Welcome to Banjul, the capital of the Gambia. The city sits on St Mary's Island, right where the Gambia River meets the Atlantic Ocean, linked to the mainland by bridges and by ferries across the river. The city itself is small, home to only around 26,000 people, though the wider Greater Banjul Area is far larger. Until 1973 it was known as Bathurst. One tradition says the name Banjul comes from Bandjougou, who fled to the island from war in the Manding region; another links it to the Mandinka word for rope fibre gathered here. Let's start our journey upriver.
Kunta Kinteh Island
Photo: Jose Canedo · CC BY-SA 1.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAbout 30 kilometres up the Gambia River lies Kunta Kinteh Island, once called James Island, home to the ruins of Fort James. Its first European name came in 1456, when a Portuguese expedition moored here and buried a sailor named André, so it became St Andrew's Island. The island was an important site in the West African slave trade, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with related places along the river. Stand quietly among the ruins and remember the people who passed through here.
Arch 22
Photo: Atamari · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the road into Banjul towers Arch 22, a commemorative arch built in 1996. It marks the military coup of 22 July 1994, in which Yahya Jammeh and his ruling council overthrew the democratically elected government of President Sir Dawda Jawara. Near its base stands a statue of an unknown soldier, a rifle on his back, a baby in one hand, the other raised in a V for victory. If you have a 100-dalasi banknote, turn it over: the arch is pictured on the back.
Albert Market
Now step into the bustle of Albert Market on Liberation Avenue, once officially called the Royal Albert Market. This street market dates back to the mid-19th century. It is named after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, from the days when Britain controlled the Gambia. Let the colours and calls of the traders carry you along.
Gambia National Museum
Photo: Niels Elgaard Larsen - User: (WT-shared) Elgaard at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere in Banjul is the National Museum of the Gambia, which opened in 1985. Talk of a national museum began back in the 1960s, and for two decades historians and archaeologists gathered objects and information on Gambian and West African history and culture before the doors finally opened. Its purpose is to collect and preserve the material culture of the Gambia, and to share it with visitors and with residents who may not know their own country's history. Inside you can discover, for example, what a masquerade is.
Kachikally Museum and Crocodile Pool
Photo: Atamari · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn the heart of Bakau, about 16 kilometres from Banjul, is the Kachikally crocodile pool, one of three sacred crocodile pools in the Gambia used for fertility rituals. It belongs to the Bojang family, one of the founding families of Bakau. Around 80 crocodiles are thought to live here. Long believed to be Nile crocodiles, they may in fact be West African crocodiles. And here is the surprise: they roam freely, and visitors can approach and even touch them.
Abuko Nature Reserve
Photo: Atamari · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe end at Abuko, south of the town of the same name, the Gambia's first designated wildlife reserve. Its protection began almost by accident in 1916, when the Lamin Stream was fenced off as a water collection point and wildlife flourished inside the enclosure. In 1967 wildlife officer Eddie Brewer and his daughter Stella Marsden saw the forest's value and asked for it to be protected. Walk beneath oil palms and mahogany trees, and look out for vervet, red colobus and patas monkeys.
Lomakuume
