is Divided in two by the river that gives it its name, the smallest country of the continent is living a special moment now that it is a democracy. Its inhabitants have more reasons to be happy

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All days are market days in Tanji. But not all days Ida Cham has tourists (or guests as she prefers to call them) that guide through the chaos of voices and smells of the posts multi-colored vegetables, clothes and fish. A gambian birth, this lady porte aristocratic is a story that could inspire a novel, a movie or a series, of which now carry a few seasons.

Of origin is very humble, his widowed mother had to choose between his four daughters which deserved to be chosen to be able to cost a education outside of the Gambia. And it was the smaller: Back. So while her sisters, friends and neighbors were married and started a child behind another (and another and another and another….), she moved to London to study Hotel Management.

age-old Traditions

they Were at the 80’s and the English capital was another planet to someone like Ida. “But he had the advantage of speaking English and come up with a mentality very open which allowed me to absorb everything I could”. The goal of this woman was always to learn as much as possible. “And thus be able to apply that knowledge when she returned to my country,” he says with a look sparkling while rescues memories of the past.

So, back in the Gambia, he worked in several hotels until he decided to create his own business by designing a concept of experiences for tourists that is now a benchmark of successful entrepreneurship in a country with an economic situation complicated. Do not forget that the Gambia is among the 15 countries with the GDP lower on the planet -473,19 dollars per capita, according to data handled by the World Bank, less than half, for example, its neighbour Senegal. In addition, women fight for themselves in a society that is still prevailing ancient traditions that keep them separate from almost everything that there is to create and care for a large family.

class=”icon-foto_16_g”> An exhibition of fighting gambian sports most revered of the country. J. S. C

the Gambia and Senegal share hobbies like wrestling (the call themselves senegalese or gambian respectively), declaring themselves die-hard fans. With it not only demonstrates the strength of the athlete in question, but also involved witches and witch doctors, with their spells, trying to placate the wrath and prowess in the ring of the opponent.

the Gambia has, in addition, a very peculiar geography that makes it get split in two by the river that gives it its name. The result is an extension of little more than 500 kilometers long from the mouth of the estuary and only 50 kilometers at its wider end.

Between wild beaches

This is, in effect, the smallest country of Africa in extension (11.295 square kilometers, which are home to around two million people), but for all that, it contain an impressive variety of landscapes in its interior. In its most western area has more than 80 miles of fabulous open beaches, many of them beautiful and wild in the style of atlantic.

Towards the inside, everything changes when the banks of the river offer a spectacle to the view in the form of dense forests of mangroves, particularly in the area bounded by the National Park River Gambia, a place coveted by the fans of the sighting of birds in which, with some luck, you can see also the families of hippos that inhabit it.

class=”icon-foto_16_g”> A crocodile in the area of Bakau Katchikally. J. S. C

For foreigners it is impossible that you do not remove one the bowels reminiscing about that past that made the Gambia the epicenter of the slave trade, during three long centuries. However, the gambian speak to the issue with sadness but without a hint of bitterness, which says a lot about your character pacific and conciliatory.

That attitude allows them to live together in peace despite ethnic diversity of the various tribes that inhabit this particular african country and that somehow takes a part of the visitor back home. Because a trip to the Gambia, enriched in all senses, there is no doubt of that, but it is also incredibly effective as a balm for the soul.

GUIDE PRÁCTICACómo reach

Iberia flies to Gran Canaria and from there Binter to Gambia on Saturday. From 280 euros.

Where to stay

Senegambia Beach Hotel, Senegambia. From 60 euros. In Brufut, Hibiscus House. From 40 euros. In the beach of Kololi highlights the Djembe Resort. From 65 euros.

More

In the web of Tourism of the Gambia: visitthegambia.gm

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