Gambia

[Robert the Brave]

I have just returnd from the Gambia and thought I would post my thoughts and experiences. I do not think there any truly girl-friendly hotels in as much as they allow girls to spend the night with you at no extra charge. The extra fee for female company was 500 Dalasi at Sarge's in Senegambia and 600 Dalasi at African Village in Bakau. This is £11. 60 and £14 respectively. The alternative of going back to girl's compound (accommodation) which will not have running water and probably a mattress on the floor rather than a bed, is being uncomfortable and saving a paltry sum of money.

The girls come from all over West Africa and not just from the Gambia. Generally girls from Siera Leone are likely to smoke and drink copiously. This also applies to girls from Liberia and Nigeria whereas the local girls rarely smoke and rarely want anything other than a soft drink.

The vast majority of these women have undergone Female Genital Mutilation as children and I did not see a single clitoris during a 2 week trip. This does not stop them from being enthusiastic in bed.

The girls from Sierra Leone seem generally 'wilder' and if you want to hear someone say 'Do you want to vaginate my arse? ' in a thick West african accent, these may be for you but I have simpler needs.

Overall a very good experience. It is nice to get away from cold, wet Northern Europe to sunny, hot Africa.

[Kim Wheather]

It is not the money nearly as much as it is the principle that would bother most of us.

I'm agree with you 100%.

[Hippie]

I have never been to Africa and would not normally post here, but I am making an exception. I just can't believe the attitudes I am seeing here. Fourniceight writes a post to warn fellow mongers about a scam that is going, and the only responses he gets are to tell him he is a cheapskate to be bothered by this? What the heck? Have those of you who spend time in The Gambia just gotten so used to corruption that you have stopped being bothered by it, or do you come from countries where petty theft is considered OK, or what? I currently live in Angeles City, Philippines, and if this practice became widespread in a bar or restaurant here, I guarantee you that the expats and tourists alike would raise hell about it. It is not the money nearly as much as it is the principle that would bother most of us.

[Hesekiels]

... I could tell you infinite stories about Africa and African women, but I just hope this may help to cast some light into what to expect when dealing with many of the subjects of The Gambia and maybe even Nigeria...

Gabrielsilva:

great report! What you wrote is very much true, but IMHO not only in The Gambia! In other African or Asian countries it is also very, very similar. And because of that all of us are just simple mongerers who should leave feelings, love and future plans somewhere else, but definitely not with these girls! Just play and pay, that's ok! Or am I wrong?


Cheers - Hesekiels

[Roman Guy]

Dear Kim,
...
Be on your watch and do what I heard from an American officer working with me in the (oil) offshore business: When in Africa with the black ladies ...leave your heart... and credit card at home... before you go!

Greetings from

Gab

Hi,
nice and amusing report but ...
... read my report #183 in the section Uganda: maybe we have a common friends!

[GabrielSilva]

Dear Kim,

I live in Sweden ...I know quite a lot about Gambians and their country and of course there are educated ,polite and nice people,but those are very exceptional...I only met a couple all these years.
I have to add to the fact that I even had a gambian girlfriend and was a regular visit to her in laws and sisters and nieces etc etc.
To make the story short I have never seen so materialistic people in my life!
Let me just tell you this funny incident...when I was at her in laws I heard a word that just sounded like: ALICE and this word were constantly repeated by their mouths, but after having heard this word at least a hundred times in that a week I took the freedom to ask : Who the hell is Alice? She must be the most popular girl in this community ? Well, poor me ! Everybody burst out laughing,and my girlfriend most of all : Oh darling ! Aliss is money ! In our language the wolloff ! No need to tell you how stupid I felt ,but that also proved my point !
Yesterday I was helping a former employer here in Gothenburg he is the owner of 3 taxi companies and he is originally from Ghana ...when I told him this story the guy was laughing for over 3 minutes!
He said Gabe : You are the only one that can make me really laugh! But he said, damn it man! That really applies to those Gambian women! They are the most greedy and materialistic beings that carry black skin! The only ones that can beat them are the Nigerians ...for those are megalomanous!
Well, gentleman,now you have an opinion of an european like me that have worked mostly all West Africa from Senegal to Congo (Nigeria included) and the opinion of an African that has been dealing with Africans all his life both in leisure time and professionally.
Well Kim, I don´t even want to tell all kind of scams and lies my girlfriend put me through all those years including what I believe to have been a faked pregnancy! I suspect she did it to extort some money from me since I asked her sincerely to keep the child! Now I realize there was never any child and even her sister confessed she was a fraud! She was meeting me and having an affair with a 70 year old swede catering to her materialistic needs but the guy died on her, maybe too much VIAGRA!After she found another geriatric case and married him and I heard she was collecting some inheritance a pent house or a villa...this one had died on her too!
But in the meantime she was screwing with me ... she always said that sex with me saved her day here in Sweden! But I am not so sure of that actually ...she probably was faking that too! Maybe she wanted to have me stand by... as sort of plan B for an eventual residence permit here in Sweden!
However I did not know all this until I found out through her niece and my own private investigation!
Can you believe this! She was a top performer a real born actress and she was like many of them almost iliterate! She could hardly read or write...can you imagine her with some more education?
Anyway the only good thing about her was that in bed she was very compatible, as we say a hell of a good screw ! Nice body ,fantastic skin and sexually very desirable, but I have had much better in Africa especially girls and women from Angola or even Cape Verde.
I could tell you infinite stories about Africa and African women, but I just hope this may help to cast some light into what to expect when dealing with many of the subjects of The Gambia and maybe even Nigeria.
Be on your watch and do what I heard from an American officer working with me in the (oil) offshore business: When in Africa with the black ladies ...leave your heart... and credit card at home... before you go!

