This is not the Ritz but it is not intended to be. For birding or just chilling out away from it all the Camp is perfect, it even has a good sized pool.

Having just returned from an 11 day trip to the Gambia, incorporating 4 days with Hidden Gambia, I felt compelled to write a fair and honest account of our experience for people considering a trip, who may have been put off by some of the earlier poor reviews.

First things first, this is not the trip for people whose idea of a good holiday is to lay on a beach all day, or by the pool at a luxury resort. The camps that are owned by - or used by - Hidden Gambia are basic (some more than others, more details to follow!) but the beauty of getting out of the main tourist strip and ‘up river’ is that you see a side to the Gambia which you wouldn’t otherwise get to see. The River Gambia is extraordinarily beautiful, serene and has an abundance of wildlife. During our 4 days with Hidden Gambia, we saw chimpanzees, baboons, red colobus monkeys, hippos, crocodiles, dolphins and various bird and reptile breeds.

Booking

Booking a trip with Hidden Gambia is very easy. Not only is the owner, Mark Thompson, very helpful and a source of information, but the website is easy to use and you even get a password to enable access to a part of the website where you can look at information sheets and view your own personal itinerary and booking details. The information sheets include topics such as what clothes/shoes to bring, what the weather is like and even how much daily spending money you should allow for (incidentally, it’s virtually impossible to exchange sterling for dalassi in the UK so just do it when you fly into Banjul – most of the hotels are quite happy to change money for you, and it also helps the local economy).

Transport

Transport up river is a mixture of boat and vehicle, and while some of the days can be quite long and tiring, the mixture of the two is fascinating as you get to experience the calm of the river and the diversity of the villages – some of which are noisy and colourful market towns, and others which are quiet and dusty, where goats wander aimlessly in the road and children stop their playtime to giggle and wave as you go past.

Passengers are well looked after with refreshments and – during the long road journeys – we were given opportunities to stop and have a walk about and stretch our legs.

Accommodation

During our four days with Hidden Gambia, we spent two nights at Bird Safari Camp on McCarthy Island and one night at Tendaba Camp. Bird Safari Camp is great – we had a fantastic welcome when we arrived on the first evening. Binta is the camp ‘house-keeper’ and welcomed us with cold drinks and a big smile. We had planned to look at both the huts and the tents before we made a decision, but we opted for a hut as soon as we saw them. According to other guests, the tents have larger en-suite bathrooms, and are apparently cooler in the evenings although we were more than happy with the hut we were allocated. The huts and tents have double beds and single beds and a bathroom with toilet, basin and shower. There is no hot water but if you wait until the end of the day to have a shower, the sun will have warmed the water sufficiently. There is electricity in the evenings as well, and free wi-fi. As well as the tents and huts, there is a communal dining area and bar where the meals are served, and a swimming pool with clean, chemically treated river water. Tendaba Camp seemed to be bigger, but in poorer condition than BSC. The accommodation consists of huts which are very basic but ok if you’re only staying a day or two. There are two bars where you can buy cold drinks and Jul-brew (Gambia’s famous beer, well worth a try!) and also a swimming pool. Incidentally, do try and spend some time walking around Tendaba village. It’s incredibly poor but the kids are delightful and love to have their photos taken. If you can, visit the school and give them a small donation – the teachers there do a great job and they will be very grateful for anything you give them.

Food

The food at Bird Safari Camp is great – especially breakfast which consists of egg, cheese and the most amazing freshly baked bread you will ever taste!!! (cooked outdoors in a wood burning oven). Lunch and dinner are just as good, and there are always vegetarian options available. Meals are served buffet style, and if you have a long boat trip planned for that day, you are given a packed lunch – usually a baguette or something. The meals at Tendaba are satisfactory as well, although not quite up to Bird Safari Camp’s standard!

Tea and coffee seemed to be available the majority of the time. Plus, you could buy water and cold drinks from the bar.

Guides

The wildlife guides who work for Hidden Gambia are amazing at spotting birds and animals from miles away, so make use of them, especially if there is a particular animal that you want to see – they know the parts of the river where a sighting is most likely. The boat trips were brilliant, and I would recommend doing as many as possible. If you see an animal, they will get as near as possible (without frightening it) and will turn off the boat engine so that there is plenty of time to watch and take photos etc. One tip for keen bird watchers – bring binoculars with you!!

To summarise, Hidden Gambia is a company I would definitely recommend getting in touch with if you want to see a side to the Gambia that you definitely WON’T experience if you stay in the huge resorts near the coast. The people are lovely (especially Binta, Sam and Ansu) and you will be well looked after. We didn’t get to meet the owner Mark Thompson but he provides his mobile number and encourages people to ring him if they have a problem. We met a couple who go back to Bird Safari Camp year after year – surely testament to the fantastic hospitality and experience. Well done Mark and his team!!!

My wife and I are Americans living in Dakar, Senegal. We drove to the camp over a 4 day weekend and stayed 3 nights. I have stayed in many hotels and camps in Africa.

This one was very unique and an all around great place by West African standards.

