Tanji Fishing Village & Market Tour

Tanji is a working Mandinka fishing village about twenty minutes down the coast from Kololi — and one of the most photogenic places in The Gambia. This easy half-day tour, around four hours, brings you in for the spectacle: the colourful pirogues riding in around mid-afternoon, the beach turning into a heaving fish market, and the smoking sheds behind it producing the smoked bonga shad you'll find in Gambian kitchens across the country. A local guide walks you through the market and the smokehouses, explaining the catch and the trade, in groups of one to ten, with transport and a village donation included. It's a genuine working community rather than a show, so come respectfully and ask before photographing people. For a vivid, fast-moving slice of everyday Gambian life — colour, noise, smoke and the sea — Tanji is hard to beat.