Greetings from

Gab

[Kim Wheather]

By the way, what's happened to the practice of tipping? Not common in Gambia? Perhaps that's why the waitresses disappear with your coins which of course you need to get back to your hotel to continue exploiting the Gambian women!!

I wrote about tipping in my previous posts, too. (Post #207).

Let me summarize here: I was in The Gambia in February 2007 and I would not say, that Gambian waiters/waitresses (and generally people in Gambia) were polite. On the contrary, most of Gambians were unpolite and rude.

After a couple of days in The Gambia I just quitted to tip to the waiters/waitresses in Gambia, because they don't say 'thanks', but just a single 'OKAY', when you tip for instance 20 Dalasis. (Remember, that a daily salary for people in Gambia is around 120 Dalasis -officially-. And remember most of Gambian people don't even get the minimum salary, either. For 20 Dalasis people in Gambia work at least in 2 hours -of course if people get offically salary-. But it even doesn't take 2 minutes to bring what I'm going to eat in a restaurant).

The matter is not some amount of fucking money. The matter is what kind of behavouir you get, even you tip the Gambian waiters/waitresses.

[Hermescali]

Thanks Fournicenight for alerting us!! Wow, "lost" change is definitely going to put a large dent in my budget and stop me from mongering in Africa!!! By the way, what's happened to the practice of tipping? Not common in Gambia? Perhaps that's why the waitresses disappear with your coins which of course you need to get back to your hotel to continue exploiting the Gambian women!!

Get real

Tipping is not common in many countries. I do not know about The Gambia. But a dollar worth of tip for a drink or food would be a lot in many African countries. I am normally accused of spending too much. But the staffs behaviour was definetely not right in an African context. If staff is like this often providers are like this. And I have not heard many good things about The Gambia

[Amha]

Thanks Fournicenight for alerting us!! Wow, "lost" change is definitely going to put a large dent in my budget and stop me from mongering in Africa!!! By the way, what's happened to the practice of tipping? Not common in Gambia? Perhaps that's why the waitresses disappear with your coins which of course you need to get back to your hotel to continue exploiting the Gambian women!!

Get real

[Caesar46]

Near Amsterdam Dolphins bar. Restaurant in the Kotu-area there are a lot of prostitutes from guinee-conacry. Do not ever go with one of them. They will ripp you off. During ' negotiations' they do not tell the price, they say: it's up to you. But afterwards they claim 50 euro as a normal price for a 1 hour fuck. Police will come and say: yes, 50euro is 'notting', is normal price, you will have to pay. Very difficult situations, I warn you all!

PS: most of them are alcoholics

[Caesar46]

big problems in Kotu-area.

A lot of prostitutes from Guinee-Conacry are working in this area (e. G. Amsterdam dolphins bar restaurant). There are amongst them alcoholic, trying to rip-off customers, never-ever go to a girl's house without exact knowing the price) They use to say: it's up to you, but afterwards they make big, big, big trouble and ask 50 euro for a short-time fuck. Police always say, it's normal price so you have to pay. There are a lot of stories like this so be cautious, I warn you all.

[Johan Waans]

Having been to more than a dozen countries in Africa, i have to agree that The Gambia and especially Senegambia is the worst rip off place i have ever been to... And i am not talking about waiters trying to get some extra's of you... Watch your pockets when you are in a room with a girl and if you are travelling alone be prepared to get some serious hassle and bullshit from a lot of people....

[Fourniceight]

Donnyfurri,

I see from your profile that you joined 9 months ago and this is your first post. What a superb contribution you have made. I'm sure all other BMs will be waiting with baited breath for your next post. I tried to send you a PM but you aren't accepting them. Perhaps as well because what I was going to say to you would have been nearly as rude as your post.

[Donnyfurri]

It is well known by expats that the Gambian people are a race of liars and cheats and thieves. There are of course a good number of Gambians who are good and trustworthy, but the temptation of these very poor people to steal is often too great for them to resist. I have had 3 experiences this last week which I feel I ought to report on various forums to warn others of a trend which is becoming more apparent. When I've paid for my drinks or meals I've been left waiting for ages for my change. Now in The Gambia change isn't easy to come by and I know that the bars and restaurants have difficulty finding change. However, on the three occasions this week, the change simply wasn't forthcoming and the waiter/waitress has disappeared into the back somewhere, presumably pocketing the money and hoping I would simply get up and leave thinking that the change was insignificant. The change is insignificant and I would generally have given it as a tip, but when I am not given that option I get annoyed. Last night after waiting for 10 minutes, I went to the back of the restaurant, found the waitress who was near the cashier and asked her how much I gave her. Embarrassed, she looked at the cashier, who said sorry, he forgot, then pulled MY 30 dalasis from his pocket. I then decided that I would warn others not to let them get away with this malpractice and name and shame the establishments.

The places that have tried to "rip me off" are

Yasmina's
Jewel of India
Latitude Bistro

All these places are on Senegambia strip.

Unreal. You are crying over 30 dalasi so you can call them a race of theives?

[Ghost Daddy]

Thanks, Fournicenight, for alerting us to the likely places in The Gambia where we might have an entire US dollar stolen from us. Are you by any chance related to McGruff the crime dog?