For this trip I used a company called Hidden Gambia and flew with Thomas Cook airlines, staying for 3 nights near the coast at Footsteps Ecolodge, followed by a trip up river, staying one night at Tendaba camp on the way up and again on the way back down with 6 nights at the Bird Safari Camp on McCarthy Island. To finish, another 3 nights on the Coast, this time at Farakunku lodges.
Overall, Hidden Gambia were very good. The above package was designed by Mark at my request to maximise the number of species seen and it worked out very well. The guides they provide are talented and knowledgeable. I was disappointed at being the only keen birder present during my journey up river but the other participants were a good bunch of people who took an interest in what we found over the trip.
Footsteps is an excellent place for birding with walks into the surrounding area turning up many birds. Overall, its quite basic but practical and on half board the evening meal is quite expensive, starting at 450 Dalasi (£10) for just the main course.
Tendaba is the most basic place, with small huts in a camp next to the village and a buffet style meal in the evening. The huts do have flush toilets, showers (not hot) and mosquito nets though.
Bird Safari camp is a wonderful place to stay, on an island in the river about 40 minutes walk from Georgetown, with tracks set around it for some great birding. The solar shower never really performed for me but other than that, the room exceeded expectations in terms of cleanliness and space.
The Farakunku lodges at the end of the stay, still far enough away from the tourist area to avoid being pestered were very luxurious. Each lodge ran from its own solar power but despite this, the shower was always hot, even early morning.
I generally found the food basic and unvaried, and not eating fish meant sometimes my meal consisted of salad and rice. A bout of food poisoning from an unknown source on the way back down river did nothing to improve my opinion. Farakunka had the best food but after my sickness I was unable to really appreciate it.
Thomas Cook would only allow 5kg Hand Luggage and the dimensions for the back were very stingy as well. I rang them to ask if I could purchase more hand luggage space for optics and they said it wasn’t possible. They also take no responsibility for damage in the hold. I got round the problem by putting my camera, binoculars, gadgets and field guide into a pocketed waist jacket until after the bag had been weighed, then put it all back in the hand luggage before getting on the plane.
Day 1
Flight was due at 8.10 am to arrive in Banjul at around 14.40. Afternoon birding ended up not being an option though due to a 3 hour delay, firstly from a technical fault, then a passenger being removed from the plane drunk! It was dusky as I left the airport and the only birds seen were FERAL PIGEON (I will count this) and SPECKLED PIGEON. Driving to the hotel, there were several large fruit bats, I do not know the species.
Day 2 – Footsteps
I awoke early and began to wander round the grounds in semi-darkness. My plan today was just to see what I could find myself and get some practice at African birding. First birds in and over the garden were COMMON BULBUL, PIAPIAC, LAUGHING DOVE, BEAUTIFUL SUNBIRD, SNOWY-CROWNED ROBIN CHAT, AFRICAN THRUSH, PIED CROW, GREY-HEADED SPARROW, GREAT WHITE EGRET, CATTLE EGRET, LITTLE EGRET (Not so many of this species around) and LAVENDER WAXBILL. RED-BILLED FIREFINCH came to the table while I had a little breakfast before I set off up the track towards the beach.
There was pretty much a new species in every tree and progress was very slow as I went, with AFRICAN GREY HORNBILL, BLUE-BELLIED ROLLER, GREEN WOODHOOPOE, WESTERN PLANTAIN-EATER, VINACEOUS DOVE, RED-BILLED HORNBILL, DARK CHANTING GOSHAWK, TAWNY-FLANKED PRINIA, SENEGAL PARROT, ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET, VILLAGE WEAVER, SPLENDID SUNBIRD, YELLOW-CROWNED GONOLEK, VIOLET TURACO, SENEGAL COUCAL, NORTHERN RED BISHOP, YELLOW-BILLED SHRIKE, LONG-TAILED GLOSSY STARLING, PURPLE GLOSSY STARLING, BROAD-BILLED ROLLER, VITELLINE MASKED WEAVER (the only pair of the trip), BLACK-BILLED WOOD-DOVE, BROWN BABBLER, LITTLE BEE-EATER, GREATER BLUE-EARED STARLING, AFRICAN HARRIER HAWK and GREY KESTREL. The heat was getting up now the birds were definitely thinning out. I never did find the beach but the land was getting more agricultural so I decided to retrace my steps. Further species on the way back were AFRICAN MOURNING DOVE, LIZARD BUZZARD, FORK-TAILED DRONGO, WIRE-TAILED SWALLOW and HOODED VULTURE.
