Activities

Recommended by 77% of travelers

66 reviews

4/5

Banjul, The Gambia

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Fathala Wildlife Reserve full-day tour

Free Cancellation

Language: English

Mobile voucher accepted

Duration: 8 hours

Instant confirmation

Free cancellation

Entrance Fees Included

Guided Tour

Meal Included

Lunch

Why you’ll love this…

Take your trip off-road aboard a 4x4 jeep

Feel the thrill of seeing wildlife up close

A perfect experience for kids - spark their imaginations

What we expect

The Fathala Wildlife Reserve is located 12 kilometres north of the Gambia-Senegal border in Senegal. You will be picked up early in the morning from your hotel and head to Banjul, the capital city where you'll board the ferry to Barra and experience the hustle and bustle with the local people. After approximately one hour cruising on the River Gambia, you reach Barra to continue driving through numerous villages before reaching Amdalaye/Karang, the Gambia-Senegal border for passport formalities.

From there you enter Senegal to drive for approximately 30 minutes to reach the Fathala Park. At Fathala, a 4x4 ex-army truck will...

✔Entrance fees
✔Lunch
✔Guided tour
✔Transportation in air-conditioned coach
✔Hotel pick-up and drop-off

What to remember

Remember to bring:

It is recommended to bring water, wear sunglasses, sunscreen, a hat, and comfortable shoes

You will need to present a valid passport

Yellow fever vaccine proof is a must

Provider

Booking Fee

Cancellation Fee

Where

Check Availability

Availability and prices

Full day guided tour - $161.00

Know More

Only available in English

Select Time Slot

Adult (12-70)

$161.00

Child (3-12)

$80.00

Total

Reviews

great

4.0/5

Based on 66 reviews from verified customers

All ratings (66)

Excellent (23)

35%

Great (28)

42%

Average (12)

18%

Poor (2)

Bad (1)

Sarah

February 2026

From United Kingdom

Poor

We were collected from the hotel at 7 am, breakfast wasn’t served until 7 which TUI would have known. It took 5 hours to reach the safari park where we then started the 2 hour safari. We did see most of the animals in the park and the tour itself was ok. We were then finally given some food - pizza!! We are in The Gambia - why not something slightly more authentic. It then took a further 3 hours to get back to our hotel. We came away from the very long trip feeling like we had wasted a day.

Suzanne

January 2026

Traveled as As a couple - 46 years old

Excellent

The hotel was lovely the room great food nice. Staff friendly. Trip well worth it especially the safari. AirPort terrible what a shambles people pushing shoving shouting. No organisation at all utter chaos. Why you have to put cases through a scanner before exiting airport is beyond me no one checked them just seemed to be a pointless exercise to cause mayhem. people pushing, pushing in, shouting abuse at people. Just to get cases on and off not a good first impression of Gambia

Jobro62

Guide was very knowledgeable and helpful

David_&_Julie.

From France

Traveled as As a couple - 33 years old

Great

Je remercie énormément le guide. Gérer un groupe de 12 personnes avec le ferry, la douane, les documents, les visas, les mandiants. Servir le repas. Sincèrement Merci au guide Gambia Tour. Concernant la visite c'est une expérience, le ferry, la douane la visite est magnifique. Voir les Girafes, Zebra, Rhinocéros, ?? Gazelles, ?? buffles. Je regrette de ne pas avoir compris que les lions étaient accessible lors de notre visite. Mais cela vaut le coup de payer.

Anonymous

December 2025

Well organised, a must for visitors to Gambia/Senegal. We felt safe. First class guide from Gambia Tours. Nothing too much trouble. Very knowledgeable and helpful. The safari was fabulous. Lunch was pizza-very tasty and fresh. Busy at the border but that’s the country !

Kastur/Dinesh Meghani

Traveled as As a couple - 40 years old

The trip was a good experience getting out and enjoying the real Gambia & Senegal life, everything went smoothly from hotel to ferry and transferring to the reserve, except getting on a nice new big jeep for safari (19 of us), then been taken off (why??) for smaller jeeps, after 1hour of no communication, waiting around, we were put back on the big tatty jeep, what a waste of an hour apart from one hour, once on safari it was a brilliant experience highly recommend it.

