The Best of Gambia Birding Tour
This leisurely paced 5-day Essential Gambia Bird Tour is available on request and covers a range of birding sites and habitats, many of which are unknown to the general public. Throughout the trip you will be accompanied by our expert local guides with extensive local knowledge of the country's fauna and flora, who will be able to advise on the best places to find any birds on your list.
"Karanta is a very good bird guide and also a good person to be around... If you want to see a lot of birds in the Gambia, I think he'd be great." - Stuart Gough
Gambia is home to numerous rare and unusual species, including White Crowned Robin Chats, Oriole Warblers, Northern Puff-backed Shrikes andGiant, Pied, Malachite and Blue Breasted Kingfishers. This Gambia bird tour begins with a day at Kotu Creek, including a boat ride where you will have the opportunity to see and photograph Kingfishers and Black Egrets with their umbrella fishing techniques, as well as a water pool or drinking point for birds and a stop in a photo hide.
Brufut Woods and Tanji Lagoons are among the areas we will visit on the Gambia bird tour, to closely observe a variety of waders and forest birds. Green and Violet Turacos, Pygmy and Grey Headed Kingfishers, White Western White-faced Scops Owls, Long-tailed Nightjars and Sulphur Breasted Bush-shrikes can all be found at Brufut, while Tanji is home to Ospreys, Turnstones, Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, Green Velvet and Colobus Monkeys and a plethora of terns and gulls.
Our next stop will be Abuko Nature Reserve and Tambi Wetland Reserve, which offers trails and tracks, a stream and a hide and observation points that are great for photography. Common species here include Western Bluebills, Common Wattled-eyes, Grey Headed Bristtlebills, Giant Kingfishers and Collared, Splendid, Beautiful and Variable Sunbirds. In the rice fields you can expect to see Dwarf Bitterns, African Harrier Hawks, Palmnut Vultures, African Crakes, Hammerkops and Lizard Buzzards.
Other days of the Gambia birding tour will be spent at Marakissa Darslame and Sifoe Woods, which feature a diverse range of habitats including wetlands, grasslands, savanna forests and open rice fields separated by a tidal stream connected to a river in the south. These areas will reward us with a diverse range of protected species, including Shining Blue Kingfishers, Red Shouldered, and White-Breasted Cuckoo Shrikes, Long-crested Eagles, African Hawk Eagles, Green and Violet Turacos, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbirds, Yellow-bellied Hyliotas and Dark-chanting Goshawks.
Farasutu community forest on Baobab Island, also known as Sitajoyeh, is another interesting place on our itinerary and is home to three different owls: African Wood Greyish, African Scops and African Wood Greyish. Water drinking stations and picture hides are also essential for optimal spotting and close photographic opportunities of Green Headed Sunbirds, Klaa's Cuckoos, Green and Violet Turacos, Buff-spotted Woodpeckers, Woodland Kingfishers, Standard and Long-tailed Nightjars, Western Banded Snake Eagles and Four-Banded Sandgrouse.
Essential Gambia Birding Tour highlights include:
- Visiting a variety of different habitats with the chance to observe some of Gambia's most uncommon and unusual bird species
- Trips to Abuko Nature Reserve, Tambi Wetland Reserve, Brufut Woods, Tanji Lagoons, Marakissa Darslame, Sifoe Woods and Farasutu forest on Baobab Island
- A relaxing boat trip on Kotu Creek
- Expert guides on every tour to advise on finding birds on your list and offer tips on the best photography opportunities
If you have a little more time to spend on your holiday, maybe you’d consider a longer trip like this Gambia Birding Holiday.
Alternative Tour Name: 5-day Guided Birdwatching Tour of Gambia
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