Go with a Leopard Gecko, they are very good as a first time gecko.

They still need their basics though, and the humidity hide is very important (a little plastic container that contains a moist paper towel, with a tiny cave door cut into it). Feeding is easy, watering is easy, no fancy lighting, heating is easy, the tank doesn't need to be massive, and they can be pretty large (for a gecko I mean), so they are easy to hold without worrying about the tail falling off (unlike the fat tails).

Snakes are still better IMO though. Ball Pythons make wonderful pet snakes.