Basse Santa Su - more commonly referred to as Basse - is Gambia's easternmost town and the largest and liveliest of the upriver settlements. It's also the last major ferry-crossing point and a transport hub for the surrounding area. The most interesting sections of town are the waterfront and the market, the latter especially on Thursday, when the streets are lined with shops and stalls. The whole place comes alive nightly when the town's drink stalls open and grilled-meat shacks fire up.Down by the waterfront, an colonial warehouse dating from 1916 has been converted into a museum, cultural centre, bookshop and restaurant called Traditions. There's a fair amount of high-quality stuff on offer, as well as glimpses of the artists and artisans at work. If the shopping bug really has you itching, several of Basse's surrounding villages host a weekly lumo (market), where traders and shoppers come from all over Gambia as well as from nearby countries to participate in the events.

South of the river in central Gambia, Kiang West National Park is one of the largest protected areas in Gambia and boasts its largest and most diverse animal population. Its habitats include mangrove creeks and mud flats (the river is still tidal this far upstream), plus large areas of dry woodland and grassland. A major natural feature is the escarpment that runs parallel to the riverbank. We're not talking the Rift Valley here, but even 20m (65ft) is significant in a country as flat as Gambia. Mammals frequently seen include baboons, colobus monkeys, warthogs, marsh mongooses and bushbucks. You may even be fortunate enough to see a roan, a large horse-like (hence the name) antelope that migrates in from Senegal's Casamance. Another is the sitatunga, a larger relative of the bushbuck that is adept at swimming or crossing water vegetation on its characteristic wide hooves.Other animals in the park - though rarely seen - include hyenas, leopards, manatees, dolphins and crocodiles. More than 250 species of bird have been recorded here, including 21 raptors and some rarer birds such as the brown-necked parrot.

Some 10km (6mi) south of the Atlantic coast resorts is the small village of Tanji. There's not much to see here that can't be seen elsewhere in the region, but the Tanji Village Museum is worth a detour in itself. The museum is actually more like an African village, spread over a large area, with mud and thatch huts of various designs (according to styles developed by Gambia's different ethnic groups). The huts contain displays of traditional artifacts and furniture, with explanations about their use and significance. In the vegetation section, there are local plants with names in Latin, English, Wolof, Mandinka, Serer and Jola, with their properties and uses explained. There's also a nature trail and an artisan area, plus a small restaurant serving traditional food and drink and periodically hosting live music and dancing shows.About 3km (2mi) north of the village is the Tanji River Bird Reserve, an area of dunes, lagoons, dry woodland and coastal scrub, plus mangrove patches and the reefs and islets of Bijol Island. The wide range of habitats here attracts an excellent selection of birds, including indigenous species and European migrants - more than 300 species have been recorded.