Sustainable Travel · Gambia
Eco-Friendly Hotels in Brikama — Gambia's Art & Craft Capital 2026 | IMPT
Brikama, a 40-minute drive south of Banjul, is widely considered the cultural heart of The Gambia — the country's woodcarving capital and home to the finest concentration of Mandinka artisans anywhere in West Africa. The Brikama Craft Market spills out of a purpose-built centre into the surrounding streets, where dozens of workshops produce everything from djembe drums and kora harps to mahogany masks and handwoven textiles, all in full view of visitors. But Brikama is more than a shopping stop. It sits on the edge of the Makasutu Cultural Forest, a 1,000-acre reserve of gallery forest, palm savannah, and mangrove-lined creeks where baboons, monitor lizards, and over 200 bird species share the landscape with a community-run eco-lodge. For travellers looking for Gambian culture that goes beyond the beach-resort corridor, Brikama offers the richest concentration of craft, music, and natural habitat in the country. Book through IMPT, and every night removes 1 tonne of CO₂ from the atmosphere at the same price as Booking.com.
The Craft Capital of West Africa
Brikama's reputation as Gambia's art capital rests on generations of Mandinka woodcarving families who have passed their techniques down since the 19th century. The main craft market, established in the 1970s, now houses over 100 artisans working in open-fronted workshops. You can watch a carver transform a block of local wood — mahogany, rosewood, or the lighter mbala fig — into a djembe drum over two or three days, hollowing the body with hand tools and tuning the goatskin head by tightening ropes woven through iron rings. Prices are transparent and set by the artisans themselves: a full-size carved mask runs 500–1,500 dalasi (€8–25), a hand-carved djembe 2,000–5,000 dalasi (€30–80). Bargaining is expected, but the starting prices here are already fair — the real value is in watching the work happen.
Beyond woodcarving, Brikama's textile dyers produce the distinctive Gambian tie-dye fabrics, and kora makers build the 21-string harp-lutes that accompany Mandinka griot storytelling. The Brikama Area Council's craft trail map, available at the tourist office, directs you to specific workshops around town, including the woodcarving compound of the Sillah family, whose pieces appear in galleries across Europe.
Makasutu Cultural Forest and Eco-Tourism
Just outside Brikama, Makasutu Cultural Forest is the most ambitious eco-tourism project in The Gambia. The 1,000-acre reserve, owned by a British-Gambian partnership, employs over 70 local staff and runs bushwalking, pirogue canoe trips through the mangrove channels, and cultural encounters with Mandinka, Fula, and Jola communities who live within the forest. A canopy walkway takes you above the gallery forest for views of the Gambia River floodplain, while the forest floor trails pass termite mounds the size of cars, baboon troops of 20–40 individuals, and the occasional green monkey or bushbuck. Entry is 500 dalasi (€8) for a half-day nature walk, with guides who can identify medicinal plants used in traditional Mandinka healing.
Makasutu's mandina eco-lodge offers six chalets built from local materials with solar power, composting toilets, and a farm-to-table restaurant sourcing from the reserve's kitchen garden. Night walks reveal the forest's nocturnal population — bushbabies, genet cats, and if you're very lucky, a pangolin. Brikama itself has a growing number of guesthouses near the market, with rooms from €15–30 per night.
How IMPT Makes Your Brikama Stay Carbon-Negative
Here's the maths. An average hotel night produces roughly 35 kg of CO₂ — from air conditioning, laundry, lighting, and food service. When you book any Brikama hotel through IMPT, we retire 1,000 kg of UN-verified carbon removal credits. That's 28 times what your stay produces. Not carbon-neutral — carbon-negative.
The cost to you? Zero. IMPT funds the removal from its booking commission. You pay the standard nightly rate — in fact, IMPT costs the same as Booking.com on the same room. The carbon credits are tokenised on Ethereum, retired against a named project, with a public retire code anyone can verify. No double-counting. No greenwashing. Just verified carbon removal, every night.
- €5 free credit when you sign up — applied to your first Brikama booking
- 5% back on every stay — 3% funds carbon projects, 2% as travel credit
- 8M+ hotels worldwide, 195 countries — Brikama is just the start
- Free cancellation on most rates, typically up to 48 hours before check-in
Beyond Hotels — More Ways IMPT Works in Gambia
Shop through IMPT's 25,000+ retail partners for cashback on purchases that also offset carbon. Send someone a trip credit gift to visit Brikama — IMPT plants trees with named farmers, GPS-tagged and photo-verified.
For business travel, IMPT's B2B Corporate Travel platform gives you exclusive rates, automatic ESG reporting, and a single dashboard tracking every booking's carbon impact. Companies with CSRD compliance needs get automated sustainability reporting out of the box.
Interested in running IMPT in Gambia? Country Ownership offers 50% revenue share on every transaction from Gambia-registered users, with 8% APY staking yield. Book a call →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brikama safe for independent travellers?
Yes. Brikama is friendly and accustomed to visitors. The craft market area is busy during daylight hours. Standard travel precautions apply — keep valuables out of sight, agree taxi fares before setting off — but Brikama has none of the safety concerns of larger West African cities. The Gambian Tourism Board maintains a visible presence at the craft market.
What is the best way to get to Brikama from the coast?
Shared green bush taxis (geley geley) from Banjul's Brikama Garage run every 10 minutes. The journey takes 40–60 minutes and costs 60 dalasi (€1). From the Senegambia/Kololi beach resort strip, a private taxi costs 500–800 dalasi (€8–13) and takes about 40 minutes.
When is the best time to visit the craft market?
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM. Sundays are quiet — many artisans attend mosque or rest. The market is busiest Tuesday through Thursday. November to May is the dry season and the most comfortable time for visiting inland Gambia.
Can I ship craft purchases home from Brikama?
Several workshops near the main market entrance offer international shipping through DHL or Gambia Post. Larger items like djembes and masks can be bubble-wrapped and shipped for around €15–30 to Europe, arriving in 2–4 weeks. Always ask the artisan directly — they know the best shipping options.
How does booking Brikama through IMPT help the environment?
Every hotel night booked through IMPT removes 1 tonne of CO₂ via UN-verified carbon credits funded from IMPT's booking commission — not added to your bill. The credits are retired on Ethereum with a public code anyone can verify. You pay the same rate as Booking.com. New members receive €5 credit toward their first Brikama booking.
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