Katherine

Traveled as As a couple - 29 years old

The guide was rude and more interested in meeting up with his friends then looking after the group he had, he shouted at some of us for not paying attention when he was talking about the politics of the country He left us waiting at the park with no explanation for an hour and a half and then said the truck was broken down we eventually went and was taken on and off 3 different trucks, we did see a few animals but not up close and it felt a lot like a ride around a zoo, very disappointing

Dissapointed in park

Traveled as As a couple - 34 years old

The bupiest ride i have ever had , several timed i thought i was falling out of the truck , driver had no consideration for his passengers, got really messed around by fathella animal park, they put us on a wagon then told us to get off and give it to another group made us wait nearly 2 hours they wete very poor i should have a refund , the pizza was awful and tasteless

Sarah2407

November 2025

Traveled as As a couple - 38 years old

Very enjoyable. A little different in travelling across the river like a local on the ferry. The tour was amazing and would recommended except to people who suffer from a bad back.

Malc

Traveled as As a couple - 39 years old

Average

The whole thing was very disorganised, nobody was sure what to do from the start

Lee foley

Traveled as With family - 21 years old

Was a great experience seeing the real Africa, border crosses and way of life. The reserve itself was well maintained and seeing the animals was a great thrill. We visited after the rainy season so it made the safari slightly more difficult to spot, but it was all part of the experience. My wife and daughter met the cubs which was a supplement but again a bucket list experience. Our guides were super efficient. At both ferry ports and border crossings as were our drivers. Would recommend

Brenda

From Netherlands

Traveled as As a couple - 24 years old

De reis op zich is al een hele belevenis. De gids vertelt heel veel en let goed op ons. Alleen jammer dat je zo lang aan het reizen bent, om daar te horen dat het in deze tijd moeilijk is om dieren te zien vanwege het hoge gras. Wij hadden verwacht wat meer dieren te zien.

Kevin

The ferry and the border crossing are a great experience themselves. Though the wildlife park is only small it’s great looking for the animals in the bush. We even got stuck in the sand so had to get out an push the truck.

Steve Knight

Traveled as As a couple - 52 years old

Trippers should be made aware that the walk with the lions is extra and should bring money with them, the walk with the lion s just capped of a great experience one I would have not been able to do without the assistance of our tour guide Kamba

Fredje

July 2025

Traveled as As a couple - 13 years old

De excursie was zeer de moeite waard, alleen de ferrytocht was al een excursie ansich. In Fathala hadden we het geluk zelfs even uit de jeep te mogen voor het perfecte plaatje. De safariduur had wat langer gemogen, minstens 2 uur was wenselijk. Of dit kwam door de optie van 40 euro voor het wandelen met leeuwen, weten we niet, maar meer tijd voor de safari was meer natuur voor je geld geweest.

Gillian Hart

April 2025

Traveled as Alone - 28 years old

Callum

March 2025

Traveled as With friends - 8 years old

John

Traveled as Alone - 48 years old

Great guide worked well with us and guided us through chaotic Gambian immigration Excellent game drive in game park Good comfortable shoes recommended as minimum walking distance was 6.1km (3.9 miles)

Franck

February 2025

Traveled as As a couple - 44 years old

Het park was ok, ook al hadden we graag wat meer dieren gezien. De weg er geen was heel verrassend, iets wat wij niet kunnen voorstellen. Door de drukte op ferry en voor en na het inschepen ben te toch wel op je goede om geen familie kwijt te spelen.

Traveled as As a couple - 49 years old

Nubian Queen

Traveled as With friends - 41 years old

Bubbles

Traveled as As a couple - 41 years old

Trip is mis-sold, not a full day Safari - 2hrs in a ‘managed’ Wildlife Park with limited animals’. Travel through Gambia, ferry, border crossing, Senegal, an unforgettable experience hence recommend. Info pre-trip poor. No mention of need to have yellow fever books (hence extra costs at border). No advice to bring cloth/cover for wet and muddy ferry seats, long trousers to protect from branches, toilet paper, wet wipes etc. guide did not point out key landmarks or add value.

Gambia to senagal

January 2025

Traveled as As a couple - 42 years old

What a brilliant experience. Its not just about the animaks but the whole day from pick up to drop off. The boat crossing was unbelievable. The only negatives are the booking confirmation said 7am pick up but was actually 6.30am, and tui never mentioned the yellow fever certificate requirements. Although you can pay in its absence tui should not be promoting that.

Luc S

Traveled as With family - 53 years old

Heel veel hectiek, zowel aan de ferry als aan eider zijden van de grensovergang, om dan een heel beperkt aantal dieren te spotten! Gelukkig hebben we alle soorten die er uitgezet zijn ook wel gezien.

