Getting around in The Gambia was extremely frustrating. Not only did I not speak the language, but I didn't have a clue what the going rate is for cabs, buses, vans, trains, boats, etc was. It’s also kind of scary putting your safety in the hands of a crazy driver at night time when you may not have the slightest clue where you are going. I just had say take me to ___ and trusted that they'd take me there.
It was extremely frustrating for the first week because I felt like I was waiting around for people to take me places. I wasn't comfortable with getting around on my own at all and this was a huge contrast with the independence I have at home. The guide book I had in The Gambia was completely useless when it came to helping me get around. It either assumed you were either a rich tourist or this adventurous backpacker who has been travelling around Africa for the last few months. This was probably where I felt the most useless, pathetic, and lost, just waiting around for someone to come pick me up and take me the places I wanted to go. I felt like after so many years of independence, I was back to being shuttled around by people who were more capable than I was, like I was back in elementary school getting dropped at my friend's house for sleepovers.
When I first got there, I had some help with the cabs. My co-workers at the YMCA would waive them down for me and negotiate reasonable prices suitable for a rich white guy. On the return trip, sans the help of my local friends, I would pay double. Double the price of a Gambian taxi ride, pretty much anywhere in the city of Banjul would be between 6-10 dollars. So for a 30 minute cab ride, it’s really not that bad. Why did I have to pay so much more than everyone else? I had no bargaining skills, nor did I really want to bargain with a poor African taxi driver. But the main reason is simply because I looked different from everyone else and they knew I had to go where I was going and that I probably didn’t know the way.. so I paid double. This drove me nuts, and for the first couple weeks I was there I refused to take cabs unless someone waived it down for me and got me a good price.
Eventually, I had to start taking cabs on my own, paying double, then a bit less and a bit less. Eventually I noticed that I knew what each cab SHOULD cost for me (which is a bit more than what everyone else paid), and I had no problem paying that. I also began to work the system. I knew it cost 10 Dalasi to the traffic lights and another 10 Dalasi to the post office and another 10 to the YMCA where I worked and lived. So by the time I left I went from paying about 10 dollars for one cab ride to literally about 50 cents for a series of cab rides that got me to the same place. Once I figured out the way the transport system worked, I was able to take vans which were even cheaper, and made a trip to Senegal using a series of cabs, vans, and mini-buses.
My advice would be not to worry about paying double or even triple what everyone else pays. You’re never going to get the price they get unless you know the route, the distance, and the little tricks within the system, and you won’t figure these things out unless you take the transport on your own. I spent a few precious weeks hiding out waiting for someone to hold my hand in a cab because I hated the thought of getting ripped off. I’m saying go get ripped off and learn from it. Maybe by the time you learn you’ll still have a couple weeks left to have some fun.