GAMBIA ON A SHOE-STRING
Three friends and myself decided early last year to go on a birding holiday to Gambia. So it was that from the 2nd to 16th November, we took advantage of Thompson's offer of two weeks for the price of one. We got 14 nights bed and breakfast for £385.00, and with dinner thrown in for about £3.00, it really was a bargain.
We arrived at Banjul airport at 4.15pm on Friday November 2nd to be greeted with leaden skies and very humid conditions. That evening we had a violent storm which blew out all the power in the hotel for about an hour, but it soon passed and we didn't see any more rain for the rest of the trip.
My personal count for the trip was 241 species, of which 190 were lifers. It was extremely tiring birding in the conditions and it pays to have an easy day every now and again. There was some excellent birding to be had close to our hotel so on day one we did the casino cycle track, the renowned sewage ponds and Kotu creek. The list was mouth-watering and some of the species seen were Common Bulbul, Brown Babbler, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Laughing Dove, Pied Crow, Jacana, Cattle, Little, Intermediate and Great White Egrets, Bearded Barbet, African Harrier Hawk, Blue Breasted Roller, Subalpine Warbler, Village Weaver (abundant), Red-eyed Dove, Green Wood Hoopoe, Red-billed and Pied Hornbill, Senegal Coucal, Northern Red Bishop Bird, Blue-eared Glossy Starling, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Western Reef, Black-headed, Striated, Purple and Grey Herons, Spur Winged Plover, Senegal Thick Knee and Black-winged Stilt, as well as most of our shanks and sandpipers.
On the downside was the 'hassle' you get from the local 'would be' birders offering their services. They can be very persistent so we decided to hire one of the genuine bird guides. They carry identification and their daily fee is negotiable. It paid dividends as once you have a guide the others leave you alone. Ours turned out to be first class, knowing most of the calls and where to find the goodies.
We saw far too many species to name individually in this article, but had 31 species of raptor, 8 species of kingfisher, 7 of swallow, 7 of bee-eater, and 6 of sunbird. Some of the colours are breathtaking and some of the names are easier to pronounce in their scientific form e.g. Vidua interjecta as opposed to Exclamatory Paradise Whydah!
In the middle of the holiday we decided to go up river for three or four days to Tendaba for the legendary Egyptian Plover, and on to Bassa for Carmine Bee-eater. This was a 450 mile round trip on roads better described as assault courses. Fortunately, we managed to see both species. We also saw some stunning butterflies and dragonflies but hadn't a clue as to what they were. We had three species of monkey as well as crocodile and several species of smaller mammals, all seen in Abuko Forest.
What none of us was prepared for was the 'Culture Shock' we experienced, with 90% of the population living in abject poverty. On several occasions, we had to pass through Serrakunda, a township of some 400,000 people, living in conditions that defy description. We never did come to terms with it.
One of the most impressive birds seen was found at the end of the holiday in Abuko Forest. It was the awesome Veneaux's Eagle Owl. About the same size as European Eagle Owl, but paler and with strange pink eyelids, it had a somewhat haughty appearance. Watching the bird from about 50 yards at the top of a dead tree for a good ten minutes was unforgettable and a fitting finale to a fantastic trip.
Peter Ross