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Published: December 26th 2006
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Gambia December 2006 Trip report
We stayed for 1 week at the Cape Point hotel organised by Gambia Experience. This was our fourth trip to Gambia and we really liked the Cape Point area. There were less bumpsters than other places we have stayed around the Kotu area. Although I liked the gardens at the Bokatu hotel. Still Cape Point had a small swimming pool and some there were House Sparrows, Splendid Sunbirds, Speckled Pigeon, and bulbuls to watch. The weather at this time of year was brilliant. Hot with little humidity so a nice contrast to the English weather.
The food was simple at the hotel but there were some good places nearby and we recommend the hungarian restaurant a few minutes walk away.
The beach area was quiet and the botanical gardens a short walk away which was good for photography and bird watching. We were surprised by a Shikra taking a small bird.
We hired some bicycles and cycled down to the creek area which was brilliant as there were small lagoons and wooded areas to explore. We saw an African spoonbill, pied kingfisher, ringed plover, black winged stint, marsh sandpiper, and bar tailed godwin.
We wanted to
To Tendaba
On the road to Tendaba. The road has deteriorated. go to Tendaba camp up river and put word out on the street that we needed a driver. Sure enough we were soon sorting out some details with the owner of a land-cruiser and organised a two day expedition to Tendaba. Unfortunately one of the hotel ‘Tourist guides’ decided he wanted to come with us. We made it clear that the price was all inclusive for the transport although we were going to organise our own accommodation. The price was D5000. However, the hotel guide was rather sullen and he kept on asking for various other monies during the trip and also rushed us back on the second day. So watch out for hangers on. Actually I wished we had taken a bird guide as we missed some of the best birding areas.
Anyway the trip was still enjoyable. The roads have deteriorated since we were last here in 2004 when we went up to Georgetown to stay at Bird Safari Camp - highly recommended.
Tendaba camp itself had excellent food and the sardine sandwiches I had for lunch were delicious. The buffet for dinner was equally scrummy. There was a pleasant swimming pool from which to watch the Red
Billed Firefinches but the accommodation in en suite mud huts were rather dingy and depressing.
We were lucky to join some other people on a boat expedition as they had an excellent bird guide. We set off at about 4.00pm and headed over to the mangrove swamps on the other side of the river. These were some of the most beautiful mangroves I have seen. There were many birds.
Abyssinian Roller
Namaqua Dove
Red Billed Firefinch
Blue Breasted Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Pelican
Little Egret
Saddle Bill Stork
African Fish Eagle
Of Prey
African Darter
Shot Toed Eagle
Shikra
European Bee Eater
White Throated Bee Eater
Egret
Western Grey Heron
Squaco Heron
Pied Kingfisher
Sandpiper
Redshank
Crested Tern
Blue Spotted Pigeon
Morning Dove
Broad Billed Roller
Hammer Kop
If you go to Tendaba and you are interested in birds try to go to the airfield where there is good birding to be had.
After our Tendaba trip, we hired a bird guide from outside the hotel. Its amazing what you can pick up on the streets and we did really well to find Lamin Bojang (laminbrufutwood@yahoo.com). Every other bumster on the street asked us about our Tendaba trip. The Gambians
Fish drying at Tanji
Some fish are dried others are smoked. Then exported to other countries/ are very good at recognizing you and knowing everything about you. We arranged an evening to look round the Kotu sewage ponds (better than it sounds and no smell) and to find nightjars. This was a very successful trip for £25. Lamin arranged a taxi to take us to Kotu and we walked round the Kotu sewage ponds, where we had a good lesson on looking at the differences between the common sandpiper, marsh sandpiper and green sandpipers. There were plenty of ...plover and some
In the rice fields we saw a Wattled Plover and Senegal Thickknee. Then towards the coast we saw subalpine warbler which we would never have spotted without Lamin.
Then we waited in the bush on the beach for the nightjars to rise and the sun set. The area is being spoiled by another hotel going up and there are only a few nightjars left unfortunately. Sure enough they flitted up and perched on a convenient post for a photo but the light level was low and the result rather blurred.
Lamin was so good that we got him to organise a long half day to Brufut and Tanji. This cost £40 but he organised the
Osprey
An osprey at Tanji. taxi and we left at 7.45 next morning for Brufut woods. This was excellent and we enjoyed walking round the tracks of the wood and we stopped at a tree right at the beginning to look at two White Faced Scops Owls sitting deep in a tree. They were so tucked up in the foliage that we couldn’t get a good photo. I was very pleased to spot a Klasses Cuckoo and the Greater Honeyguide was a nice find.
List for Brufut
White Faced Scops Owls
Blue Bellied Roller
Red Billed Hornbill
African Thrush
Golder Oriole
Tawny Flanked Prinia
Babbler
Northern Crombec
Greater Honeyguide
Yellow Billed Kite
Senegal Parrot
Splendid Sunbird
Melodious Warbler
Klaas's Cuckoo
Black Billed Wood Dove
Cordon Bleu
Norther Red Bishop
Bronze Manniken
Palm Swift
Variable Sunbird
Dark Chanting Goshawk
Lizard Buzzard
Jacana Near Some Pools.
We went on to Tanji where we had an interesting walk around the fishing huts where hundreds of fish were being dried out for packing off to other parts of Africa. At the pools we saw Osprey, Caspian tern, Whimbrel, Herring Gull, Royal Tern, Vieillot's barbet, White Throat but by now it was 1.00 and it was very hot and we were exhausted so we had had enough birding and we were looking forward to getting back to the hotel and having a dip in the sea.
We had an evening trip to Abuku reserve which is well worth a visit and an easy taxi reserve (D680) including a 2 hour wait but you could easily spend a whole day here. There is a pleasant cafe at the end. I would suggest going in the morning. We ended up there at about 3pm and it was a little disappointing.
Gambia is a special place but you can get hassled by bumpsters. You have to get out of the resorts and go up country. The river is beautiful and there are many other places to visit. If you work the contacts you can easily organise your own trips if you are prepared to accept the associated risks.
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