Jason Smith

Traveled as Alone - 37 years old

The tour guides made this a good day , especially the Gambia tour guide who picked us up , a very knowledgeable man , learnt a lot about the Gambia whilst travelling .

Marie-Louise

Traveled as With family - 54 years old

Het was allemaal even leuk een nooie ervaring!

Mark

Traveled as As a couple - 53 years old

The safari drive was a little short and the guide thou very personable didn't tell us much other than the animals names - and she missed a few. The journey was fun especially the ferry but very hot on the way back. Border crossing was tiresome and clearly irritated our tour guide. Liunch was very nice. Overall a nice day out but not startling

Karen

December 2024

Traveled as With family - 52 years old

Our Gambian tours Guide Keena ( may have mis spelt his name sorry ) was very good and passionate about his country and job telling us lots of info of his country and what the tour would entail. Including singing the national Gambian anthem ?? he had everything very well organised. Fascinating experience on the ferry . The Fathala guide was minimalist in her knowledge of the park. The driver there seemed reluctant to stop for us to see animals and birds towards end of tour ??.

Heather

Traveled as As a couple - 14 years old

The trip as a whole was an amazing experience for us as we had never been on a safari previously and we saw lots of animals close up. The duration of the trip is entirely dependant on having some luck with the ferry - as there is only one and it takes a while to unload / load everyone on. If certain people want to do the lion walk then there is a bit of a wait after lunch for others.

Sjoerd

November 2024

Traveled as With family - 9 years old

Leuke excursie maar veel reizen en gedoe om daar te komen. Het is geen safari maar een (groot) afgezet stuk bos waar de dieren zitten. Daarnaast was het voor ons niet duidelijk hoelaat we opgehaald zouden en stonden we eer helemaal niet op lijst (we hadden via de app gereserveerd).

Marco Galdeij

Prima your, lange dag dat wel. Veel indrukken opgedaan op de Ferry en de grensovergang naar Senegal. Het park is groot, wij zagen antilopen, zebra's, giraffen en een Neushoorn. Deze kun je ook in Beekse bergen zien, maar dit is toch anders qua ervaring. Niet goedkoop € 135,- p.p. zonder Lionwalk. Via een andere locale tourguide was het € 145,- incl. Lionwalk. Onthouden voor een andere keer.

Karel

Zeker de moeite waard om te doen. Maar bereid je voor op een lange reis heen en een lange reis terug (+/-3,5 uur enkel) om uiteindelijk maar +\- 1.5u in het park te zijn. Lion walk is niet inbegrepen, apart voor €50 ter plekke te boeken. Overigens betaal je 600 dalasi boete aan de border met Senegal als je geen yellow fever card hebt (dit wisten wij niet en stond ook niet vermeld op de voucher).

Nik

March 2024

A very long day, the ferry can be quite challenging but a fantastic eye opening experience. Our guide Kalle was amazing and made the trip easy and informative. The safari felt rushed and once you had seen one of a particular species it was time to move on and not stop again for that species. Park guide seemed uninterested and spent a lot of time talking to another guide. Park driver showed no consideration for clients taking photo’s as would normally park in front of a tree obscuring the view.

Martin

Traveled as With friends - 39 years old

Frances

February 2024

It was a lot of travelling for a short time in the park but the travelling was part of the experience. It was a shame that we didn't have the option of doing the lion walk. We waited a very long time for pizza, despite pre ordering, and I'm sure that some people eould have preferred to skip pizza and sitting about, to do the lion walk instead. An expensive day but overall a good trip.

BEREND

Duidelijke afspraken, mooie reis door Gambia, met de ferry, bijzondere grensovergang en een prima wildpark met goed eten. Wel veel armoede (van kinderen) gezien aan de grens. Aanrader als je voor het eerst of slechts kort in Gambia bent en toch even meer wil zien.

Peter

Traveled as With family - 32 years old

Te duur in Euro volgens lokale waarde Je kan geen leeuwenwandeling maken, nochtans stond het als optie. Excuus was dat het voor het bezoek moet.

Ferdinand

Traveled as As a couple - 50 years old

Gids was erg gericht op de tijd. De 'safari' duurde geen 2 uur (zoals toegezegd), maar 1.20u.

2ICfback

Traveled as As a couple

Pros: Saw all the animals we hoped to see. Cons Not advised by TUI Yellow fever card required, had to pay fine Gambia tour guide - perfunctory at best Local guide / driver - didn't know how to "creep" up on animals (scattered them, created dust clouds) or position for photography. Also only accommodated only with phone cameras as opposed to SLRs Safari open lorry - far too big, seated 5 across so poor viewing for some Not a jeep!! Commercial, once seen one of each animal - end of tour!

