Badi Mayo

there is nowhere else in The Gambia like it

A rare opportunity to stay at the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Association's (CRA) working camp: Africa's longest running and perhaps most successful, chimpanzee rehabilitation centre and to see first hand Stella Brewer's pioneering, holistic approach* to wildlife conservation. Here the local people really do benefit directly from the conservation of their country's wildlife. There are currently 77 chimps, well protected in their national park home which comprises three islands in the River Gambia some 270 km inland. Under Stella's guidance the existence of the chimps has already brought real, tangible benefits to the villagers near the national park:

significant direct and indirect employment
more than 300 children currently sponsored at the local primary
the rebuilding of the school (by Future in Our Hands, a Swedish NGO)
a small village clinic; and
a Horse & Donkey project that helps farmers look after their equines better thus improving both the farmers' agricultural productivity and the welfare of the animals.

Other projects are at various stages of development.

To help finance the long term welfare of the chimps the CRA operates a very low number (you will rarely be with more than 6-7 other visitors) visitor facility with all revenue going to supplement that generated by the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust's (CRT) long running chimp adoption scheme.