Footsteps Eco Lodge

Footsteps Eco Lodge sits back from the coast in Gunjur, on the edge of protected forest. Nine clay-and-thatch roundhouses, each named after an African animal, are scattered along stone paths through the grounds. Inside each is a double bed, wicker furniture and composting toilet. Solar panels power each room's single socket and light, and reception keeps a communal water filter to refill steel flasks. The lodge's pool runs on no chemicals at all. Instead fresh water is filtered through a reed bed and gravel system, the only one of its kind in the Gambia.

Footsteps sits in one of the Gambia's best birdwatching regions, with a resident guide taking guests to Abuko Nature Reserve and Tanji Bird Reserve, part of a country recording over 540 species. Craftspeople work from the grounds, including a tailor, a wood-carver and a silversmith, each running workshops for guests who want to learn the trade. Evenings gather around a shared friendship table seating 12, with a weekly barbecue and live drumming under the stars.