Senegal and Gambia river cruise holiday

Planet and people

It is always our aim to show you the real country and this tour combines all that is best in this corner of West Africa, from the wildlife, historic cities and beautiful natural heritage. We’ll see the main sites but there are also many opportunities to learn about local life on visits to villages.

In order to give you the best experience we use local crew throughout this tour who can give that unique insight into their culture and customs which really enhances our trip, as well as generating local employment and delivering direct economic benefits to the areas we are travelling in.

Our visit to Fadiout is a great example as this community run visit not only is a great experience for us but delivers economic benefits to the village as a whole. Aboard our riverboat we also have a great opportunity to learn about Gambian culture from our local crew…and quite possibly some lessons in Gambian cookery too! We also do this by using locally owned hotels, many of which buy their food produce from local suppliers, and spreading our business to a variety of local restaurants. We visit several national parks on our tour. Conscious that these are fragile environments, we try to minimise our impact by adhering to strict environmental guidelines and educating crew and customers on the ‘do’s and don’ts’.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.

As a company we support Cool Earth. Protecting rainforest is one of the most effective actions to tackle climate breakdown. CoolEarth work with indigenous communities empowering them to conserve their forest; keeping CO2 locked in.