Visitors to the Bijilo Forest Park are well advised to call at the Badala Beach Bar, to order their food before going round the park. Most of the beach bars cook all their food freshly and this can take anything up to an hour from ordering.

Reach it by the road to the Bijilo Park or left along the beach from the Kololi Hotels.

Every Friday, there is a special programme of African music and dancing, usually with fire eating and limbo and followed after by a disco generally featuring Roots Reggae type music.

The near circular Badala bar becomes an arena of activity, with crowds more round the outside. The atmosphere is excellent, the people friendly and in party mood. A feature of The Gambia is the lack of alcoholic drinks taken by the local people as they are mainly Muslims, although they serve alcohol to tourists, we have never seen a drunken incident in all the times we have visited.

If you don't go to the Badala at any other time GO ON A Friday, it is a real African evening - Brilliant.