even better? I got on a boat to enjoy a rivercruise and see the chimpanzee on Baboon Island! I just had the best day!!

I went solo to The Gambia and I wanted to go solo inlands too. But in the end I did take a local guide with me. It was not a real guide but he loved to show me around and he had a couple of days holiday too. Win win for both of us.

Read more about why I didn’t travel solo in The Gambia.

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

But first:

Georgetown – Janjanbureh, The Gambia

I went inlands with Aka.

Or ‘Captain’ or ‘Captain Aka’. Almost everybody has a nickname in The Gambia…Did you know that? Aka’s real name is Amadou.

We had a great time together and Georgetown, Kuntaur & Wassu was on the list to be visited. I did book a room at Kairoh Garden in Kuntaur for 2 nights because it was a great spot to explore the area. We left early morning from Bijilo to Kanifeng, Serekunda where the bus would take us to Georgetown. This was a big touringcar from the company GPTS (Gambia Public Transport Service)

The bus took about 5 hours to get to Georgetown, we had some short breaks along the way. I loved everything we saw along the way, the landscape and all the small villages. People that started their day, children going to school and the agricultural work. I love the sight of that!

Today the endpoint of our bus was Georgetown, or also called Janjanbureh. It is an important place in historical times and so you should visit that on your trip in The Gambia. A walk throught the village is enought to see the background that formed this place into what it is today. The history of slavery is huge in this town, everywhere are buildings where they show you what horrors took place here…

After this walk, takes about an hour and a half, we went to the river Gambia to go to the other side. The river at Banjul is as wide as a couple of K but here you can swim to the other side… I wouldn’t recommend doing that … #crocodiles But it is really narrow 🙂

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

The Gambia

Stone Circles and Baboon Island

Going to the other side is not a problem but then you need to wait to get a bushtaxi. It will not drive away before it is full… and we need at least 20 people to fill it up 🙂 In The Netherlands with maybe 10 it would be full but hey…this is The Gambia 🙂

After about 40 minutes we got out and were standing on the long road next to the village Kuntaur. We could walk the last part, the sign said 1K. Soon we got a lift of a local man and he brought us all the way to Kairoh Garden, how nice!! I really think it was closer to 3K then 1K. But walking there you get to go sightseeing the village also 🙂

Kairoh Garden is a great spot to stay!!

The next morning I wanted to go explore the area. I saw two mountainbikes and asked the staff of Kairoh Garden if we could rent them. That was oke but they were not really for rent, I could give them what ever I wanted afterwards. How great is that?

We went in the village and got to the big road we got off the day before and head over to the other side. To the Wassu Stone Circle. There is a small museum and you can read some explaning and there was a man telling something. They don’t really know what they were meant for in the old days. The same as the Plain of Jars in Laos or the Dolmen in The Netherlands they are not sure where it is used for. It can be graves but it is not certain.

Stone Circles

Wassu

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

The Gambia 3 days / 2 nights

We cycled for a while through Wassu and the surroundinga area. There are hardly any western influences here, I loved it!!

How do you like these big trees?

I must say that it was really nice to have a local buddy with me. The Gambia is a really small country and because of that most people know eachother one way or the other. The Gambia has 2 miljoen citizins.

That way we got invited by a family Aka knew to come and drink some tea and to get the view from a small hill behind their house!! Just as The Netherlands is The Gambia also almost a flat country. So when you have a hill in our backyard you have a tourist attraction!!

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

We also took time to spot some bird and try to get them on the picture 🙂 You can hardly miss the colourful birds of The Gambia but when you want them to sit still for a picture you’ve got a problem 🙂

Chimpanzees – Baboon Island

After this cycle we had a break in the garden of Kairoh Garden and then it was time to get on the boat to go spot some Chimpanzees.

We went to Baboon Island.

The best time to visit is at the end of the afternoon because… they are being fed.. The chimpanzees are being reintroduced back into nature and so they need some extra food. Most of them can manage themself but they do get some food and they like that ofcourse!!

Also the conservation project gets some money to preserve what they started by selling trips to tourists.

Spotting Chimpanzees

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

If I remembered well this was father and son

Father is called Djambo and is 42 years old.

I saw that they were given peanuts.. They are rare for them and they can hardly find them themselfes so they will get to the border of the island for that. And like that the tourist trip will get a 100% chance to see a chimpanzee 🙂

Wildlife at the Rivier Gambia

How cute are they?

We are watching monkeys and they are enjoying their food and looking at us.. monkeys too 🙂 But they have peanuts!!

There are several island on which the chimpanzees are living. They have seperated groups on 4 islands. At this moment, early 2018, they have 2 chimpanzees. They can live to be 50 – 55 years old and the oldest here is 45 years. From the age of 14 they can get pregnant and the gestation period is 8 – 9 months.

But while navigating there we saw some other animals!!

This one seemed to be surprised to see us 🙂

I always love to spot some birds!!

But what about these hippos?

It was a whole family!

Hippos in the river Gambia

The trip takes around 1.5 to 2 hrs on a boat. You are going over the river Gambia. I think there was a lot to see on the shores and the cool breeze was really welcome!! I could’ve enjoyed myself for an extra hour on board!!

When you go a bit later, with sunset, you’ll see lots of weavers flying here. Irecognized the nests of them hanging in the tree. The yellow weavers will go into the nest from the bottomside, really great sight! I saw that before in South Africa.

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Staying @ Wassu & Kuntaur

• Kairoh Garden a great spot on the river Gambia.

You can rent different kinds of rooms. A room with a shower, sink and ecotoilet or you choose for a room without this and you can use the toilets on the premesis. There are multiple toilets and showers, also clean and good to use. I have to be honoust, I did book a room with shower and sink but didn’t use the toilet because I was scared it would go smell. I did use the public toilets 🙂

The prices were not that much higher and for me this was a great solution. You’ll pay around 10 euro a night and I think for the location a really good price! You have a garden to relax in and a view over the river Gambia. The food is great and for a great price too!!

• Transport Wassu & Kuntaur

On my way there I took the big touringcar. You just get in and buy a ticket. On my way back I took the bushtaxis, same idea. You just need to find the one that goes where you want to go and sit. Buy a ticket / pay the fare along the way. If you just look at what others are paying you know what you should pay too.

• WiFi / Internet
  

There is no WiFi. I had a Gambian SIM card and also that intetnet wasn’t really working. I could place a picture on Instagram but didn’t got any info in FB or Whatsapp. I do have this more often…IG works in a lot of places with a minimum of internet. I have connecte that to my Twitter and Facebook so you can update that immediatly too 🙂

• Boat and entrance Baboon Island

Rent of the boat is always 2000 Dalasi. If you take a local with you that is for free, they don’t need to pay for this. I shared the boat with two fellow Dutch ladies so we could share the costs. You also need to pay 100 Dalasi for the entrance of Baboon Island area even though you won’t set a foot on the island 🙂 You will get an official guide on the boat that will tell you about the background of the project and the chimpanzees.

Did you like this trip?

Going inlands to Wassu & Kuntaur

Do share it for others!!

Wil je meer lezen van mijn reis in The Gambia?

Surfing the waves of Kartong – The Gambia

Having dinner with the locals – Resirest – The Gambia

Cycling to the fish of Tanji – The Gambia

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Or can I inspire you to go to South Africa?

Spotting Whales in Hermanus Bay – South Africa

Hiking the Famous Knysna Heads – South Africa

A township tour in Knysna

Or can I inspire you to give yourself 10 days of meditation? Read about the lessons I learned…

Lessons I learned before – Vipassana

I hope you love this world as much as I do!!