The Bumsters
The Gambia is relatively free from hassle, other than the notorious ‘bumster.’ This is a name given to many of Gambia’s young men that are often unemployed and have discovered that hustling tourists can be as rewarding as a real job.
If one thing can spoil your holiday or extended stay it would be the bumsters, if you allow them to.
Bumsters can be found in any tourist area such as the outside of hotels, on the beaches, and in the markets, unless they have been specifically banned or driven away.
What they generally do is offer sex, drugs, or to be your guide or friend for the length of your stay.
You may hear a story about how hard it is to find work to feed his family, and he will ask you for money. If you are walking about on the beach or in a market, you may have a bumster follow you and act as your guide by telling you things about the area etc. even if you didn’t ask for his 'guidance'.
He may continue to follow you and then expect money for his ‘services’ even if you never asked for them. Therefore, getting rid of the bumster as soon as possible is best.
He may also lie and say "don’t you recognize me? I work at your hotel," hoping that out of embarrassment that you did not recognize him you may offer him some sympathy, or worse, your time and later, your money and anguish.
If you refuse to acknowledge the harassing bumster while he says "excuse me, just one moment," you will hear less pleasant things such as "we are brothers, you and me are the same, don’t you want to talk to a black man?" and it can get much worse after that.
This all in the hopes of making you feel guilty and thus you may again give him your time.
Encountering a bumster is practically unavoidable when coming to The Gambia. Remember that this is a very poor country, and being a visitor usually means to a Gambian that you are wealthy and that you may offer opportunities for them (such as a visa entry into England).
Also, some tourists actually use the services of bumsters, notably the sex services.
The best way to deal with an approaching bumster is to remain calm, friendly but very firm, and just say one of several things while walking away and avoiding eye contact:
"No, I’m in a hurry"
"No thanks"
"Please leave me"
"I did not invite you"
"Abaraka" ("thank you" in Mandinka)
"Jerejef" ("thank you" in Wolof)
"Ba lal ma" ("please forgive me" in Wolof)
"Bai ko ma" ("leave me alone" in Wolof)
Or just say nothing at all.
You may still be asked, "how are you?", "what is your name?", "are you enjoying your holiday?", "are you from (England, Holland, America)?" (Keep in mind that these are common questions asked by any Gambian, not just bumsters, so being rude is not the answer).
When asked "how are you?", just answer "fine, fine" and keep walking and try to ignore the rest of the questions and gestures of hand shaking.
Do not stop to shake hands even though you may hear that you are a racist now as you don’t want to shake a black man’s hand.
Do not let this get to you, rude comments like that are not that common and it is only said to make you feel guilty.
Everyone has a right as to who they want to talk to, shake hands with, and use the services of, or not. It is not racist to ignore contact with a bumster.
If you do give in to the conversation and/or give them money etc. he will only end up hassling you for the rest of your stay.
Another way to get rid of a bumster is if you are walking on the beach and are getting hassled, try walking knee deep in the water, they may decide not to follow you as many Gambians cannot swim nor like the water for that matter.
If you are female and the bumster is not leaving you alone, tell him you are married (even if you are single), and if asked if you are married to a Gambian, say first of all that it is none of his business or say yes and the bumster will likely respect his fellow brother and leave you alone, hopefully.
Unfortunately, many Gambians that are truly just interested in talking to you and nothing else are mistaken for bumsters. Therefore it is important to remain friendly and not allow yourself to be intimidated.
After a few encounters with bumsters you will likely get the idea of how best to recognize and ignore them.
Note: another method of dealing with the issue of bumsters is to hire an official guide. These guides are usually stationed outside of the major hotels and will be wearing official uniforms and badges (ID). For a negotiated price the guide can take you where you want to go and he will make sure that you are not hassled by the "unofficial" guides. Be sure to use the official guides otherwise you may encourage the act of "bumstering" even more...
Mostly Cloudy 25 oC