Spent years in The Gambia. Beautiful country and really friendly people. It's really sad how things were left by the British--they are decades or even 100+ years behind in terms of education, infrastructure, access to opportunity, etc. Corruption top to bottom is currently holding the country back, and it's quickly falling way behind even other nations in the region.
As one of the major ports of the continent established for the purpose of the slave trade, the country's history is fascinating. Pleasantly surprised to see it on the front page of HN :).