Gambia: The Smiling Coast of Africa.
"Welcome to the Gambia, the smiling coast of Africa...!" yelled the tour guide on the bus on our way to the hotel from the airport as he gave everyone a quick introduction to his country. At this point, I was already exhausted having queued for almost 2 hours just to get into the country. The immigration procedure at the airport was unnecessarily tedious. On arrival, all passengers were directed to a small hall where the queuing started. The first queue was to pay 20 USD (or £20 or €20) "security fee" in cash. This was mandatory for all arriving passengers regardless of nationality. After payment, one then had to join the next queue to have one's passport stamped. The process was slow and annoying but the Immigration Officers were nice and friendly. The trip to the hotel was uneventful and there wasn't much to see as it was already past sunset. I listened as the tour guide spoke about the history and culture of the country. The Gambia is the sm