Our welcome to Banjul was exuberant and energetic and this high stepping folkdance is typical of the Gambia.
The British founded Banjul as a trading post and base for suppressing the slave trade in 1816 and renamed Banjul as Bathurst after the Secretary of the British Colonial Office. It was renamed Banjul on attaining independence in 1973.
On the 22nd July 1994 Banjul was the scene of a bloodless coup d’état and to commemorate this event Arch 22 was built as an entrance portal to the capital. The gate is 35 metres tall and stands at the centre of an open square.
Gambia is one of the smallest countries in Africa and comprises a relatively narrow strip of land that hugs the Gambia River from which it takes tis name.
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