The Gambia
A West African birding paradise
THE GAMBIA HAS long been a popular birdwatching destination and visited by Avian Adventures on several occasions. Situated on the coast of West Africa, it is one of the continent’s smallest countries, but it has an impressive avifauna and offers visitors from Europe an ideal introduction to the colourful world of African birds. In November, the weather should be dry and sunny and offer the prospect of more than 200 bird species to see. This tour offers an enticing alternative to winter at home. Our main base is spent in an excellent hotel, Senegambia, on the Atlantic coast and from this base we will visit some of the numerous birdwatching sites available nearby. The hotel is in a wonderful location, has a swimming pool and provides
GAMBIA
comfortable accommodation, with private facilities and the hotel grounds support a superb selection of bird species and is almost like a private nature reserve. For a few days we’ll head inland for a real avian adventure, following the mighty Gambia River to Tendaba Camp, allowing us to encounter different habitats and quite a number of new and rare bird species, but staying in more basic accommodation. We should see more of the numerous gems that make The Gambia an essential destination for birders. Birds seen could include: Palm-nut Vulture, Snowy-crowned Robin-chat, African Paradise Flycatcher, Hamerkop, Little Greenbul, Giant, brilliant Violet Turaco, African Pied Hornbill, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Grey-headed and Blue-breasted Kingfishers, Goliath Heron, Mouse-brown Sunbird, African Fish Eagle, White-backed Night-heron, African Blue Flycatcher and Whitethroated Bee-eater. Also, Abyssinian and Blue-bellied Rollers, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Lavender Waxbill, African Pied Hornbill, as well as those tonguetwisters, Grey-backed Camaroptera and Senegal Eremomela.