Located on the island of St. Mary's Island, Banjul is the capital and the fourth largest city of Gambia. Visitors are enchanted not only by the local cuisine based on fresh fruits, but above all by the genuine friendliness of the inhabitants and the extremely low level of crime, which makes the holidays in the smallest country of continental Africa comparable to the holidays in paradise.
The city was founded in 1816 as a base for the British Empire army to ensure compliance with the ban on the sale of slaves. After years of colonial rule, the country regained its independence in 1965, changing the name of the capital from Bathurst to Banjul. What is worth seeing there? Certainly the Arch 22, erected to commemorate the bloodless coup of July 22, 1994. Museum enthusiasts cannot ignore the National Museum of Gambia, which in collections have, among others, traditional Gambian handicraft and colonial exhibits.
The main attraction of the Gambia is wild nature, whose beauty you can witness during a trip to the National Park River Gambia or natural reserve Abuko, where you can meet wild animals (for e.g. monkeys, giraffes, elephants) or on wetlands near Kankujereh Road, where you can observe birds. If you want to relax, go to the beaches in the western part of Serekunda or at the Makasutu and Lamin lagoons.
What is worth eating there? Certainly fresh fruits that you can get on every corner at the so-called fruit ladies or squeezed juices that are usually sold by local men on the beach. Must try are fish or meat dishes (mostly from poultry or beef) for instance benachin (fish or meat with chili, herbs, lemon, tomatoes, onions, pumpkin or carrots and cabbage), yassa (fried fish or chicken meat with onions and potatoes and rice), jollof (rice with pieces of meat or fish, vegetables and nutmeg, ginger, chili and cumin). Where to eat them? It's best to go outside the city, for example to Samba's Kitchen in Kot, Solomon's Fish Bar in Sekendudzie or Lamin Lodge in Lamin.
