Guide & Partner

Our guide is Mustapha Manneh. He is an official Bird Guides Association guide and has been working in the field for about six years. He has excellent spotting and ID skills and is able to relay information to the guests clearly and accurately. The owner operator, Phil Randell will be driving and is a qualified first-aider and enthusiastic birder as well as your host for the trip.

We work with an English-owned company that is the only dedicated birding holiday business in The Gambia  offering its own full time guides, own air-conditioned transport and own  accommodation. This means they have full control over the service so are ensuring the highest standards of service to their guests. It is very much a family run business and has become the fulfilment of a long-held dream: to combine their love of the country with their love of birds and to offer wonderful birding holidays to like-minded visitors who may be absolute beginners or who have visited The Gambia before and want a different kind of birding holiday.

Accommodation

The accommodation at Halcyon Gambia, our base for most of the trip, consists of traditionally-styled, thatched two-storey round houses, swimming pool and bar area set in secluded landscaped gardens. There are fruit trees and a variety of local shrubs and flowers, as well as a small drinking pools for visiting birds, which include Red-billed Firefinches and Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu. Each room is furnished to a high standard with beds, wardrobes and side tables all designed and hand-carved by Sue Brown, a local artist who specialises in wood and metal work. You will see some of her work around our gardens. In each guest room you will find: Comfortable double or twin beds, En suite shower room, Air conditioning, Refrigerator, Tea and coffee-making facilities, Mosquito nets, UK electric sockets, Hairdryer and In-room Safe. All this is in a spacious room approximately 23 feet in diameter. We also have 24 hour security on site.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival – Halcyon

After your 6 hour flight from the UK you will be met at Yundum Airport by Clare and Mustapha and transferred to Halcyon where you will be met by with cold drinks and a warm welcome.

We will spend the late afternoon and early evening relaxing and enjoying the variety of birds found in our landscaped gardens including Red-billed Firefinches, Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu, Lavender Waxbill, Purple Glossy Starlings and a variety of Sunbirds.

Day 2: Kotu – Fajara Golf Course

Our first mornings birding will be spent around the Kotu Creek area which offers a variety of habitats including tidal mud flats, lily ponds and sewage ponds. After lunch we will take the short drive to Fajara Golf Course. These areas should provide us with Pied and Blue-breasted Kingfishers, Striated Heron, Beautiful Sunbird, White-faced Whistling Ducks, Black Crake, Shikra, Rose-ringed Parakeets, African Harrier Hawk and Long-tailed Glossy Starlings amongst others.

Day 3: Brufut Woods - Tanji Reserve & Tujering

Our first stop of the day will be Brufut Woods, an area of open savannah and woodland. This area provides many species including Verreaux's Eagle Owl, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Blackcap Babbler, African Pied Hornbill, Grey-headed Bush Shrike and Long Tailed Nightjar. After lunch we will drive onto Tanji Beach and Tujering. Tanji is an excellent area for a variety of Waders, Gulls and Terns including Caspian, Royal, Lesser Crested and Sandwich, Black and Bar Tailed Godwits, Sanderling and Whimbrel. Tujering has become very popular in the last year or two and is a good area to see White-fronted Black Chat, Long-crested Eagle, Osprey, Yellow White-eye and Striped Kingfisher.

Day 4: Abuko Nature Reserve The morning will be spent at Abuko Nature Reserve, a short drive from Halcyon and a must for any keen birder, offering a bird list of more than 200. Abuko is an oasis of evergreen forest and tranquil pools. Hides offer excellent views of Giant Kingfisher, Pygmy Kingfisher, Western Bluebill, Palm-nut Vulture, Violet and Green Turaco. From Abuko we will make our way to Lamin Lodge for lunch and then on to the Lamin Rice Fields hoping to see species including Dwarf Bittern, Pied-winged Swallow, Bar-breasted Firefinch and Black Crake.

After an early breakfast the journey inland to Georgetown provides a great variety of species. The birding starts as we board the ferry from Banjul and cross to Barra with the chance of seeing Pomerine and Arctic Skua. We will make various stops en-route which may yield good sightings of Egyptian Plover, Kentish Plover, Swallow-tailed Kite, Sudan Golden Sparrow and Exclamatory Paradise Whydah. The area around MacCarthy offers riverine habitat, grasslands and forest where you may see birds that are difficult or impossible to see around the coast including the Carmine Bee-eater, Swamp Flycatcher, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting and Red-throated Bee-eater.

Overnight: Bird Safari Camp

Another early start and we will make our way to Farafenni to cross over to the south bank. Again we will make numerous stops at selected birding sites including the Kaur Wetlands. Our targets for the day will include Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Bateleur Eagle, Martial Eagle and Western Banded Snake Eagle. We will arrive mid afternoon at Tendaba and after a short rest and a cold drink we will take a walk around the hills behing Tendaba Camp which is a good habitat for Pygmy Sunbird, White-crested Helmet Shrikes and Senegal Batis.

Overnight: Tendaba 

An early morning boat trip around the mangroves awaits and gives a good opportunity to see Goliath Heron, African Finfoot, Blue Flycatcher, Mouse-brown Sunbird and if you are really lucky Pel’s Fishing Owls. We leave Tendaba at around midday and make our way back to Halcyon via a visit to the Faraba Banta Bush Track, an area of open savannah and woodland where we may be offered sightings of Black-faced Firefinch, White-shouldered Black Tit and Yellow-bellied Hyliota.

Day 8: Departure 

You will have the morning at leisure with the opportunity to purchase any last minute gifts followed by lunch and your transfer back to the airport for your return flight.

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