Our personal  views of the Gambia based on the first trip. Our expectations were high - searching for our ideal vacation spot. The country is poor but people very friendly. Criminality low despite high rate of unemployment. Hotels of good standard but outside the hotel area a cultural chock is a fact. The landscapes are not especially breathtaking but views along riverbanks and somewhat inland gives a feeling of the real Black Africa. An eldorado for bird watchers - other animals are few compared to East Africa. We arrived with definite plans to return - but there is a "but" - outside the fenced hotel area especially a newcomer cannot walk without constantly being approached by the unofficial guides, the "bumsters" offering their services and they do not take no thanks for an answer. These boys naturally must try to earn their living somehow - but from the visitor´s point of view this is very FRUSTRATING. For this reason we did not yet find our ideal vacation destination.