I decided to set out again once the heat was a bit more bearable and the birds got a bit more active. Even so , I kept checking out the garden and the list continued to grow. FANTI-SAW-WING, SWALLOW-TAILED BEE-EATER, ORANGE-CHEEKED WAXBILL, RED-CHEEKED CORDONBLEU, PYGMY KINGFISHER, YELLOW-FRONTED CANARY, LONG-CRESTED EAGLE, VILLAGE INDIGOBIRD, BRONZE MANNIKIN BLACK-WINGED BISHOP and RED-CHESTED PARADISE FLYCATCHER.
I used the hotel bird guide in the evening, not as expensive as using Hidden Gambia guides but no where near as accomplished. He knew some good locations but was probably not much better at identifying the species as me, even though I was not familiar with the species. It was quite fun debating with him over some of the birds and was no doubt beneficial to both of us in improving. Species found on this evening walk were PIN-TAILED WYDAH, RUFOUS-CROWNED ROLLER, DOUBLE-SPURRED FRANCOLIN, SPUR-WINGED PLOVER, WATTLED PLOVER, SENEGAL THICK-KNEE, OSPREY, ABYSSINIAN ROLLER, RED-EYED DOVE, AFRICAN PALM SWIFT, PIED KINGFISHER, LONG-TAILED CORMORANT, GREY HERON, BLACK-HEADED HERON, GOLIATH HERON, SQUACCO HERON, HAMMERKOP, HEUGLIN’S MASKED WEAVER, CHIFFCHAFF, GREY WOODPECKER and ZITTING CISTICOLA (Still the only one I’m happy identifying).
Day 3 Senegal/Footsteps
I got up at about 4am to stand under a tree with a NORTHERN WHITE-FACED OWL calling within. Eventually the bird flew out offering a fleeting view before I went back to bed. VARIABLE SUNBIRD, BLACK-NECKED WEAVER and BLUE-SPOTTED WOOD-DOVE were the only other birds I added in the morning before taking a taxi south to Kartong.
I wanted to cross over into Senegal during my stay since the border was so close. Footsteps arranged a dug-out canoe down the river Allahein and over into the first village in Senegal on the coast. The guide here was great, looking out for birds on the way down and slowing down and stopping as required. Along the way were numerous waders, herons, terns and gulls. New species for the trip were TURNSTONE, COMMON SANDPIPER, WHIMBREL, GREY-HEADED GULL, WESTERN REEF EGRET, OYTERCATCHER, REDSHANK, GREENSHANK, GREAT CORMORANT, PINK BACKED PELICAN, AFRICAN DARTER, STRIATED HERON, SACRED IBIS, AFRICAN FISH EAGLE, PALM-NUT VULTURE, GREY PLOVER, BAR-TAILED GODWIT, CURLEW, GIANT KINGFISHER, SHIKRA, CASPIAN TERN, ROYAL TERN, SANDWICH TERN, SLENDER-BILLED GULL, RINGED PLOVER SANDERLING, KNOT, BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATER and MALACHITE KINGFISHER.
Looking out over the sand bank from Senegal back into Gambia, there was also a gull which I believe was KELP GULL, the eye appeared dark, not pale like lesser black-backed gull but it was too distant to be certain. The legs however were definitely olive rather than yellow. Hopefully anyone reading this may be able to confirm that this is diagnostic?
Back at Footsteps for another evening walk, this time heading out in another direction with the hotel guide. BLACK-CAPPED BABBLERS were around the hotel grounds while the only YELLOW-BILLED OXPECKER of the trip was in a tree near some cattle along the track we followed along with SCARLET-CHESTED SUNBIRD. There was a patch of recently burnt ground full of doves which also held FOUR-BANDED SANDGROUSE. Overhead, passing several times was a BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE and the final new species of the day was a beautiful RED-NECKED FALCON.