Shopping, Arts and Crafts
Shopping:
Bold fabrics, colourful beaded jewelry, wooden carvings, tin or brass figurines, toys crafted from soda cans, recycled paper journals (from the Paper Recycling Skills Project), sarongs (useful as a skirt, scarf, sheet, wall hanging, and beach towel - though watch the ink!), batiks (paintings on fabric made with a wax-resist dyeing technique), djembes (local drums), leather goods, items handcrafted out of straw, African music cassettes and CDs, and many more things are worth purchasing here in The Gambia. Try some of the following areas for good shopping:
Banjul
Gambia’s capital city, Banjul, is one of the smallest capital cities in Africa, located on at the mouth of the River Gambia and separated from the mainland by a narrow creek.
With little room to grow, the city has been stagnant for years, giving it a sleepy, though busy ambience, more like a large village than a national centre, yet with plenty to do all in a day’s time. 
Visit Albert Market, the vibrant heart of Banjul and a colourful, lively, and chaotic place where you can spend many hours shopping for clothes, shoes, crafts, and trinkets. Watch for pickpocketers and young men wanting to be your 'guide.'
Though some of its exhibits are looking a bit tired, the National Museum of The Gambia is also worth visiting for its displays of photos, maps, and text about local archaeology, African peoples and the colonial period.
Not far off, the 35m (115ft) Arch 22 is one of the tallest building in The Gambia. Built to celebrate the military coup of 22 July 1994 (led by Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, now Gambia's president), the arch provides excellent views over the city and the coast, and it's open to the public daily.
Serrekunda
Gambia’s largest town, Serrekunda (also spelled as Serekunda), has become the nation’s de facto capital due to island-bound Banjul not being able to expand any further.
At one time Serrekunda was a small village, bearing the name of a local family (Serrekunda meaning ‘the home of the Serre family’), and now it is the primary transport hub and activity centre of The Gambia.
For a taste of real Africa, a visit to the main market in Serrekunda is highly recommended as there you can see how the locals shop and bargain in an over-crowded, colourful and smelly mess, where almost anything is for sale.
As in the Albert Market in Banjul, or any other crowded area for that matter, watch for pickpocketers and young men wanting to be your 'guide.'
Daily shopping needs:
Various pharmacies in the Kombos area sell such items as pain-killers, anti-diarrhea pills, anti-malarial medication, band-aids, sun-cream (sunblock), insect repellent, condoms, feminine products, etc. for reasonable prices.
The grocery stores such as Right Choice (good selection of products), Maroun's (many items from Tesco), St. Mary's Food and Wine (open late), and Kairaba Shopping Centre (large grocery store with other items on the second floor) will stock mostly imported items from Europe and Asia.
Many favourite things are available at these places and some new things also, but often at a cost. Small shack-type shops called bitikos are found on most streets all over the country. These shops stock a variety of goods including drinks (tea, coffee, soft drinks, and water, if available and if you are lucky, cold), condiments, tapalapa (bread), tinned meat and fish, powdered or tinned milk, sugar, cell phone credit and general household items such as laundry detergent, soap, gas tanks, candles, etc.
Arts & Crafts:
- The Art Café and Yok Restaurant, Bakau (a place worth visiting for seeing the orchids, art, and amazing design of the buildings alone!)
- Bakau Craft Market, Bakau (relatively relaxing place to purchase souvenirs)
- Brikama Woodcarvers Market, Brikama (good selection of woodcarvings, though keep in mind that most of the designs are not Gambian originals but rather, copied designs from Mali, Ghana, Kenya, etc.)
- Equigambia, Kololi (fair trade shop with unique clothing made on site by local young Gambians)
- Lemon Fish Art Gallery, Kartong (featuring local artists)
- The Paper Recycling Skills Project, Lamin (watch local Gambians make paper and books out of recycled items, also available at Timbooktoo (book store), and select hotel gift shops)
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