I've been going to The Gambia for years, not to punt by the way, but I have done a bit of dabbling around as you do. The HIV rates in Gambia are higher than the UK but nowhere near as bad as southern Africa. I think the HIV rate is about 2% of the population from the top of my head. There are a lot of beautiful girls out and about of a night time, especially in Britannia Bar, Time Inn and WOW nightclub, but most of these are from either Guinea Conakry, Liberia & Sierra Leone and can be a bit hardcore money wise and they'll pester you to death if you give them your number. Never give them your UK number, just give them your Africell number if you have to, as you'll more than likely be binning it when you come back home. They only last 3 months if unused. I've met a few Gambian girls and to be fair, they have had the nicest temperament, followed by the Guinea girls, but I'd avoid the Sierra Leonean & Liberian girls. Because they are getting a bit of a bad reputation they will lie and say they are Gambian when they are not. It's easy to tell them apart, especially the Liberians who have this somewhat weird American type of accent. If you want a nice Gambian girl it's best to check out the cleaners and waitresses etc in the hotels and bars, downsides being most will work 7 days a week. I always fly there with Thomas Cook, and flight only averages around £350 with 20kg luggage each way. Flights are around 6 hours but sometimes they land to refuel in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria or Faro in Portugal because the A321 they use is at it's flight envelope limit and if there's a strong headwind or there's excess luggage/charity luggage, they can't fill it to the top as it would be above the maximum take off weight, so bare that in mind, but it only normally adds an hour on to the flight. I have had 3 fuel stops. One in Faro, One in Las Palmas, and a very rare refuel at Dakar in Senegal last October, they completely ballsed that one up and it took us nearly 12 hours to get to Banjul. Overall Gambia is a great place, all the women in the Tourist Development Area (TDA) speak English and the beer, Julbrew, is cheap enough. I enjoy it and go about 2 or 3 times a year.
