Introduction:
 Brikama
Town (also spelt Birikama) and its outlying vicinity
are in the Kombo Central District, West Coast Region
of The Gambia, in West Africa. It is the regional capital
of the Western Region, the base for the headquarters
of Brikama
Area Council, & it is the most populated Local
Government Area in the country. Located inland, in the
South Bank, the main urban settlement is about 35km
southwest of the Banjul
capital, and has an estimated population of 750,000
people (699,704 - 2013 census).
The largest ethnic
group are the Mandinka,
followed by the Wolof, Manjago, Jola, Fulani, Serer,
Serahule, Laibe, Aku, Mauritanians and others. Brikama
is a market town and major trading centre for raw groundnuts,
palm oil (dende) and kernels. The local economy revolves
around petty trading, soap making and tie
& dye. Other livelihoods are horticulture, fruit
and vegetable distribution, pottery making, batik and
wood craft workshops. The town is famous for its traditional
music heritage of the Kora
jalis (griots).
Accommodation:
 Brikama
is not an obvious place to stay for tourists visiting
The Gambia, as it is about 37km southeast of the coastal
resorts, and has few visitor amenities. However, there
are still a few
hotels & lodges available in the town itself,
as well as in the vicinity. The best room standards
can be found outside of the centre of town.
General Area:
• The
Town:
 Brikama
is a well used transport hub, and taxis from all areas
of Kombo either pass through, terminate or commence
their trips from the busy taxi garage, just north of
the produce market. A good network of main trunk roads
and feeder roads radiate outwards in all directions,
adding to the town's dominance in the Kombo Central.
These highways are used by passengers, road haulage
companies moving goods, and imported foodstuffs to the
market, as well as eastwards into the interior of The
Gambia, via the South Bank road. Fish is transported
in from the south west village of Gunjur,
passing the villages of Sifoe and Kiti, livestock
makes its way to and from the Livestock Market and also
westwards towards the coast and the Kombo Saint Mary
District (Ksmd).
 In
the central area of the settlement there is the village
market selling food, clothes and household goods, several
banks, the post office, Gamtel, the livestock market,
mosques, the fire station, the craft market, the police
station, a Catholic church, petrol stations such as
Galp, hardware retail stores, and other amenities.
• The Vicinity
 Brikama's
outlying rural areas are characterised by small villages,
forests, savanna scrub, and small and large farm holdings.
The places worth visiting in these areas are the various
nature conservation reserves. To the east of the town's
vicinity is the Pirang
Forest Park, a forest gallery between the south
bank highway and the River Gambia. Its varied habitats
are rich birdwatching grounds. There is the conservation
project centred around the Jola Kachokorr camp in
the Tumani
Tenda Eco-Reserve, near Kafuta. Here you can spend
a few nights, relax in the rural surroundings, as well
as learn about local customs, culture, and cuisine.
To the north east of the town is the Nyambai Forest.
The most popular tourist attraction in the vicinity
of Brikama is the Makasutu
Cultural Forest. A private nature reserve with mangroves,
salt-flats, savannah, hard-wood and palm forests.
Their visitor centre has a decent restaurant and superb
swimming pool. Makasutu is also home to the luxury accommodation
based in the forest called Mandina Lodges. Then to the
south of Brikama there is the area around Marakissa
village. Here you will find attractive woodland, savanna
and palm trees, which are attractive breeding and feeding
grounds for numerous migratory and resident bird species.
There is the Marakissa
River Camp, to the south, which caters well for
birdwatchers, with its flat roof overlooking the river.
Founding Family History:
 The
former pagan founders of Brikama, the Kontes, and their
descendants the Bojangs, are acknowledged as the original
settlers. The settlement is an old royal town, but which
had been destroyed in the second half of the 19th century,
during the Soninke-Marabout wars, which raged on for
decades in the Kombo regions of The Gambia. Brikama
in Bainunka means 'Women's Town'.
Tourist Attractions & Things
To Do:
• Brikama Woodcarvers' Market
 This
partly sheltered area is also known as the Woodcarving
Centre, and is located on the main road which splits
further north from the South Bank Highway. After the
rather scruffy and unpretentious entrance of the Brikama
Craft Market is a good selection of stalls selling
various souvenirs and gifts such as weaved baskets.
At the back of this area is the so called wood carvers'
'factory' where skilled craftsmen hack, split and chisel
freshly arrived wood (mostly teak and some mahogany)
into rough shapes. This is then passed onto the professional
carvers, stationed at the open stalls, to finish with
more intricate chiselling, sandpapering, varnishing
and waxing. Beware that many 'ebony' pieces are actually
made of the tropical hardwood, teak, then polished black.
Also note that some 'antique' pieces are not antique
at all.
The majority of the wood carvers are not Gambian but
Senegalese, and they follow a standard production formula
for the various forms. Among the varied wood products
produced here are wooden masks, Djembe
drums, food bowls, elephants, tall male and female
statues carrying containers, tigers, high-back stools,
lions, chess boards and pieces, Balafons, abstract forms,
old men figurines with attached beards, and decorated
calabash shakers. Aside from tourist souvenirs these
objects generally have little export demand.
• Brikama Market
 This
is the major market in town that is well worth exploring.
