Introduction:
Tourists staying in Greater Banjul's main beach holiday
resorts of The Gambia will
have plenty of souvenir shopping opportunities, as almost
every one of the tourist class hotels
has in-house boutiques or nearby a craft market, grocery
stores, stall holders or street hawkers.
There are also a few art
galleries with shops & cafes
selling West African art. The often vibrant local village
fairs offer various produce like fruits & vegetables,
as well as household wares, imported fabrics and clothing
at reasonable prices. General household goods, electronics
& fashion shops abound in the Kombos. When shopping
in Gambia beware that while some stores stock high quality
merchandise, many stock low quality goods.
Craft
Markets: 
These are usually located inside or close to the main
tourist hotels between Kololi
to Cape Point, as well as further east to the Banjul
capital. They vary in size from the large Kotu
Tourist Craft Market to the smaller Bakau Craft
Market. These are locally known as 'bengdulas' and are
often filled with products custom made for tourists.
Among these are batiks,
sarongs, sand paintings and wood figurines. If you take
your time you can often spot some good quality bargains
among the mass produced carved animals and cheap trade
beads. You might also find locally made jams, condiments
and honey produced by enterprise charities
and local co-operatives.
Art
Galleries & Cafes:
 There
are a few privately run art establishments such as the
Gaya Art Cafe in Kololi and the Africa Living Art Centre
in Bakau's Fajara area which sells West African curiosities
such as masks, as well as 'silver' jewellery and textiles.
These places aim to combine eating and drinking with
an enjoyment of local art, as well as offering visitors
a chance to do some shopping for various quality artworks,
as opposed to those which can be purchased in the tourist
hang-outs around town.
Fruit Pressers / Sellers:
 On
the beaches of almost all the tourist hotels you will
find a row or more of Gambian women selling fruits
or pressed fruit juices as well as coconut from stalls
usually coloured bright blue. These stalls replaced
the fruit ladies who used to wonder along the beach
unregulated and often pestering sunbathing visitors.
They tend to be more expensive than you might find at
the local village fairs but is more than made up for
by the convenience.
If you are a little worried about the hygiene conditions
in which the fruit is prepared then consider ordering
just whole fruit. Many of the women, and some men, depend
on the income during the tourist season to help put
food on the family table, and cover things like their
kid's school fees and uniforms. This is a great way
to help provide income for families rather than spending
all your money within your hotel complex. Look at it
like a form of responsible
tourism.
Town & Village Markets:
 These
can be found in all the peri-urban areas and many of
the major villages all the way from the Kombo district
in the West Coast Region up to Basse Santa Su in the
easternmost sector of The Gambia.
They mostly have on sale an array of cheap household
goods, imported and locally produced groceries and various
local produce such as fresh vegetables, palm oil, dried
fish, ground peanut paste, fruits and dried herbs. They
are also good places go shopping for richly coloured
rolls of fabric, shoes and clothing. In pre-colonial
times these places were characterized by the country
'fair' type associated with the long distance trade
of groundnuts, salt, slaves and local subsistence food
stalls.
Banjul
Capital:
 The
vast majority of merchandise imported into The Gambia
comes through the port of Banjul. From here some of
the goods find their way into the city's shops, while
the rest is trucked off to other parts of the country
as well as to other West African countries.
The Albert Market,
on Liberation Avenue, is the main urban market. A colourful,
bustling centre to browse, brimming with a large selection
of household products, colourfully patterned fabrics,
familiar and unfamiliar foods, household wares, wooden
masks and traditional musical instruments.
Kololi
Village Complex:
 This
is a modern place located on the Bertil Harding Highway.
It is basically an open-air shopping arcade whose building
is similar in shape to a horseshoe with twin minarets,
one on each end. Within the open air semi-enclosure
of the Village Complex is a garden area, a kids' playground,
a fountain, and seating areas in front of various shops
and diners on the ground floor. restaurants
There are clothing stores, offices, an optician, a dentist,
restaurants,
cafes, car rentals
and a supermarket. Among these are the El
Sol Restaurant, the Vineyard
Restaurant, RHW Jewellers and Trends Fashion Boutique.
Bakau
Town Market:
 The
place sells fruits, meat, fish, vegetables and small,
durable consumer goods. It is mostly a corrugated roofed
maze of tightly arranged stalls and shops displaying
all manner of household products and foodstuffs such
as rice, smoked bonga fish, packeted and tinned foods,
heaps of tomatoes, hot chilli peppers and aubergines,
sugar and lots more. You will also find flip flops,
pens, buckets, pocket radios, and other bric-a-brac.
In front of the Bakau
market on the Atlantic
Road you will see the fruit and vegetables section,
a less stifling shopping experience.
Opposite here is a small shed which sells frozen and
chilled shrimps at prices lower than you will find in
the local supermarkets. Just a stones throw away to
the north you will find the Bakau community fishing
centre and landing jetty where you can buy catches such
as butterfish and shad. The busiest time is when the
pirogues arrive to land their catches. Suddenly the
place bursts into frenzied activity as women begin ferrying
pan loads of fish on their heads from the boats to the
beach. There are also fish stalls, refrigeration blocks
and fish smoking houses.
