Lamin Lodge from Above – Final Drone Flight Over The Gambia

🌴 Last Flight Over The Gambia – Lamin Lodge from Above

It was my final day in The Gambia. Suitcase almost packed. Batteries charged one last time. And one last opportunity to send my brand-new DJI Mini 5 Pro up above into that beautiful West African sky before heading back to England.

There was only one place it had to be.

Lamin Lodge.

This post features my final Gambian drone video of this visit – a sweeping farewell to the mangroves, the river, and the blue skies and sunshine that makes this country so special. The next time the drone rises over Gambian soil, I’ll be back again… but for now, this is goodbye (for a little while!).

🌊 A Place Like No Other

If you’ve never visited Lamin Lodge, it’s one of those wonderfully unique places that feels like it belongs in a travel documentary.

A view from above through a window from Lamin Lodge out onto the Mangrove Swamps in The Gambia in West Africa.

Perched on wooden stilts above the mangrove creeks near the village of Lamin, the lodge overlooks the calm waterways that feed into the River Gambia. From above, the view is mesmerising — twisting mangrove channels, fishing boats gliding through still water, and birds rising from the treetops as the drone hums quietly overhead.

Flying the Mini 5 Pro here felt like the perfect closing chapter to this January 2026 visit. The air was calm, the light was soft, and the water was tranquil.

🛶 More Than Just a View and a Blue Sky

But Lamin Lodge isn’t just about scenery.

It’s a meeting place. A resting place. A place where locals and visitors sit together, eat fresh seafood, and watch the river breathe in and out with the tide. It’s where stories are shared, music drifts through the wooden walkways, and life slows down just enough to notice it.

And on this particular afternoon, music wasn’t just drifting…

🥁 A Spontaneous Musical Moment

As I was walking down the rickety wooden bridge towards the lodge, I heard the unmistakable rhythm of live music.

A musician was busking at the lodge — relaxed, smiling, completely in the moment. Naturally, I couldn’t resist.

Within minutes, I found myself sitting alongside him, joining in. No rehearsal. No plan. Just rhythm, instinct, and that beautiful West African openness that invites you in without hesitation.

That second video in this post captures that spontaneous jam session — a simple, joyful moment that perfectly sums up what I love about this country. Music isn’t a performance here. It’s a conversation.

And I was grateful to be part of it.

🌅 A Farewell (For Now)

There’s something quite emotional about the “last” flight of a trip.

As the drone lifted off for the final time, I couldn’t help thinking about everything that has happened during this visit:

Progress at BFiG Busumbala Nursery School
The new toilets taking shape
Children laughing with their new play equipment
Livestreams back to schools in England
Visits to friends across The Gambia and Senegal
And countless small, beautiful everyday moments

Lamin Lodge felt like the perfect place to pause and reflect before returning home.

💛 Thank You

To everyone who supports Building Futures in The Gambia, please know that these videos are more than travel memories. They are windows into the world you are helping to support and develop.

Every wall built.
Every classroom improved.
Every tree planted.
Every child welcomed with “I saama” in the morning.

It all connects.

So here it is — my final Gambian drone footage of this visit, followed by a spontaneous musical moment at Lamin Lodge.

Until next time, The Gambia.

Abaraka baakeh.