A former British colony, The Gambia is mainland Africa’s smallest nation with fewer than two million people and apart from a short Atlantic coastline, the country is entirely enclosed by Senegal. The Gambia's capital (also far-and-away Africa's smallest), Banjul is little more than a dusty, sand-blown town with few solid structures of any note. It sits on an island at the point where the Gambia river runs into the Atlantic, at the far western end of this very strange shaped country which extends eastwards into Senegal for around 300km and not much more than around 20km on either side of the river.

In the colonial era, The Gambia began life in the early 19th century when the British (who had dominated the slave trade in the area for a couple of hundred years) built a fort at what is now Banjul to help in the enforcement of the abolition of slavery. Over the next several decades, the British extended their influence eastwards helped by the fact that the Gambia river is navigable for several hundred kilometres. The Gambia achieved full independence from Britain in 1965 and the first prime minister, later president retained his grip on power until overthrown in a bloodless coup in 1994. The coup leader was finally forced to relinquish power (under international pressure) in 2017 following a presidential election which he lost and the current president has embarked on a programme to turn the country around from its dire social and economic situation.

Some 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, surviving on subsistence farming and fishing. A few years back, the country enjoyed something of a tourism boom, with mostly Brits heading for the hot sunshine and white sand beaches. There are still a few "5-Star" hotels lining the beach on Banjul's outskirts, but the social and political unrest of the past 25 years coupled with the extreme poverty just beyond the hotels' gates has been enough to deter even the most determined sun-seeker trying to one-up their neighbour! That being said, we do come across a few Europeans and a large party of teenagers from an English Grammar school when we stop for lunch at a beach-side hotel someway south of Banjul.

There are several ethnic groups in The Gambia, but more than 90% of the population is Moslem. People are reluctant almost to the point of hostility to be photographed and of the countries we've visited on this trip, Gambians for the most part have been the least friendly and welcoming.

Ethnically as well as geographically, The Gambia is joined at the hip with Senegal. Indeed for a few years in the 1980's, the two countries were part of a confederation known as Senegambia. Given the seemingly large difference in economic development between the two, The Gambia might want to think again about reviving the confederation....