We shall take home so many good memories of our stay with you.To name a few;the food was special,the surroundings beautiful, all the staff so helpful, your unique attention to every detail...I could go on and on, but, in short, our own translation of Farakunku is "beautiful oasis." We will be back. Many thanks.

John and Helen

Oxford. UK

03-03-10

By far the best, most luxurious, accommodation that we have stayed in during our two weeks in The Gambia. Our three nights at Farakunku Lodges were the perfect end to our holiday. All the staff  were very friendly and helpful, the gardens are beautiful and peaceful and the food was superb. We will highly recommend these lodges to our friends. Well done and many thanks for a wonderful stay.

Carol and Rob

Norfolk UK 

24/02/10

Staying here for three nights was the perfect start to our Gambian vacation. The lodge is clean and quiet, and the staff warm and friendly. We especially enjoyed the dinners- some of the best food we’ve had ANYWHERE. Thanks for your hospitality and service.

Sarah Kopper and Pat Kopp

Montana USA

22/02/10

Ditto the previous page- we all arrived together from Jinak. We doubt whether it’s possible to be looked after better anywhere else in The Gambia!

Many, many thanks to Heather and Moses and all their staff. We will think of you especially when we are using the three little white jugs!

Carol and Neil

London UK

12-02-10

We arrived at this oasis of tranquillity and beauty after escaping from ‘Devil’s Island’ (Jinak!) We couldn’t believe the size and cleanliness of the rooms and beds after sleeping in bug-infested and chewed sheets (sorry, sheet) the night before. We were welcomed extremely warmly by ‘Hedda’ (who we discovered is really Heather) and Moses, then had a wonderful afternoon relaxing on comfy loungers in shade, watching vultures coming down to drink in the little pools of water provided for the birds. Delicious lunch and evening meal and most welcome cold G&Ts before! Altogether a wonderful experience for our last night in The Gambia.

Bryony and Jeremy

Clare and Robert

Kent UK

11-02-10

Thank you for a wonderful end to a lovely holiday. The food was outstanding as was the service and warm welcome. We will never forget the special trip you arranged for us to Kartong. We would love to come back and will certainly recommend you to our friends.Thanks again for everything.

Joyce and Dare

Cumbria. UK

08-02-10

Thank you so much for making room for us to stay at such late notice. We realise that you went to some lengths when you had kindly put Karl and Elin up in your own home.

We have really enjoyed our trip to The Gambia….everyone has been so pleasant. The trip up the river to the Bird Camp was a true experience of the country. The stay here at your lodges afterwards was a perfect ending to our holiday. The service we had was second to none. Once again thank you so much. We would love to come back here.

Jan and Chris

Rotherham.UK

06-02-10

Many thanks for the great hospitality and letting us stay in your guest room. Initial 2 days in a lodge turned into 5 days, which enabled us to visit Mama Africa, the schools in Kunkujang, fish smokeries in Tanji and of course the beach! All days ending with a great 3-course meal.

Heather and Moses have been very nice and helpful and so was the entire staff.

Karl and Elin

Sweden

06-02-10

Sadly, a brief visit! A perfect place to spend a last night in The Gambia…clean, comfortable accommodation, excellent food and very friendly people.

Rob Skinner

London UK

05-02-10

Lle arbennig a boble arbennig iawn. Diolch yu fawr.

( A special place and very special people)

Jill and J. Geraint

Y Barth- Ceredigian

04-02-10

Dear Heather and Moses

Thank you for a wonderful holiday. Thankyou for your kindness and for the help you so willingly gave us.We really felt like 'at home' or, even better, as very welcome guests. You were really interested in how we were feeling and how our day had been.

The food was always very well prepared and beautifully served. We will be glad to recommend Farakunku Lodges.

Gunnar and Anna Maria

Denmark

28-01-10

Farakunku Lodges is a wonderful place- extremely comfortable, peaceful and great food. The accommodation is well designed and we feel we have experienced a little bit of luxury. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Thank you for a really enjoyable stay. We hope we will get to return another time.

Margaret and Alan

Edinburgh. Scotland

26-01-10

We had the extreme pleasure of staying at Farakunku Lodges for 3 nights and it was pure delight. We disorganised their day's plan by requesting a much earlier breakfast in order to run off on our birding escapades but we never got anything in return but the best hospitality, kindest smiles and a warm welcome.We had a great time here and we thank you, Heather, Moses and the rest of the 'Farakunku Family' for this!

We loved the food-the cook is a genius!

We hope we will have the chance to visit you all again.

