A stay at Mandina is not just a winter holiday with wall-to-wall sunshine, but an experience that will stay in your memory. Even the journey from the airport is something of an adventure. Once you leave the main highway you turn left just past a huge painting of a blue bird on to the bumpy, dusty, unmade track which leads through Kembujeh village, past cashew plantations and fields of groundnuts, past The Gambian Horse and Donkey Trust and then alongside Makasutu Forest before ending at Mandina, a total distance of about 3km.
What to expect.
As soon as you arrive your mind will be freed from your normal day to day worries and routines. With no TV, piped music, wifi, radio or newspapers to disturb, annoy or upset you, your cares just float away.
Sometimes at night, when the sound of cicadas dies down, there is a silence so intense that you can almost hear it.
The Wild Life.
Nature lovers, and especially birdwatchers, will delight in the variety of species within such a relatively small area; many can be seen without even leaving the poolside. And then there are the baboons, a troop of about 200, who live in the forest and are so used to tourists that they will take absolutely no notice of you.
Mandina can also offer you an insight into the traditional African way of life. If you would like to visit the villages with your guide, you will always be welcomed, especially by the children.
Our Staff.
Our staff, all locals, are frequently praised by departing guests for the service they have provided; their kindness and smiles really are genuine. Most Gambians speak some English as well as up to four local languages and dialects.
The Gambia.
The Gambia is a tiny country snaking along the great river of the same name, with an estimated population of just 2.5 million. It has few natural resources, so tourism is an essential part of the economy.
The Part You Play.
There is little or no government money available for conservation projects, so when you stay at Mandina you contribute to our ongoing efforts to preserve the forest and its wildlife for future generations while offering training and employment to local residents.
The Other Side to Africa.
Africa is frequently portrayed as a homogenous entity, a danger zone throughout, wracked with starvation, poverty and tribal warfare. At Mandina we would like to show you that there is another side to life on this vast continent.
