As I arrived in the Gambian village of Youna a toddler put her tiny hand in mine, gazing up with big curious eyes. It brought back a sudden memory from 20-odd years ago of my wife and I, novices to Africa, bumping in <vonderhain.com/marlboro">Cigarettes Online</a> a bush taxi across the Gambian countryside en route to a christening.

The waiter who had invited us to his village was squeezed in next to us. When we arrived we were given a cold drink, then led into a room where the village women sat. And there in the corner was the new mother, baby in her arms. She passed him over like a tiny black jewel. A party began that went on most of the day. We had never felt so utterly at ease among strangers.

That was then, this is now, and in between there has been little but bad news from the Gambia. As tourism has grown in this tiny west African state of 1.4 million people, so has disenchantment. Far from benefiting from tourism, the locals seem to have got poorer. By the late 1980s, foreigners were the object of hassle, not innocent welcome. A new form of beach boy emerged: the "bumster''; pushy, devious, intent on hustling not for food but for flashy clothes and expensive trainers. Some older female tourists from northern Europe were happy to indulge them. Sex tourism was added to the list of local abuses. Meanwhile, the country's best beaches began to disappear as a result of wave erosion. Each visit became more unpleasant.

The last straw for me came when my passport was stolen from my hotel. The manager shrugged his shoulders. Outside, a bumster told me to "chill out'', and I came so close to hitting him that I fell into a sort of moral crisis. Yes the locals were poor - but they were also capable of appalling behaviour. And why hadn't their government, growing steadily rich on the tourist pound, done anything to help them? A week in the Gambia could bring out prejudices you never knew you had.

Perhaps usasmokingsale.com">Newport Cigarettes</a> some countries, like alcoholics, have to hit rock bottom before they can recover. Ten years ago Captain Yahya Jammeh seized power in the Gambia in a bloodless coup, and was later confirmed as president in free elections. At first little seemed to change - everything takes a long time in the Gambia - but in the past two years things have improved. One British tour operator reports that business is up by 12 per cent. There are stories of award-winning eco-lodges, of new boutique hotels, even of the imminent arrival of the country's first spa. One of the Gambia's great attractions has always been that it only takes six hours to get there. Time to go again.

At Banjul airport they stop you at immigration and demand £5 as a "tourist levy''. What for? I started to ask. A foolish question; and yet not in the sense I had intended. The road from the airport to the main strip of tourist hotels is now modern, paved and - most amazing of all - lined with streetlamps.

At the Hotel Bakotu brightly coloured birds flitted around and monkeys coughed in the jungle beyond. At the front of the hotel was a jungle of another kind: Kotu, an African village with three tourist hotels and a rag-tag collection of shops, restaurants and bars. People crowded around arriving guests; local lads hovered at the lobby door. It seemed as though little had changed.

But at the next morning's welcome meeting Steve, the rep, was refreshingly practical. He acknowledged that there were "pests'' lurking outside the hotel, but pointed out that they weren't there by accident. "By giving money to them for nothing tourists created a begging economy. We have to put a stop to that.''

Steve took us walkabout. We strolled in a group through the dusty streets of Kotu, and suddenly the place took on a different dimension. Here was Lamin the cobbler, who also sold cheap cigarettes. There was Maria, owner of a fruit juice stand. There were taxi drivers, massage ladies, wood carvers and souvenir sellers. Steve knew everyone by name and we felt reassured that we weren't surrounded by vaguely threatening strangers. "By all means bargain, but give them a fair price,'' said Steve. "And whatever you do don't give money to hustlers or beggars.''

Also in evidence were the green uniformS of the new Tourist Security Unit, introduced two years ago by the government to crack down on the most troublesome bumsters. The Gambia is also involved in the Responsible Tourism Partnership, which sets guidelines for the behaviour of taxi drivers, shopkeepers and the like. And all local guides are now registered. These tactics have clearly worked. ``We thought the hassle would be much worse than this,'' said one couple.