Ania and Aulek

Warsaw. Poland

25-01-10

It's late in the evening, after 8, it's dark and we look for a place to sleep...we saw the sign on the road...'let's have a look there!' After a long track we arrived at Farakunku Lodge. Somebody opened the door and we asked if we could stay outside the gates and if we could eat something...

Heather came and she said dinner was just being served and I asked if there is something left...Yes! there was a whole dinner...terrific!! A very nice meal...nice tastes. We also could stay with our bus inside the compound...we felt as if we were Mary and Joseph!

After breakfast in the morning we looked around and it was so beautiful...all the nice plants and explaning. Nice lodges!

Heather and Moses we don't forget you. Like Franck said-"you built this with your heart...you can taste it here."

Franck en Marion

Netherlands

24-01-10

(travellers who never know where to go next!)

We are so glad that a 'hiccup' over our accommodation at another hotel brought us to Farakunku Lodges instead. Otherwise we would have missed the warmth and hospitality offered by Heather, Moses and all the staff here. We felt comfortable in our lodge-Hibiscus- and enjoyed the immediate surroundings of the bushes and trees. Sitting out in the evenings catching up with birds and our diaries amongst the tranquility has been special.

You've done a great job with the design, colours and shapes which make up the setting. Everything is a visual delight.

We've appreciated the way you have created meals from local food and used your own home-grown too.All delicious!

We hope that you prosper and develop. You are all doing a great job and are a credit to The Gambia.

John and Mary

Shropshire. England

23-01-10

Thank you for making my first trip to The Gambia so special!

The food, the lodges, the pool!..I felt as if I was staying with friends, not in a hotel. (But friends with a wonderful house and Cordon Bleu cookery skills!)Nothing else I can say except I hope to come back soon.

Verity Murricane

Newbury. Berks. England

15-01-10

It has been a unique experience,a heavenly oasis in the middle of nowhere. The food has been out of this world...yes literally. I am sure it would put the finest London restaurants to shame and flight.

But this is not the half of it:the kindness, the hospitality, the attention to detail, all those little extra touches and gestures of care and consideration...

Please, I don't want to go home. I don't want to bolt that gate behind me.

Thank you Heather and Moses.

All the best for the future

Eefke and Philip

London UK

14-01-10

We wouldn’t have found Farakunku Lodges had it not been for Tonya and Peter’s recommendation (see entries 28/12/09 and 5/1/10!) We’re very glad we followed their tip- so glad in fact, that we extended our stay from two nights to four. The place is wonderful: Lamin’s and Heather’s food is exceptional, the rooms are immaculate and all the staff have been very welcoming, friendly and helpful. All in all, our stay at Farakunku has been the high point of our holiday.

Simon and Helen

Durham UK

13-01-10

We have had a wonderful four days here.

Food and accommodation was first class.

Heather and Moses are wonderful hosts.

We highly recommend the Bird Ringing Trip organised by their Lodge.

Thank you to everyone. We will be back!!

Adrian and Anna

Moccas. England

06-01-2010

We missed here so much we decided to return (see 28/12/09)and we're glad we did. It was like returning back to stay with friends. Again, great food, accommodation and staff. We're leaving again today, but we may return!!This place is a gem and I highly recommend anyone to stay here.I cannot think of one negative thing to say about Farakunku Lodges. Pure luxury! Thank you everyone for making our stay an enjoyable and relaxing one.

Tonya and Peter

London UK

05-01-10

Farakunku Lodges... a fata morgana (Ed: mirage) we reached

:nice lodges where everything functions!

:food from a 'Hilton' cook team (Heather and Lamin)

:a beautiful garden

:the warmth of Heather and Moses

:all the birds

We won't forget Farakunku!

Thanks for everything and looking forward to next visit.

Frans and Marga

Dronten. Netherlands

01-01-2010

The accommodation; the food...the food!...Heather and Moses; the rest of the staff: everything about the lodge is first class. Nothing is too much trouble, including custom made excursions, borrowing friends' cars to get us around (Ed:when our own car needed some mechanical work!) and having special deliveries of beer when stocks were dangerously low!

Tonya and I hope to be back in about a week, but just in case we don't make it, a very special thank you for making our stay such a pleasure.

Pete and Tonya

London UK

28-12-09

We enjoyed this peaceful and calm place, the friendly people and the excellent food very much.

Thank you.

Angela and Iven

Germany

09-12-09

In Mandinka, "Farakunku" may mean 'land for rice growing', but in every other language it means 'peace, relaxation and comfort'! We have had a lovely 11 days here thanks to the attention of our hosts and all their staff.

Dinner was the crowning glory of many happy days - the food and its presentation worthy of a 5-star restaurant!

The local birding was brilliant and kept us interested to the end. The trip up-river (Ed. 3 nights with Hidden Gambia) was very enjoyable but to come back to Farakunku Lodges with its warm showers, excellent food and huge comfortable beds, seemed like paradise.

