This story was originally published in The Guardian.
When Saikou Demba was a young man, he opened a small hotel on the coast of the country and ran a beach bar. The hotel is still there and guests can lie in hammocks beneath swaying palm trees and stroll along shell- studded pathways. The beach bar is not open. Demba thinks it would be about 5 or 6 meters into the sea.
The first year the tide came in high, but it was ok. The tide came in high, but it was not bad. Half of the bar went into the sea when I came down for the third year.
Most people had not heard of the greenhouse effect at that time.
It was obvious to Demba that things were changing. The coastline was crumbling as the sea came in further and further every year.
The Leybato lost its beach bar at high tide, as the sea comes right up to the bottom of the terrace. The erosion of the coastline can be seen in the cracked paving stones and exposed roots of the coconut trees. The ocean floor used to be carpeted by sea grass.
Demba says that the grasses were protecting the sea. I used to see turtles. Now, no. We are in a sad situation.
Hotels and guesthouses are facing the same pressures along the 50-mile coastline of the smallest mainland country in Africa. In a developing country, where tourism makes up 20 percent of GDP and employs tens of thousands of people, it's important that they are protected.
The lesson from Covid-19 has already been learned. Alpha Saine is the front office manager of the Kairaba Hotel, one of the most luxurious hotels in the country.
European tourists are starting to come back to the country even if the numbers are down. Saine hopes Covid becomes history.
The threat to the industry posed by the climate crisis is more serious than previously thought, and no one seems to have a solution that works for everyone.
The Kairaba and Senegambia Hotels are the heart of the tourism industry in the country, and a barrier of rocks has been laid along the shoreline to stop the waves from encroaching too far. When the tide is high, the beach is small and narrow, but it is still big when the tide is low.