Nick

January 2024

Traveled as Alone - 33 years old

I enjoyed the day experience amongst the locals on the ferry and out and about albeit it is top heavy in terms of travel vs experience itself. Having done safari's it is more of an experience and it didn't include the lions which i think should have been

Senegal899

Traveled as Alone - 25 years old

Patsy

Traveled as With family - 36 years old

The walk with Lions was the highlight of the excursion. I only knew about this optional extra as a guest staying at the same hotel mentioned it to me before the day. However when I did some research I found that there was a fee of £40 cash for the lion walking which I willingly paid. The issue was that a few couples on the excursion only had visa so was unable to take part in the lion walk. TUI please mention details like these on the itinerary.

Deborahdonk

Our guide was very informative and gave lots of information during the trip. It’s a long day as it takes time to get over the river on the ferry and many stops at the border control

December 2023

The drivers & Pappa the tour guide were amazing. From the info provided to the help on border crossing. Long journey, but worth it if you want to see those beautiful animals. We were lucky to see Rhino, Giraffe, Wild boards, buffalo, zebra, Antelope. Sad that crocodiles are kept in a pool. LionsSame

JP

A long day but well timed and well organised. Guides Kalle (general) and Rama ( Fathala) were excellent. Kalle in particular ‘made the system work for us’. Everything ran very well for us and we saw all the animals

Danielle

Traveled as Alone - 24 years old

It was a long day to only spend 2 hours in the safari park. And due to the nature of the ferries we spent 2 hours waiting for the ferry home

J&LW

November 2023

Traveled as As a couple - 37 years old

The day trip was an experience in itself, e.g. the ferry and border crossings. Check the time of year as after the wet season there is a lot of vegetation and the animals are very hard to see.

Jenko

March 2023

Traveled as With friends - 38 years old

The safari was quite a great experience. We had a knowledgeable tour guide and a friendly crew. There were couple of delays; waiting for a replacement coach following a break down and spending an extra hour or so at the Senegalese border. I guess it all added a bit more spice to an already wonderful experience. The ferry crossing to Barra was really a great way to get up and close to the daily hustle in the Gambia. Staff at Fathala Wildlife Reserve were great and welcoming.

Dr Sankaranarayanan

Traveled as With family

Excellent guide and experience

Phil

February 2023

An interesting day tour from Bakau in the Gambia to Fathala game reserve in the neighbouring country of Senegal. An excellent guide kept us safe and did all the leg-work at the borders in both directions. A great sight-seeing trip, including a return ferry crossing of the river Gambia, a drive through the country side, ca return crossing of an international border and a successful photographic safari in a game reserve. An excellent and knowledgeable guide in the game reserve.

Rob c

Traveled as With family - 35 years old

The whole experience was an eye opener from start to finish. First of all, it’s a long day. Early pick up and travel to catch the ferry, which is a fantastic experience to see the daly commuters. The a beautiful trip across the river. Once at the other side a chance to go through the market at Barra. Then onto Fathala via the border control, again an experience in itself. The wildlife park is good and food nice All guides and staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Definitely worth doin.

Eric België ????

January 2023

Traveled as Alone - 47 years old

Heel leuke dagtrip met safari in Senegal

Randolph

Traveled as Alone - 9 years old

Keith

Traveled as As a couple - 45 years old

It is a long day away for a fairly short safari. Having said that it is interesting to see something of the real country, warts and all. If this trip could be packaged with a short stop somewhere else as an add on experience with, say, coffee (not sure this is possible because of ferry times) , this would help add to the day. The guide staff with us were great and looked after us well with a good attention to detail.

Astrid

Ten 1e krijg je op je voucher geen bevestiging van het ophaalpunten met tijdstip. €135 voor een busreis, overtocht met ferry, busreis, uur wachten bij de grensovergang Gambia/Senegal, busreis, uur safari, lunch met ongare pizza, weer retour. Daarnaast mist er info bij de boeking dat je moet beschikken over je paspoort (logisch) gele boekje met bewijs inenting gele koorts en inenting tegen Corona. Krijg je pas in de bus te horen. Gids was vriendelijk, maar deed niet veel. Jammer! Nooit meer!

Bernd H.

