This week’s featured UNESCO World Heritage site is located in the Gambia. The Stone Circles of Senegambia are located in four different groups along the River Gambia. Scientists believe they were built over more than a millennium, from 3 BC to the 16th century AD.

The origins of these circles remain somewhat mysterious. Archaeologists believe that they were used to mark burial sites, and were possibly built on top of older graves. Other than that, nobody is sure what specific beliefs motivated the people who lived there to build so many stone circles. There is no doubt that the monuments are impressive, however, and just as with Stonehenge, half the fun of visiting them is speculating about who built them and why.

According to the UNESCO site, “the survival of so many circles is a unique manifestation of construction and funerary practices which persisted for over a millennia and a half across a large sweep of landscape, and reflects a sophisticated and productive society.”

To visit the stone circles, you’ll need a valid US passport and a Gambian visa. In theory, you might be able to get a visa on arrival, but the US Department of State advises against it, saying, “there are no uniform procedures for Gambian immigration officials and the best way to avoid any potential problem is to get a visa before entering the country.”

If you’re visiting the Gambia as a tourist, here’s what you’ll need to get a visa:

• Your passport. Check the expiration date, cause if it’s not good for at least 6 months after the date you plan to enter the Gambia, there will be no visa for you. Also, make sure there’s at least one completely blank page in back.
• A copy of your itinerary.
• 2 passport photos

RushMyTravelVisa will be glad to help you get your Gambian visa. When you apply through us, you’ll get your own personal visa specialist to help you with the application. We’ll help you avoid common mistakes that could lead to delays, and we’ll expedite your visa for the fastest possible processing.

Apply for your Gambian visa today!

Tags: Gambian visa, The Gambia, UNESCO World Heritage Sites

This entry was posted on Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 4:57 pm and is filed under World Heritage Site of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.