Essential Gambia Bird Tour - 5 Days

After breakfast, we start at 7 am in the Kotu area, at the famous Bridge, where you can take your first boat ride, and then continue on a nature walk through the rice fields, golf course, and surrounding areas, looking for species such as Blue Breasted, Kingfisher, Piapiac, Starlings, Lizard Buzzards, Hornbills, and many more. The list can go up to 60 to 80 species just in the Kotu area. Lunch will be served at noon, and then the tour will continue in the afternoon until late in the evening, when you will return to the hotel for supper.

After breakfast, we'll depart at 7:00 a.m. for a half-day journey to the Brufut Woods, which are located 10 kilometres from your accommodation. It will take us less than 25 minutes to get to the wood land, a community forest, where we will walk through the most interesting areas within the forest and its surroundings, birding around the woods, and later converge at a woodland bar area for cold drinks and coffees while watching some of the most exotic species, such as Green and Violet Turacos, Grey Headed Bristlebills, Pygmy Kingfishers, Yellow Throated Leafloves, Yellow Throated Leaflove Long-tailed Nightjars, Klaas' Cuckoos, Diederick Cuckoos, Shikras, Red-necked Falcons, Black-shouldered Kites, White-faced Scoops Owls, and other species are predicted to be found in the vicinity.

At 12:30 p.m., we will drive 5 kilometres to Tanji Eco Lodge, which is only 15 minutes away, for a lunch break by the drinking pool, which is great for photographing birds such as Sulphur Breasted Bushrike, African Silverbills, Western Blue Bills, Yellow Crowned Gonolek, and others.

We will then continue to the lagoons by the sea via the exterior of the forest, seeking for Four Banded Sandgrouse, Swallow Tailed Bee Eater, Osprey, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Pied Hornbill, and various waders, mostly migratory, until late evening, when we will return to the Hotel for dinner.

After breakfast, we'll drive to Farasutu Forest for a day trip and lunch at Sitajoyeh Lodge on the island. We'll visit the community Forest, which is about a 30-kilometer drive away, and consists of wood land with Gallery forest and farm lands, as well as riverine stretches along the forest edges, making it a popular stop for migratory birds.

Expected species to be African Wood Owl, Greyish Eagle Owl, Grey Headed Bristle Bill, Vieillot's Barbet, Yellow Bellied Hyliota, Black Wood Hoopoe, Stripe Kingfisher, Bruce's Green Pigeon, Yellow Penduline Tit, Cardinal Wood Pecker, Brown Backed Wood Pecker, Fine-spotted Wood Pecker, Buff- Spotted Wood Pecker, Cardinal Wood Pecker, Cardinal Wood Pecker, Brown Backed Wood Pecker, and Cardinal Wood. 

We'll complete the day by sitting in a hide at one of the area's local photo hides, where we'll get up close and personal with amazing species like the Green-headed Sunbird, Purple Glossy Starling, Splendid Glossy Starling, Klaas' Cuckoo, Black-faced Fire Finch, Brown Naked Parrot, and many others. For the night, we will return to the hotel.

After breakfast, we depart at 7 a.m. for a 25-minute drive on a 20-kilometer journey to Abuko Nature Reserve, which consists of gallery forest with canopies and semi-wooded scrubby areas with some undergrowth forages, as well as streams crossing some points, ideal for species such as Black Crake, Western Blue Bill, Common Wattled Eye, African Goshawk, Violet and Green Turacos, Palmnutt Vulture, Giant Kingfisher, Oriole Warbler, Black Necked Weaver, little Greenbul, and many more.  Later, we will leave the reserve and travel to Tambi Wetland, which is located directly across from the Nature Reserve, to spend a couple of hours among the rice fields and women's vegetable gardens, where we will see spectacular species such as Dwarf and Little Bitterns, Black Crake, African Crake, Lizard Buzzard, Pearl Spotted Owlet, Squacco Heron, and others.

At 1 p.m., we will return to the coast for a lunch break at Kotu, one of the best restaurants along the beach. After lunch, we will travel to Katchummey Woods on The Gambia's South Coast, where we will continue to add species to our list, including Giant, Blue Breasted, Malachite, and Pied Kingfishers, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbill, Yellow Billed and Black kites, Yellow Billed Stork, greater Paint Snipe, Black Egret, Little Bee Eater, Blue Bellied Roller and Broad billed Roller and off cause many more. We'll return to your hotel for dinner later that evening.

After an early breakfast at the hotel, we will depart at 7 a.m. for the Marakissa woods and area, driving all the way to Darslame and Seffoe Wetland diving for about 45 minutes, after which we will return to the Camp for lunch break while taking advantage of water jars organised by the Lodge within the premises, where different species of birds, such as Violet Turacos, and Yellow Throated Leafloves.  Later on, we'll return to the Penyem woods, about 10 kilometres from the Camp, for the remainder of the day.

These ecosystems include semi-savanna woodlands with some large trees, as well as Gallery forest with farmlands, rice fields, and gardens. We will return to the hotel after seeing White Breasted Cuckoo Shrike, Red Shouldered Cuckoo Shrike, African Scoops Owl, African Gold Oriole, Shinning Blue Kingfisher, Grey Headed Kingfisher, Lizard Buzzard, and many other species. Finally, we will return back to the Hotel rapping up the five days tour.