December 2022

From Germany

Man darf nicht zuviel erwarten von dieser Safari, insbesondere wenn man Großwildsafaris bereits kennt! Dennoch interessante Pirschfahrt, wir hatten Glück und einige Tiere gesehen. Nach der Regenzeit war die Umgebung relativ grün! Die Fahrt auf jeden Fall eine Abwechslung vom Strandleben im Hotel! Die Überfahrt mit der Fähre ist ebenfalls ein Erlebnis das man gesehen haben muss!

Rob013

Although the trip was a brilliant experience, could have been more variety of animals. Also had to be very carful between Gambia and Senegal customs where all the street children would steal from you if given the opportunity, though we were warned. Don't let that put you off as the whole trip is totally worth it just to see how the true Gambians and Senegalese actually live. It will open your eyes and make you appreciate how lucky most of us are.

Essie

November 2022

The wildlife park great. Animals happy, healthy and natural and the guide knew her stuff. But I would recommend going after the tall grasses are cut, check before you book as it was hard to see the animals. The Senegal border crossing was long and complicated. You need Covid certs. Also your yellow fever card or you can buy one at the border (!) Ferry took 2 hours wait and then 90 mins to cross, as only 1 ferry was working. Quicker on way back though. A taste of real Gambian life!

Great day out

April 2022

Great tour, long day

Wendy

We booked this through the Web site. It states you need a copy of your passport. You in fact need to take your original passport. Then we are told you need a yellow fever certificate. If not you had to.pay 600 each to get one. People were asked on the coach to raise their hand if they had one. They did not at any point get asked to prove this. Those without were then told to hand over their passport with 600 inside. These passports would be photographed on the ferry so yellow fever verticals would be ready once we reached the boarder with Senegal. At no.point did we see this happen as we sat opposite the guide on the ferry. We then all had to get out to be screened so we're given back our passports. We queued for ages at the Gambia controll and then the Senegal control. So much time spent queuing at these bordering the heat with no shade. What happened to our money and yellow fever certicates?????? This really seemed a complete farce and a way of getting money from us. It should be clearly stated when booking. At no.point were those who said they had a certificate asked to prove it. Total con. Very unhappy with this extra charge considering the cost of the trip. This really is something that should be advised and looked into a we and others felt we were just the victims of a complete con.

Nick c

March 2022

Over hyped even though still enjoyed just not enough to see or have the chance to see

Ann

Traveled as With family - 44 years old

Great game drive. Ludicrously over-priced. Twice as expensive as the local competition. The guide managed the group- in particular the timing- very poorly. I think Tui’s reputation is compromised by its partnership with Gambia Tours. The local competitors provide much better value for money, and better guides.

Louis

Guides were great and the game drive was a good length. Main downside was the poor functioning of the TUI app which didn’t allow us to select our hotel and made getting picked up in the morning a real hassle.

Jayne

Traveled as With family - 34 years old

The resort offered the same trip but inclusion of the lion walk at the same cost

Northern girl

The whole experience was wonderful, even the fresh pizza was scrumptious after the safari. The border control was rather daunting but would do it again in a heartbeat

Ajay

February 2022

Everything provided by Gambian tours was good and safe, they were well organised and attentive. One of our lunches was forgotten and the driver at the safari park did not really give the passengers enough time to watch and take photos of the animals/birds. The co-ordination there was poor. TUI are asking a lot of money for this tour in comparisons with local prices. We really enjoyed our day and experience but it was not great value for money.

Fathala Wildlife Reserve full-day tour

Why you’ll love this…

What we expect

What's included

What to remember

Provider

Booking Fee

Cancellation Fee

Where

Meeting point:

Availability and prices

Reviews

great

Sarah

Poor

Suzanne

Excellent

Jobro62

Excellent

David_&_Julie.

Great

Anonymous

Excellent

Kastur/Dinesh Meghani

Great

Katherine

Poor

Dissapointed in park

Poor

Sarah2407

Great

Malc

Average

Lee foley

Great

Brenda

Great

Kevin

Great

Steve Knight

Excellent

Fredje

Great

Gillian Hart

Excellent

Callum

Excellent

John

Excellent

Franck

Great

Kevin

Average

Nubian Queen

Excellent

Bubbles

Average

Gambia to senagal

Excellent

Luc S

Average

Jason Smith

Excellent

Marie-Louise

Excellent

Mark

Great

Karen

Excellent

Heather

Great

Sjoerd

Great

Marco Galdeij

Great

Karel

Great

Nik

Average

Martin