If you go up-river, come back here- you will appreciate what we mean!

Many thanks to Heather and Moses and every good wish for success in their venture.

Carol and Robin

Stockton-on Tees, UK

08-12-09

We did come back (see 20-11-09)!

We didn’t expect it to be so soon so you can see we really meant it!! If reading this as a ‘birder,’ we would recommend Abuko Forest (Best forest walk we have ever done) and Lamin Lodge.

Sad to be going , but we shouldn’t stay as it would mean Heather and Moses would not be able to have their first day off since the start of the season!

Cheers again

Martin and Laraine

Beds.UK

29-11-09

We were ‘rescued’ by Heather and Moses after a taxi transfer ‘missed’ our stop. With no notice, we were provided with a fantastic supper, wonderful, comfortable accommodation and fabulous hospitality for our last night in The Gambia. Thank you both so much.

Jane and Andrew

Norfolk, England

27-11-09

"Then, after almost 11 hours on the go, the end was in sight: we got to my b&b for the night, Farakunku Lodges. It was a little haven and something I'd given up hoping for in Gambia -- really high standards, beautifully decorated spacious rooms, modern spot lights all around, squeaky clean bathroom with hot water, 4 poster bed (!!)...wow... It was like being in a royal palace after the cold shower treatment (literally) of the previous camps.

The mattress was beautiful too, airy, cool, soft linen... and the food was superb. Houmus, olives and salad. Lady Fish with rice and a fantastic sauce and grapefruit & watermelon cocktail for dessert. It looked very European and SO HEALTHY. It was, quite simply, the nicest meal I'd had in 8 days. 

They even had candles (another rarity it seems, going by the distinctive lack of them in other lodges)... so we put lots on the table and it looked very romantic. And, just as important as the food itself: at Farakunku, "dinner at 7.30pm" means dinner is actually served at 7.30pm... we're on real GMT, not the [rather infuriating] 'Gambia Maybe Time' as is so often the case in other places and something I could never used to.  This alone was so refreshing !!!

I had the chance to have a quick dip in the spa/pool to relax and could even keep an eye on the vultures and Senegal parrots from the pool... how civilised is that !?  My only regret is that I didn't stay long enough to go on the early bird tour to watch birds being ringed and take a real close look at them. Even though I have a 250mm zoom lens with image stabiliser I didn't really manage to take any decent shots of the many birds of Gambia as they tend to stay quite a distance away. This would have been perfect...

Moses & Heather, who own the lodge, were delightful. I only spoke briefly to Moses over dinner but Heather was so friendly. I really felt I could relate to her nurturing type and to her feminine touch... the little bouquet of flowers on the tables... her own (very good) paintings on the wall. There, I felt I could have stayed much longer... but unfortunately this was to be my last night in the Gambia as I was leaving for London the very next day... but at least it seemed I'd saved the best for last..."

Sylvie Macle                                                      View Sylvie's photo page

London UK 

23-11-09

Marvellous! Great food and lovely gardens. As an introduction to The Gambia it couldn’t be bettered. Would like to stay longer than our 3 nights.

John and Shelagh

Northumberland UK

23-11-09

First class accommodation and excellent meals matched by friendly and efficient service. Moses, Heather and all the staff made us feel more like friends than paying guests.

The surrounding countryside and nearby coast provides a bird list that was beyond our expectations. We can thoroughly recommend these lodges.

Ian and Sue

Lincolnshire UK

23-11-09

Just the first overnight stay of our trip to The Gambia and Senegal- a wonderful welcome, excellent accommodation and food…amazing! Wish we could stay longer.

Best wishes for the future

Brenda and John

Angus, Scotland

20-11-09

Just the job for starting a busy Birding break. Quiet, relaxed, clean, tidy, high-quality finished accommodation plus attentive personal, unfussy hosting- nothing was too much trouble for Heather and Moses and thank them so much for making our 4-night stay most enjoyable.

If we return to The Gambia (which we might do, as we have not yet visited all the sites we would have liked) we will certainly return to Farakunku Lodges. We wish you both every success in your business- you deserve it!!

Cheers

Martin and Laraine

Kenworth, Bedfordshire, UK

20-11-09

Thank you Heather and Moses for a very, very relaxing 4 days’ stay at your extremely comfortable lodges…excellent food and surroundings. As mainly ‘birders’ we found the area very good for birding particularly a pre-breakfast walk along tracks from the lodge to the main road and across to visit the ponds (breeding Giant Kingfishers!)

Very best wishes for the future.

Ken and Susie

Kent and Worc. UK

19-11-09