Articles > Sunshine Coast to the Heart of Darkness

"It's just another drive to the office for us by now," laughs Stella Marsden, as the Toyota rattled its way through our third hour of rutted dirt-tracks amid a cloud of talcum-fine 'bulldust.'
"It's hot and dirty and plays havoc with your back as you get a bit older," – she pauses to watch a flock of egrets burst into flight from the branches of a majestic baobab tree – "...but I suppose there are worse ways to get to work."

Stella has spent most of her life living in The Gambia and knows better than most that you have to take the rough with the smooth if you want to get the best out of Africa. For years tourists have arrived by their thousands in this tiny West African country, looking for affordable winter sun with a travelling time that is little longer than a decent M25 traffic jam. Many were lured by the attraction of an exotic destination that is within the European time zone and a few came for cheap beer...and even cheaper cross-cultural 'adventures' with the English-speaking locals. Apart from a few dedicated birdwatchers, only a handful ever wondered what lay beyond the beach–bars and hotels.

The Gambia is twenty times smaller than the UK yet – because of the terrible state of its roads – the 200-mile journey from Banjul to Basse Santa Su (the dusty outpost that is known as the 'capital' of the interior) can take twelve hours. I was grateful that this time we were only making a mere four-hour jaunt upriver to Kuntaur village where a motor launch was waiting to shuttle us the final few miles to Stella's 'office'. Best known as Stella Brewer, author of '60s bestseller The Forest Dwellers, the lady who is one of Africa's most dedicated conservationists will soon be collecting a well-earned OBE for almost four decades of work in the Gambian bush.

Stella set up the trust the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust in 1969, as a centre where orphaned chimps could receive the 'survival training' that would allow them to adapt to life in the wild. It has always been an uphill struggle to find funding however...and to ensure that it reached her precious chimps before the politicians got their hands on it. Stella says that there have been numerous times when she told her staff: "If we get through this we'll deserve a medal."

The future for her chimps is far from secure, however, and the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust – one of Africa's oldest and most intriguing wildlife projects – has recently opened its doors to a new breed of discerning tourists with an interest in Gambia's 'Heart of Darkness' interior.

The Gambia is reputed to be 'hunted-out' - to be a poor relative of the great wilderness areas of East Africa - yet even before we had stepped onto terra firma at the research centre, I could see that its reputation as a safari destination might have been sadly understated. Along with more than a score of the country's estimated 560 bird species we had already seen a herd of hippos, a large crocodile, two species of monkeys and the lodge's 'resident' manatee.

The accommodation is in traditional Hemingway-style safari tents, on secluded platforms high over the river. The tents have four–poster beds and en-suite bathrooms but the most idyllic feature is the outdoor shower, which opens straight out onto a view of the river. Such is the level of exclusivity that shower–curtains are unnecessary: the only possible Peeping Toms are the shadowy forms of the 'marooned' chimps on Baboon Island.

"There are 78 chimpanzees living on three islands," Stella explains as we putter out into the rushing current later that afternoon. "The youngsters have been born wild but their parents were rescued as orphans." Some were victims of bush-meat hunters, others had suffered a cruel existence as photographic props on the Spanish Costas. A few had been the pets of rich western eccentrics.

It is hard to imagine the bristling alpha-male Pooh as a mewling infant swaddled in a nappy. The group of apes that he now leads have none of the natural fear of humans and they could be unusually aggressive towards anyone who trespassed onto their island. Stella estimates that an inexperienced visitor would have little chance of surviving more than a few minutes in their company. As her husband David says, "You would be lucky to escape with just a 'duffing-up'...and a 'duffing-up' by a 120 pound chimp can be very serious indeed."

Even among themselves, life can be horrendously violent and – although some of the memories are clearly painful – Stella can recount shocking tales of 'tribal warfare' from her forty years with the chimps.

As we sit in the bow of the boat, just metres from the massive Pooh and twenty of his family members, Stella emphasises the fact that the daily feeding is not done for the benefit of visitors. Competition for food from baboons is a major source of concern but the feeding also gives Stella and her staff a chance to monitor the chimps and to administer medicines with the food.

"We have something quite unique here and the visitors are delighted to get an insight into the way of life on a working research station deep in the African bush," Stella says later, as we tuck into fresh fish and chilled Julbrew beer at the lodge's communal dining table. "If the chimps are going to be looked after in the future, local people – and politicians in particular – need to see that they can earn their peanuts."

When the planned landing strip is finally completed, privileged visitors could arrive in this pristine jungle outpost within about seven hours of leaving the UK. For now, however, they must look on the dusty drive upcountry as part of the adventure.

Just an hour from the coast, however, two English adventurers are also working to change attitudes towards Gambian tourism. When Lawrence Williams and his friend James English first set up camp in the sacred Makasutu forest, at the end of a 3 year search for the perfect West African location, the local people thought they were crazy.
"There's a monster in the woods apparently," explains Lawrence. "It's this that has kept the place relatively untouched. But an old tribal legend says that one day two strange white men would arrive to protect the land. Maybe they weren't counting on just how strange things could get!"

Lawrence's training as an architect, specialising in movie–set design, was an obvious advantage in creating what is now one of Africa's most attractive and visionary eco-lodges. The Mandina Lodge houseboats with their private pontoon terraces and magnificent hardwood beds - looking straight out onto hypnotic waterscapes - are among the finest that Africa has to offer. You have your own waitress to save you the stroll along the boardwalks to the open–air restaurant or bar and your own guide who will pick you up for dugout safaris or nature walks.

The lodge has already won awards all over the world and the 'white pioneers' of Makasutu are now working to unite a dozen local chiefs behind a move to turn a great stretch of the Gambia River's southern bank into a vast community–run nature reserve.

"Far from being just an inexpensive winter–sun resort, there's really no limit to Gambian potential," co–owner James says. "People just don't realise how much there is to see in this unique part of the continent. I can foresee a time when The Gambia could be the travel hub for this whole part of West Africa."

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