The fruits, vegetables, fish and meat are piled in heaps
or neatly arranged into rows. You will find hoards of
flies hovering over pungent fish, piles of red onions,
tomatoes and okra, rows of smoked catfish, cloves
of garlic, plastic bottles of palm oil, heaps of in-season
mangos, bunches of bananas, gleaming aubergines, yellow
and red hot chillies, green oranges, rice sold by the
pot, lemons, imported apples, papaya, breadfruit and
other fruits and vegetables. There are also household
goods and garments on sale such as used clothing, metal
and plastic bowls, buckets, flip-flops, sandals, rolls
of colourful plain or designed fabrics, cheap clothing
from China and much more.
• Bird
Watching:
 Beyond
the outskirts of Brikama are several nature reserves
and bird
watching hotspots where you can find many bird species.
Among these areas are Kabafita Forest Park, Furnya
Forest Park and Marakissa
River Camp.
Further to the northeast and east, near the Gambia River,
are the Makasutu
Culture Forest and Pirang
Forest. Together, these environs provide rich and
varied habitats such as gallery forest, riverine, salt-flats,
Guinea savanna and scrubland, which are bountiful in
bird species, such as Gabar Goshawks, Green Crombecs,
African Pygmy Kingfishers, Black Crakes, White-spotted
Fluftails, African Green Pigeons, Western Bluebills,
Verreaux's Eagle Owls, Green Hylias, Turacos, Hammerkops,
Greenbuls, White-breasted Cuckoos, African Pied Hornbills
and Spotted Honeyguides.
At the now abandoned Pirang Shrimp Farm you might see
Quail-finches, African Spoonbills, White-faced Whistling
Ducks, Ringed Plovers, Black-headed Herons, eagles,
parakeets, European Spoonbills, Lesser Flamingos, Brown-necked
Parrots, Yellow-billed Shrikes, Ospreys, Dunlins, Spur-winged
Geese, Pied Avocets or the more elusive Black-crowned
Crane.
• Sacred
Site
 On
the outskirts of town is a grove of trees called the
Santangba, at a place called Kotokali. The grove is
regarded as a sacred place,
and is the location of the first settlement in the locality,
made by the 13th century Mandinka migrants from Mali
Empire, during the reign of Sundiata Keita. The reason
why it's so well preserved is because it is thought
to be occupied by the spirits of ancestors, so it is
taboo for local people to take fruits, fell trees or
hunt there.
• Wrestling
 This
is the national sport of The Gambia, and tournaments
are mostly held in the Brikama Mini Stadium. The
rules of wrestling are
simple, the first man down on the ground with torso,
hands or arms loses.
• Restaurants
& Nightlife
Brikama's evening entertainment is quite subdued most
of the time, and very localized. Aside from the craft
market, the area is not generally geared towards tourists.
However, when there is a major Senegambian artist playing
in Jokor Night
Club, the entertainment scene gets more lively.
Concert goers from all over the vicinity, and the rest
of the Kombos, as far as Bakau, will make the long trip
into town.
 Despite
its low-key atmosphere there are a few good restaurants
and bars around, and if you ask a few locals you might
be directed to a few bars and restaurants in the locality.
There is the Wahatilene Restaurant & Garden, on
the high street, serving local cuisine, with a little
seating at the back. There is the budget priced Bantang
Bantaba in the Methodist Mission. It is on your right
hand side as you enter the Sanyang Road. They serve
cool drinks, nice sandwiches and other snacks. You can
even buy hot chilli sauces, jams and mustards (Tel no:
4484853).
If you don't mind something really
local then there is the Roots Bar & Sutura.
Located opposite the council offices, the restaurant
serves Gambian dishes
such as peanut stew (Domoda), Jollof Rice and Chicken
Yassa, along with soft drinks or Julbrew. (Tel no: 9959606).
There is also a small guesthouse on the Mosque Road,
300 metres from the taxi stand, called the Domorrdeema,
which serves food at the front, where you can eat beef,
chicken, fish, benachin (Jollof Rice), chips or rice
and the local sauce of the day (Tel no: 9903302).
Health & Safety:
 During
the day there are usually plenty of people out and about,
and there is very little to be concerned regarding your
personal safety. However, do be aware of hazards in
the streets. Avoid walking on the paved road, if possible,
due to the risk of getting hit by a car. This is not
always easy as there isn't usually a decent pavement
to walk on. Keep your money and jewellery out of site.
Finally, do not venture far out alone at night. If you
go out into the vicinity, such as the bush, then do
cover your arms and legs properly, wear boots, sunscreen
and use insect repellent.
Travel Information:
 To
get to the centre of Brikama Town from the Gambia's
coastal resorts of Kololi
and Kotu, you take one of the yellow or more expensive
green tourist taxis, go up the coastal road, past Brusubi
turntable and onto the Airport Road. At the main T-junction
at Old Yundum, you take a right, past Busumbala village
and into the Brikama Highway. The other route is directly
from Banjul, through Serrekunda,
past Banjulunding and onwards into the centre of the
settlement. It is possible to take either of two paved
roads that will take you directly to Sanyang
or
Gunjur
on the south west coast, within 15 minutes.
[Geographical coordinates 13.2667° N, 16.6500°
W / Kombo Central, Western Region (WCR)] |
