Tourist Taxis :
This type of local cab is coloured green with a white diamond sign on the sides
and bonnet as well as their unique tourist number on the sides. They
are regulated by the GTA (Gambia Tourism Authority) and are
fully insured. They are to be found usually in a rank near to the major
hotels or parked near the front of
Banjul Airport.
 The charges are fixed
and are calculated for the majority of distances & can be found on
boards posted at the rank. If you use one for an
excursion the waiting
time prices are also fixed. Always confirm amounts levied with the
taxi driver before your departure. Lots of these taxis can be found in
Senegambia and make regular routes up to Kairaba Avenue as well as
towards the airport.
Standard Bush Taxi:
 These
cabs use regular routes have set prices and thus are the cheapest
method of hiring transport, widely used by Gambians from all walks of
life. Flag one down from anywhere along their route—you may also be
dropped whenever you please along this route. You can get to
practically any town in The Gambia using this type of
transport—anywhere as close as Serrekunda or further than
Basse
up-country.
 From
Kairaba Avenue, you can take cabs to Serrekunda
(usually vans) or Westfield (usually yellow cars), from whence you can
join taxis to other towns. You can also catch them going the other
way, towards Bakau. To get to
Banjul, stand on Sait Matty Road at the
junction of the log pile (number 42)—though given the often crowded
sitting conditions, it is usually wise to stand on the opposite side of the street
and ride it into Bakau and then make your cab trip from there. On a bush carrier, pay
your charge (“pas”) a few minutes before you plan to get off, giving
more time for bills requiring massive change (which you should by all
means avoid). It is courteous to tell the apprentice (the boy who
opens the door and collects money) where you wish to get out when you
are getting close to your destination. In Wolof, “Meyima fii” means
“Let me down here”; for other useful phrases, see the Language
section. To catch the driver’s attention, either to hand him your
money or request a drop off, you can simply call out “Driver!”
These are standard 4 door cars which are coloured yellow with a green stripe running along the
sides and bonnet. These are the ones that the majority of Gambians use
and offer a cheaper alternative than the tourist taxis above and can
be found on most main roads. However they are kept away from the
entrances of the hotel resorts by the authorities to prevent the
drivers from
hassling tourists. Such transport is usually shared and the cost for
short trips when shared is D6 about 14 pence.
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Mini Vans
 These
kinds are also known as Bush Taxis and such vans come in all colours and sizes but have yellow number plates
and some operate mainly between the resorts connecting up to the urban
areas while the majority of the routes make connections between the major urban centres.
This mode of transport
is shared with other
 passengers though you can book one exclusively
for you and your friends. It is possible to rent the van on an exclusive basis if
you are part of a large group but yet again negotiate prices and
confirm before your departure. They can often be hired for the whole
day for tours around the country. Please note that many bush taxis are
in a terrible state of repair. If you are a seat belt user you will
find that the seat belts are often dusty due to lack of use by
passengers so take along a small damp cloth with which to wipe it
down.
Town Trip:
You can hire
rides on what is called a "town trip" which means you get exclusive use
of it but expect to pay for example D150 about £3 for trips of about 5
kilometres. If you want a “town trip,” you want a taxi that is hailed
for your services alone. When you hire a cab for a town trip, the
driver will take you directly to your destination without stopping for
anyone else. The catch is, you must bargain for your ride. Ask a
Gambian for advice on what a town trip should cost for a specific
destination before hailing a cab; the driver try to charge you an
exorbitant price for being a visitor to The Gambia. If a driver refuses to reduce
his charges, you can always try another. The price will be per
trip rather than per person, so the more the merrier and cheaper.
Watch out for the green tourist taxis however, as during the holiday
season they have set meters for high prices you should never pay.
In the off-season, they sometimes operate as regular taxis.
One idea to save money is to note down what
the official green cabs are charging then negotiate with one of the
yellow taxis for an amount of about 1/3 of this sum.
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