Country 
Kartong, The Gambia
Price 
Lodges:  Full board £90 pppn; half board £80 pppn
Guest Rooms: Full board £70 pppn; half board £60 pppn
Associated activities
Local excursions: sacred crocodile pool; village excursion; bike hire; bird watching; river canoe trips; yoga

A luxury, up-market resort that offers a wonderfully relaxing, private and secure opportunity to throw aside all the cares of the world and enjoy great service and catering in a remote, beachside setting.

With our full-board service we throw in an optional excursion to the local village of Kartong in the company of one of our guides or a member of staff. This experience has been the highlight of the visit of many of our guests. Several other activities or visits are possible if you wanted to do something other than sit near a white sand beach doing nothing!

With the full board service we offer a three-course breakfast (fruit plate, cereals and a cooked breakfast if wishes), a light two-course lunch and a three-course dinner. Mid-morning and afternoon tea/coffee/soft drinks are available and you can choose whether you take any or all of your meals in the small, exclusive restaurant, in your lodge, or in our candle and hurricane-lit beachside shack.

We now have two types of room. The Lodges are a bit more expensive as they are larger and the Guest Rooms are big but not quite as big. The Guest Rooms also have a third bed/settee and so can take three people.

Open: all year long. Capacity at present is 28 pax. Four Lodges (8 pax) are completed (out of an eventual 10).  Ten (5) guest rooms (out of an eventual 20) accommodate 15 pax and will be available at a lower price than the Lodges. Guest Rooms are available at less busy times for group travel at heavily discounted prices.

Nature protection
More than 20,000 trees have been planted at on-site and informal ‘education’ of local people- and our guests (!) - in conservation is a regular feature in all our contacts.

Environmental aspects
The building of the retreat incorporates virtually all the current techniques for sustainable construction.  Foundations, walls, domes and vaults (there is minimum use of cement, glass and wood) are made from compressed earth blocks made with a hand operated machine imported from India. The blocks are stabilised (made stronger) by using lime created by burning the oyster shells discarded by the women who harvest the oysters from the mangroves. The machine used to make the blocks is very versatile as it takes a wide variety of moulds leading to blocks of many shapes and sizes. The water tower made with the blocks at Sandele has excited so much interest that they are now being introduced to a number of villages by NGOs and a separate company (Earthworks Construction Limited) has been established to bring the benefit of the water towers to other rural villages.

Cultural aspects
Cultural groups in Kartong are supported by groups in adjacent villages and from just across the river in the Casamance.  Each year, in March, a Cultural Festival is held and the Eco-Retreat is a major supporter of this event.

Social economic aspects
Everything that can possibly be made or grown is purchased locally. Beds, tables, chairs, doors and a variety of other wood products are made in our own workshop, employing Kartonka craftsmen. As stated vegetables, fruit, eggs and other food products are purchased from the village and sour milk, cous-cous, juices, fish and seafood are all used in the preparation of international and local dishes.  

Education and information
The Pathways Foundation is a charitable foundation that offers holistic education and access to multi-cultural courses and programmes. The Foundation will establish a permaculture system and the Sandele Appropriate Technology Exhibition Centre (SATEC). 

The Foundation will offer a wide range of courses. All the courses will include three major themes – sustainability (in all its forms), ethical action and spirituality. At the same time it is a strong principle of the Foundation that courses will be FUN. The spectrum of courses will range from the practical – how to build and introduce ecologically acceptable technologies into everyday living; how to operate sustainably in organizations and work groups; and, at the personal level, how to live sustainably in the present crazy world.