Hi Vince
Last year you didn't need a transit visa if you didn't spend the night in the Gambia. They just stamp you in and then stamp you out. We crossed the river north-south on the inland route, so-called "trans Gambian highway" and the road was distinctly bad.
As for Casamance, it was one of the best experiences of WA. After Northern Senegal it's an enormous relief not to have a police control point at the entrance and exit of every village. There was a discreet army presence but we were NEVER stopped. Peace and calm.
Highlights: A little village called Affiniam which has no reason to attract tourists (part of its charm, look up Moidou and Kissima if you go and say hi) and a daily pirogue across the estuary to Ziguinchor.
And Cape Skirring. Ok Cape Skirring is a bit scary with its weekly flight direct from Paris and its Club Me(r)d(e) but if you go a couple of kilometres along the beach you get into Guinea and there's no-one to bug you, the beach is still great, as is the fishing.
We also liked Ziguinchor, and if we'd known that there was a Guinean consulate in Zig we would have visited Guinea (I'm told it's pretty cool even if the infrastructure is completely destroyed)
Security wise the Casamance 'felt' safer than even Morocco or Spain.
The authorities in the north try to give Casamance a bad image because they know tourism brings essential money to a region that wants to (and could) be independant.
Happy trails
Luke
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