Accomodations:

You can choose between a tent or a hut. The huts were all full when we arrived, so we chose a tent, which was what we wanted anyway. Other guest reported that the huts were dark inside, even during the day. The tents are much brighter and have porches facing the river. Inside the tent we had a double bed and a single bed, and a bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower separated from the rest of the tent by a plastic tarp. The floor of the tent was cement covered with tile. Our particular floor was crumbling a little bit and had a layer of dust on it upon arrival, but since it probably hasn't rained here in 2-3 months, the dust could easily have just been one day's accumulation. Each tent has a cold water tank and a hot water tank. It is your responsibility to keep the tanks full by opening a valve, which allows water to be pumped from the river into your tanks. The hot water tank is heated by the sun, so if it's not sunny the water is not hot. We had some problems with the plumbing system but I'm not sure if it was because I was too dumb to work it or because it really wasn't working. I'm leaning towards the latter. There is electric lighting in the tents and huts in the evening, generated through some solar panels in the camp. It's still a good idea to bring a flashlight because the power is turned off around 10 or so. The bed was a little rickety and saggy in the middle, but it was comfortable and the nature sounds and perfectly cool temperatures made it easy to sleep. The sheets were clean. Each night, the staff sprays the tent for mosquitos. We didn't have any problems with insects in the tent.

Food:

The food was simple and ample. Breakfast was bread freshly baked in a brick oven at the camp served with cheese, butter, jam, and some kind of eggs (hard-boiled, quiche, etc.). Lunch was normally rice with some kind of meat and/or vegetable sauce along with salad (bean salad, tomato/cheese salad, etc.). They were accomodating of vegetarians who were at the camp. The dinners were usually fish/chicken in sauce or fried with rice or pasta, along with salad. There was fresh fruit at every meal - bananas, oranges, and papaya. Meals were served buffet style. Drink choices included coke, sprite, fanta, JulBrew (local beer), and possibly wine. We had one lunch on the boat, which was really fun. Meals were often served 30 minutes or more later than the designated time. It didn't really bother us since we were in "vacation mode".

Activities:

Neither my wife nor I are serious bird watchers, but we really enjoyed spotting the unique and colorful birds in this area. We took two boat trips on the "Lady Hippo". We went downstream both times. We saw hippos both times and crocodiles on one trip. On our second trip, Mark, the owner, arranged for us to pass by the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project islands. Our guide, Ansu, and the park rangers quickly spotted a female chimp with her baby and took the boat by twice for us to look and take pictures.

My wife and I also explored the island on our own without a guide one morning. We saw some beautiful birds including parakeets and Senegal parrots. This was a great and rare opportunity to explore a wild place without a guide, which allowed us to linger and/or go as fast as we wanted. There were, however, expert guides in the park who were willing to take us on hikes if we wanted. Some other guests did this and had a great time. I brought an inflatable kayak along and took it out in the afternoon and had a great time spotting birds and enjoying the peacefulness of the area.

The pool is filled with river water. It looks a little murky/green, but the staff assured us that they treat the water with chemicals each day and I saw this taking place one morning. It was icy cold but very refreshing. It is set back in the camp, more in the forest, so it was a nice place to read and listen to birds.

Staff:

The staff were all very friendly (but not too "over the top" - if you've spent time in West Africa you probably know what I mean). They were helpful and polite. There are people around throughout the day and a night watchman at night. He looked a little old to be a night watchman, but we didn't have any problems and didn't hear of any from longtime camp veterans (people who come 5 weeks per year for the past 5 years). We were a little nervous leaving our car parked far away from our tent/the camp, but it was fine.

Location:

The location is great. It is about 2-3 km from Georgetown with nothing in between except some abandoned rice fields. To the west of the camp is some thick gallery forest with all kinds of birds and monkeys.

Other stuff:

It was great being able to personally interact with Mark, the owner, before booking our stay. We were able to pay online with a credit card, which was also nice.

The camp has wireless internet which was reportedly good for checking emails but not fast enough for skype calls. We didn't test it but talked to some other guests who did.

We were a little frustrated one afternoon that someone from Georgetown, who had talked to us while we were waiting for the ferry to get to the island, showed up in the camp wanting to take us on a tour of the city. He apparently was able to come into the camp without any problem even though he wasn't a guest, and we weren't interested in the tour to begin with. I felt bad that he had walked all the way from the town to try to get some business from us, but not bad enough to spend an afternoon being hassled into paying for visits to fake "slave houses".

The only other disappointment came when one of the guides informed us that he was riding in our car with us back to Farafenni on our way back to Dakar. Obviously, we were more than happy to give the guy a ride. We had plenty of room in the car. However, it was just a little frustrating that no one ASKED if that would be okay, and instead just assumed that we would do it. Fortunately he was a really nice guy and great company for the road.

To avoid ending on a bad note I'll say again that we loved this place and would definitely go back.

I was not excited about this one having had a bad overnighter in Tendaba, but this is one of the best locations in the region. The camp is well managed and maintained with the staff helpful and considerate.
The birding scouts were knowledgeable, informed and importantly were good spotters.
i enjoyed the birding, and even the food was good ( I'm vegetarian and this has proved tricky in Gambia)
I would recommend this location