We had the chance to visit Gambia with a timeshare swap and as we had never been anywhere like this we decided to go. It was a completely new and different experience for us as outside the resort you could see just how hard the locals lived and saw juts how happy they seemed to be. Before we went , we did some checking on the country and found they were always in need of supplies for the schools - we were advised not to give to individuals but to hand to the teachers within the schools. We booked a recommended 'taxi driver' and paid him to take us around for the day. We had a suitcase filled to the brim with pens , pencils , paper etc etc (and tons of boiled sweets) and the schools were so appreciative it gave us a great feeling. The driver took us to his family home where he introduced his family to us and then we went on to the alligator farm where John was encouraged to 'stroke ' one. I volunteered to take the picture! It was a very educational trip but one we decided not to do agains as the jabs we needed had a not so nice effect on John and me. xxxxxxxx