Serrekunda
Market:
 If
you've never experienced urban Africa before then shopping
in Serrekunda Market might come as a bit of a culture
shock. To prepare you first need to brush up on your
haggling
skills, wear a money belt to guard against the ever
present pickpockets, where a hat, sunglasses, carry
a bottle of water, maybe take along an experienced guide.
Then you are set to go!
 As
you get closer to the main market building from Westfield
Junction and up the Sayer
Jobe Avenue cars are often bumper to bumper, hordes
of pedestrian shoppers and street stalls jam the pavements,
diesel fumes waft in the air, the heat - often oppressive,
locally made and imported goods of all kinds to your
right and left. Most of the 'market' is not in a building,
but in the adjacent streets. At the back of the main
building is the pungent, fly infested produce area selling
smoked and fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, cooking
ingredients and various items which many visitors might
find unrecognisable.
Kairaba
Avenue:
 The
thoroughfare, also known as Pipeline Road, is The Gambia's
equivalent of the UK's Oxford Street in London. Stiflingly
hot in summer, more pleasant in winter, laterite, concrete
and sandy 'pavements' line both sides of the 3 km stretch
of road which is often jammed with private cars and
taxis.
The section of Kairaba Avenue starting on the Atlantic
Road, in Fajara M Section,
up to about 200 metres after the main traffic lights
makes for the most pleasant shopping and dining experience.
Here you can find some of the best restaurants
in Gambia, as well as well stocked supermarkets, office
stationery stores, banks, electronics
and household wares outlets. Just south of the traffic
light junction you will see stalls of fruits and vegetables,
and a little further south you will see many small horticultural
gardens selling plants, small trees and seedlings, as
well as large clay plant pots.
 The
most congested section of Kairaba Avenue is from Westfield
Junction, in Serrekunda,
going west for about 150 metres. This section is dominated
by electronics shops, and general household goods outlets.
Kairaba Avenue is well worth a visit where you can get
some good bargains at generally lower prices than in
Europe.
High Street Consumer Stores:
 These
kinds of stores are well worth a visit as good bargains
can be had. The only downside is that once you buy a
product and head off back to your country the guarantees
and warranties are virtually worthless. So do check
that the product you buy is in good working order or
clothes are well stitched and comfortable.
Great buys can be had with regards to stationery, small
electronics products like memory sticks, DVD movies,
souvenirs from gift shops, fashion clothing and shoes.
Ironically many clothing items are imported from the
UK and USA at wholesale summer discount prices, so you're
sure to find some bargains. Some items however are overpriced
such as laptops and Android smartphones. To compare
prices with back home it is worthwhile knowing the current
exchange rate for your currency, and take along a pocket
calculator. Generally speaking the more upmarket the
shopping area, the better the quality of the goods.
Tip: while shopping look out for genuine brand names
or test and check before buying.
Supermarkets:
 There
are quite a number of medium to large supermarkets and
mini-markets dotted around the Kombo Saint Mary District,
especially along the Kairaba Avenue and the coastal
resorts. Maroun's Supermarket, near the Palma Rima Hotel,
is fairly compact but offers a good shopping experience
as it is well stocked with many US and UK brand name
foods and household products such as jams, butter, marmalade,
milk, cornflakes, cleaning products, toilet paper and
more.
A couple of hundred metres further south is the Adams
Trading Supermarket which is modern, a lot larger and
filled to the brim with a good variety of products.
As you head further south towards the Senegambia Strip
area there are smaller grocery stores on the Bertil
Harding Highway. If you turn right at the junction of
the Senegambia Strip there are several shops catering
for tourists and selling many essentials, which is particularly
convenient if you are staying in a self-catering accommodation
in Kololi.
Local
Corner Shops:
 There
are a plethora of small 'corner' stores which generally
cater to their nearby residential location and passers-by.
These types of local shops usually stock soft drinks,
purified water, bread, butter,
candles, flip-flops, sweets and numerous other small
items of food and disposable consumer goods.
They are handy for purchasing basic essentials such
as batteries, bottled water and toilet rolls after most
of the major mini-markets and supermarkets have closed,
usually by 11pm. If you are staying in one of the lodges
or guest houses in any of the resorts
such as Kololi, Bijilo, Fajara etc., there are usually
several small booths within 100 metres of your accommodation.
Prices:
 As
a general rule the more expensive the product the better
the quality. The cost
of things can vary greatly and the final price you
pay may well depend on your bargaining and haggling
skills. To discover the best bargains however, it is
better to move away from the tourist resorts and go
shopping further into town. Tip: side street stores
in Gambia tend to pay lower rents and these savings
can often be passed onto the consumer in the form of
lower prices.
Shop Opening Hours:
 Monday
to Thursday 9am - 5pm, Fri-Sat 9am - 12.30pm. Some outlets
may stay open until 10pm, some food stores stay open
up to 11pm and beyond. More... |
