The Maurel Frères building at Albreda is a plain, solid trading house of the kind that once lined the West African coast, and it tells the commercial side of the Gambia story. Albreda was a French trading post from the late seventeenth century, wedged into a river that the British otherwise controlled, and for roughly a hundred and fifty years the French and British argued about it. France finally gave up its claim to the little enclave in 1857, but the French firms stayed. Maurel Frères, a trading house from Bordeaux, had a presence along this coast, and its warehouse here, built of brick and stone with a pitched roof, handled the trade that replaced the slave trade: groundnuts, beeswax, hides and rubber.
The groundnut, or peanut, deserves a mention, since it shaped the country. In the nineteenth century farmers along the river were persuaded to grow it for export, and for generations it was the Gambia's main crop, bought by traders, shipped to Europe and pressed for oil. The building stands as a reminder that the shift from one trade to another left the same riverbank economy in place, with merchants and middlemen, a landing and a warehouse, and the farmers at the bottom of the chain. Next to it is the old landing stage, from which boats still cross to the island.
Albreda is a quiet village with sandy lanes, mango trees and a small market, and the old buildings are in various states of repair, some restored and some crumbling under creepers. A local guide will take you around for a modest fee, and the museum nearby is worth a stop. The riverside has a laid-back feel, with fishermen mending nets and children playing on the sand.
The road to the village from the Barra ferry is a long and flat route through farmland, palms and bush, with a mix of tarmac and potholed patches, and the hazards are those of any West African road, with goats, minibuses and people on foot. Ride in daylight and take it slowly. Fuel can be bought at Barra or Essau, and nothing should be assumed in the villages. The dry months from November to February are kindest, with warm days and cool nights, and the light on the river in the early morning is pale gold.