I escaped the gloom of the English winter for the sun and heat of The Gambia on my first overseas bird watching trip (with Naturetrek) since Japan in January 2023. The Gambia is a very small West African country, surrounded by Senegal except for its small Atlantic coastline. Situated 14 degrees north of the equator, and on the same latitude as the UK (so no need to change the clocks and no jetlag), it has become popular with Europeans wanting beach holidays in guaranteed sunshine. However, for many reasons The Gambia is also one of the world's 'go to' places for bird watchers. It is small and compact and the great variety of habitats hold a huge number of different bird species, with 250+ expected on this 11 night holiday. The main geological feature of this long, thin country is the huge Gambia River, which winds its way right across the country before entering The Atlantic. The dominant (90%) religion is Islam, with the remainder of the people being Christian. The Gambia is a relatively poor country and its economy relies heavily on tourism.
An early flight from Gatwick meant that we were established at a hotel close to the sea in time to do some bird watching from a bridge over a small tidal channel, just a few hundred yards from the hotel (where, due to a problem with another wildlife company that will remain nameless, I was without a room for several hours and had to lug a very heavy rucksack around with me) and this provided what for me was the photographic highlight of the holiday, with perfect light and plenty of exposed mud allowing some good photographs of many waders and other water birds, some new to me, with around 45 species seen during a 90 minute visit. We were very lucky with the tide, because on all subsequent visits to the bridge little or no mud was exposed and much smaller numbers of birds were seen.
Senegal Thick-knee, The Gambia, 22 November
We stayed at the hotel for three nights, with the following two days providing a huge variety of birds. On both days I saw more than 100 species, and I missed quite a few! It was breathless stuff and, whilst at home I may be considered an 'expert' when leading walks for my RSPB group, here I was very much in the 'novice' category, and on several occasions needed the help of the leader, Chris, or the guide, Tamba, to get my binoculars on to the birds.
After leaving the hotel we headed east into the interior, following the river and spending one night at the Tendaba camp and then three nights at the Bansang camp, still further up river, which involved an interesting ferry crossing. The camps were, as expected, pretty basic with no hot water at Bansang, but air conditioning (necessary, as daytime temperatures reached 37C) was available throughout. Bird watching was consistently intensive, with frequent stops on the road as interesting species were spotted, necessitating clambering in and out of a rather cramped minibus. A fellow client, James, was becoming our ace bird finder, with one of his discoveries (a male Painted Snipe) becoming one of the birds of the holiday. For me, there were so many new species seen that the only way of assessing their rarity was by listening to how many times Chris uttered the words "Oh, my God" after they had been found. It is difficult for me to choose a favourite bird of the holiday, but the Red-throated Bee-eaters (image) were exceedingly pretty.
Red-throated Bee-eater, The Gambia, 26 November
Whilst the emphasis of the holiday was firmly on birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians were not ignored. Monkeys included Green Vervet (seen on several occasions), Guinea Baboons (seen by the roadside), Patas Monkeys and (my favourite) West African Red Colobus. Striped Ground Squirrels were seen regularly, but the mammals of the holiday were two Fire-footed Rope Squirrels, which neither Chris nor Tamba had seen before. A mongoose was seen by some and Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bats as well as Mauritian Tomb Bats made up the supporting cast. Hippopotami, Jackals and Hyenas eluded us whilst the only 'big cat', the Leopard, is so rare in The Gambia that our chances of seeing it were practically nil.
West African Red Colobus Monkey, 28 November
Skinks, agamas and lizards were regularly seen, with enormous Nile Monitor Lizards being encountered on both our boat trips along the river and its side channels. West African Crocodiles were only encountered once before the penultimate day, when we had lunch at a river camp in the Marakissa region. The owner, a lovely lady whose daughter is a Hollywood actress, called three largish crocodiles out of a nearby lake, allowing us to see the large bodies that were joined to the friendly looking heads that had been bobbing about in the water when we arrived. They're just big pussy cats really!
The Crocodile Lady with her Pets, 2 December
The Gambia is a great place to go to see butterflies, with a list of around 250 species. There wasn't much time for butterfly photography on this trip, although I did manage to snap a few species around the hotel towards the end of the holiday, and when we were out and about looking for (but not finding) birds. The commonest butterfly by far was the African Caper White, which was similar in size and pattern to our Marbled White. This species reached almost plague proportions in and around the hotel on the first night of the trip and was ever-present throughout the holiday. I reckon that I photographed 15-20 species, but it will be some time before I identify them all. The photo below is of one of the prettier ones.
Gambian Butterfly, 24 November
Dragonflies, mainly of the 'darter' type, were also much in evidence, with some having exotically patterned wings. Only a handful of different species were found, which I will try to identify later.
We returned to our hotel, having spent a further night at Tendaba camp, for the final three nights. The bird list continued to swell, reaching a final total (I think) of 284, of which I saw all but ten. I was a relatively quiet part of a very lively group, who all got on very well. Indeed, Tamba said at our final dinner that we were the best group that he had ever guided, and I think that he meant it sincerely! For my part I had one or two health and other issues to deal with on my return and, partly as a result, I never slept well. By the end of the holiday I was completely exhausted, so I'm very grateful to everyone in the group for helping to lift my spirits during the daytime, as well as the people and fauna of The Gambia for making this such a memorable visit.
