Hello Ken,
My wife and I are considering a birding trip to Gambia and have never been before. I can see that you are very experienced and would appreciate any guidance you can give. I am a keen Photographer so my initial problem is getting my large lenses into the hand luggage, I managed this on a trip to South Africa but its always a bit of a worry as I would not want to put them into the hold. If you could give me some advice on hotels, guides and where to go I would be most grateful.
Regards
David
Its a while since we went but I managed to do my birding without a guide.
I was put off using them when I met an American being taken round Abuko.It took a while to find some of the birds so hanging around was a good idea.
The birdwatcher was given a whistle stop tour of Abuko before being whisked off elswere-thus missing some great birds[and a crocodile].I asked him if he had been to Tanji.He said he wanted to go but his guide had other ideas-so,no, he was going to have to miss Tanji!
I bumped into another pair of birdwatchers being dragged around Brufut Woods.The guide was simply setting his scope on a bird - they had a look and ticked off another species.Not very challenging and they looked bored out of their skulls to be honest.
The birds and locations are so accessible you can see a lot of species with the help of the usual Helm Guide to the Birds of Gambia[and Senegal].
We stayed at the Sheraton in Brufut, which is called something else now.
It is located right next to the Tanji Lagoons and Tanji Forest as well as Brufut Woods.
Not sure what the hotel is like now but then it was so good we have yet to stay at a better hotel anywhere.It was wonderful!
It is so far off the tourist strip the hassle brigade didn't venture that far-so it was a bother-free holiday.
The hotel grounds themselves were like a nature reserve-full of a great variety of species, so you could wander around the gardens and surrounding scrub to take your photos.I think I ticked off 50 species in the hotel environs-most lifers.
Apart from the above I spent my time at Abuko,Bijilo,the beach from the Sheraton to Tanji lagoons and Paradise beach.
The latter isn't on the well trodden path of birdwatchers and I am not sure why.
Apart from the beach, there are a wide variety of habitats along the edge of the beach and a bird-rich lagoon near the fishing centre.
For some unknown reason the hassle merchants avoided Paradise Beach too.