The Gambia

This is the most carefully and accurately written travel guide, and thus the most useful, that I have encountered in nearly four decades of traveling. It is also the most sensitive statement of The Gambia and its people I could imagine. I have been visiting the country since the mid-1970s, and was just there in early 2003. I found out that Emms and Barnett are respected wildlife experts who have taken up residence in The Gambia who advise the Gambian government, when it will listen, on matters pertaining to wildlife, ecology, and conservation. They care about The Gambia and its people. What all of this means for travelers is that they have recently visited each restaurant, hotel, and museum (and bar) they write about, driven each road, bartered for each item purchased. For every place I visited, over two months, their advice was on the money. And I would purchase the book even if not traveling, because it gives a wonderfully accurate sense of Gambian history and culture. My hat is off to Emms, Barnett, and the Bradt folks for giving us this book. Don't leave home (for The Gambia) without it.