Wildlife thrives in these waters, from hippos wallowing in the depths to western red colobus monkeys keeping watch from tentacled mangroves. Despite its natural beauty and significant historical interest, the river tends not to be a major feature of the itineraries of most visitors, who instead generally gravitate to the sandy resorts of the coast. It’s hoped the Gambia’s new community-focused initiatives will encourage travellers to venture inland instead, to wend their way along West Africa’s life-giving waterway. Tourism initiatives such as the Ninki Nanka Trail, which takes its name from a mythical river monster, offer an opportunity for local people to supplement their income.

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Photo story: from cockle farmers to chieftains, portraits of life on the banks of the Gambia River

In the small nation of Gambia on Africa’s west coast, life revolves around the river’s gently winding course: traders sail between historic riverside towns, fishermen cast nets from narrow pirogues and women harvest oysters in brackish tributaries.

Story and photographs byJason Florio

Published February 26, 2022

• 13 min read

This article was adapted from National Geographic Traveller (UK).

In the brackish stretches of the river, women collect oysters that cling to sinewy mangrove branches. Mangroves are an essential part of the river’s ecosystem, forming a natural protection from river swells and providing a nursery for young fish and marine life. To prevent over-harvesting and reduce pressure on the mangroves, the women have also created oyster farms near their tenda (wharf). These farms enable older women, who can no longer do the hard work of paddling canoes and hacking razor-sharp oysters from the wild mangroves, to help harvest the bivalves.

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Heading east inland from the palm-backed coast, the Gambia River meanders through a largely agrarian society. Farmers here grow peanuts for both export and local consumption.

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Amid the mangrove swamps, there are few villages to be seen on the Gambia River’s banks, but most inland villages have a tenda a short distance away, from which fishermen and oyster collectors launch their canoes.

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Meanwhile, women sheaf fans of dried rice, singing in unison as they work.

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A migrant fisherman from the Senegalese Tukulor community poses for a portrait at the town of Kauur.

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For centuries, the river was a busy transportation route, but since the construction of bridges, many of the country’s goods travel by road. Not all communities have stopped plying the Gambia’s waters, though; in the river’s upper areas, barras (basic boats, made of welded metal sheets) are still used by locals.

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A 12-year-old boy — whose family migrated here from Senegal — with his early-morning catch. He sells part of it to local fish-dealers to pay for his studies.

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Fishing remains an important activity here, and the promise of a plentiful catch draws seasonal migrants. Among them are the Toucouleur people from neighbouring Senegal, who call out to each other in the Pulaar language, as well as a smattering of French, as they haul in their nets. Here, a fish merchant checks the freshness of a fisherman's catch.

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Sunset over Ballingo Tenda, a launch site for local fisherman on a bank of the Gambia River. Tendas also make excellent spots to moor for the night when navigating the river. Travellers can disembark and head into villages to meet the alkalo (village chief), pick up supplies and, if they’re lucky, be asked to join a family for a plate of domada, a peanut stew served with rice that’s one of the country’s national dishes.

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A general store in the riverside village of Tendaba.

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Lucy Jatta washes oysters to remove dirt after boiling and shucking them. They’ve been harvested by the TRY Oyster Women’s Association from mangroves flanking Gambia River. TRY Oyster Women’s Association is a community-based organisation of over 500 women oyster and cockle harvesters in The Gambia working to raise their standard of living by improving their access to markets.

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The ruins of a former fort and slave station on Kunta Kinteh Island, formally known as James Island, situated in the Gambia River. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island was renamed after Kunta Kinteh, a fictional Gambian slave who features in US author Alex Haley's novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family.

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Fula men bring their cattle to drink from River Gambia at Fatta Tenda, a former colonial-era trading station in the Upper River region.

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Men bring roofing grass across the Gambia River in a barra boat. Roofing grass is still used by many homeowners, especially in the rural areas of The Gambia.

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Bakary Dabo, the village chief of Diagabu Tenda, a small village on the bank of Gambia River, known for its goldsmiths and silversmiths.

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Mr Seeso, the alkalo of Karantaba Tenda throws his fishing net. Karantaba Tenda was where Scottish explorer Mungo Park set out from for two of his epic journeys in search of the Niger River over 200 years ago.

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Young boys practice traditional wrestling on the banks of River Gambia at the village of Karantaba Tenda.

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Basero Njie, a second-generation photographer, in his studio in Bansang town.

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A supporter of the former dictator Yahya Jammeh at her stall in the market at Bansang town.

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Young boys play in the water next to the ferry in Janjanbureh town — known as George Town during the colonial era.

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Silk cotton trees on the edge of River Gambia at the town of Kuntaur. The town was formally an important trading centre, with a large depot for Gambia's main export, peanuts. With the fabrication of two main roads on the north and south bank of the river, much of the transport of goods is now done by trucks, leaving a number of river side towns relics of their former selves.

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Children pose for a portrait on an old fishing jetty on River Gambia in the Upper River Region province.

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The children of fishermen from the Toucouleur ethnic group. The Toucouleurs migrate seasonally from Senegal to River Gambia to fish for catfish, and live in makeshift camps with their families.

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Lopiz Jarju, aged 42, at Kauur — one of the few full-time sailors still working on River Gambia. He works for the Gambia Groundnut Corporation on a tugboat that pulls barges with 100-tonne loads of peanuts from upcountry loading centers to a processing plant where the river meets the Atlantic ocean at the capital, Banjul.

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