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[quote=Anonymous]OP, I'm retired Foreign Service. I've served in several posts in Africa.  The Gambia is one of the more stable countries in West Africa, but it has experienced political turmoil in recent years.

There's a streak of racism in several of the comments so far on this thread that I find dismaying.

That said, I would not have allowed my children to travel to any country unless I knew the family extremely well. as in they were family friends I'd known for years.

In a foreign country and culture, there are all kinds of issues political, cultural and, in this case, tribal, that you and your daughter don't understand. You also do not know what kind of standing this family has in Gambia. For all you know, they could be tied to a family well known for corruption who have lots of people in the country who hate them.  Or, they could be  tied a politically controversial figure; maybe one of the parents is the cousin of a leading opposition figure.  My point is that you don't really know who these people are in their home context, which means you don't really know what kinds of risks and dangers your daughter may face.  You also don't know how well they would supervise and protect your daughter.

If she really wants to visit the Gambia with her friend, I would make it a family vacation, and I'd check the State Department travel advisory and other information about the situation in-country at the time.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-gambia-travel-advisory.html[/quote]

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