Into The Gambia: the Karang border and the Barra ferry

The Gambia is a river with a country wrapped around it, and arriving from
northern Senegal you meet the river before you meet the country: the ferry
from Barra across the mouth to Banjul.

The land border at Karang came first, about an hour of it. Two warnings
from that hour. Senegalese customs tried to keep the €250 temporary-import
permit we had bought on the way in – we argued it back; it stays valid and
you will need it again. And on the Gambian side, officers went through the
car for prescription medication, which we were told cannot be brought in.
The search felt less like enforcement than an inventory of what might
quietly go missing, so we watched our things.

Then Barra, at a run – the ferry was about to leave. We grabbed tickets,
drove through the gates, and parked behind the only car in the queue.
First in line: promising. Then more cars rolled in and formed a second
queue beside us, and when the ferry had unloaded, that queue began
boarding. Ours did not move. Nobody at the window had mentioned there were
two kinds of ticket: we held "regular", the other lane held "VIP", and VIP
boards first – every VIP car, including the ones that arrive after you.
Worse, there was deck space left for only one of our two cars. The other
would sit in Barra for hours waiting on the next ferry.

Unless, of course, we paid the VIP fee.

We paid. At once the whole crew set to re-arranging vehicles on the deck
to wedge our second car aboard. It fit the way the last book fits a full
shelf; we could barely open the doors to climb out.

So: ask for the VIP ticket at the window, first, before the system is
explained to you the expensive way. The crossing itself is the reward –
green water, a loaded deck, and the capital waiting at the far ramp.