Brufut Holidays

Brufut is set on The Gambia’s only coastline, and lives up to expectations with a long slice of sand. The beach is at the foot of tangerine-coloured cliffs, which keeps the shoreline nice and private. In fact, the waterfront here’s one of the most peaceful stretches around. The town behind it’s a similarly simple set-up – there’s a main street lined with a few hotels and a luxury villa complex, plus a handful of bars.

This place is shoulder to shoulder with one of the region’s most thriving wildlife haunts – the Tanji Bird Reserve. It’s a protected area filled with forestry and lagoons, spanning out for more than 300 acres. Spend the day exploring, and you’ll have 300 species of bird to keep an eye out for. They include black headed herons, redshanks and pied kingfishers.

The Gambia’s biggest town, Serrekunda, is half an hour’s drive along the coast. It’s faster paced than Brufut, with bustling marketplaces and street stalls peddling seafood, vegetables and handicrafts. Carry on along the Banjul-Serrekunda Highway, and you’ll reach St Mary’s Island in another 20 minutes. It’s home to the country’s capital, Banjul, which still operates more as a seaport than a tourist town. Here, you’ll get a real flavour of local life in The Gambia.