4 hours for Ibis (1 Viewer)

I will be in Agadir on a cruise from 7AM-1PM April 8. Allowing time for getting off/on ship, I guess we'll have about 4 hours. We missed the Northern Bald Ibis on a trip in 2012, not wanting to pay a local guide an exorbitant fee in Souss Massa (a mistake in hindsight as we also did not find any driving to Essaouira.)

Naturally this dip has festered. Can anyone recommend a strategy for finding this bird in a short time from Agadir?

Thanks
Bob

We failed in almost three days but that was 20 years ago.

Not sure 4hrs is realistic unless you're allowed near the colony which we weren't which means you have to search for them.

bobf said:

I will be in Agadir on a cruise from 7AM-1PM April 8. Allowing time for getting off/on ship, I guess we'll have about 4 hours. We missed the Northern Bald Ibis on a trip in 2012, not wanting to pay a local guide an exorbitant fee in Souss Massa (a mistake in hindsight as we also did not find any driving to Essaouira.)

Naturally this dip has festered. Can anyone recommend a strategy for finding this bird in a short time from Agadir?

Thanks
Bob

Click to expand...

Easy to see at Tamri, north of Agadir. Check the estuary first as you approach Tamri as often the birds are there bathing or drinking and scan the slopes above there too. If that fails drive the road slowly north for several KM as the birds feed on both sides of the road. The best (and fail safe) time to see the birds is in the last hour of daylight as the birds fly /walk back to the breeding colony where they roost. There is a car park just above the colony but if you park there you will be approached by one of the wardens. Never failed in 14 visits.

Presuming you have a rented car or transport, I agree with above post - short on time, but mouth of Tamri/hillsides north or south give good chance.

Thanks all. I did try around Tamri when here 6 years ago (also April), without success, but I don't remember how much time I had en route Essauira. Looks like this is about 1 hr from Agadir, so I'd have about two hours to search mid-morning. But you guys feel this is a better bet than south of Agadir?

Hi all,

I am not trying to criticize anyone. After all, everyone is free to do whatever is best for him/her.

I don’t understand why paying a small price for a service in a third world country is considered expensive, exorbitant or whatever term one chooses to use. On the other hand, paying an even bigger price in a developed country is considered normal.

For example, birding in London will cost one person some 120 GBP per day (around 157 USD). You will pay the same price or more in Andalusia, which is much less expensive than the UK.

So, I am wondering how much will cost a half day in Morocco to be considered expensive? As far as I know this won’t cost you more than 60 USD (if the guide is already at the site, as it’s the case in the majority of the visited sites).

Believe me, I took the cost of living, purchasing power,…into consideration. Morocco maybe inexpensive for tourists from wealthy countries, but it’s expensive to live in for ordinary Moroccans.

To follow up, we decided the rent a car would be tight for time as we would need a bus to the port entrance and then a taxi to the rent-a-car (each way), but eventually located a guide who arranged a taxi from the port entrance to the Oeud Massa area where we picked up the guide. There, we had great views of a couple of ibis feeding on a manure pile on a farm road to the side (certainly a site we would never have found), and eventually a single bird showed up at the beach, (Apparently many more arrive later in the PM, but we had to get back to the ship and just barely made it). FWIW, I generally hire local guides, but was skeptical of the offer on our previous visit, perhaps unfairly, due to a couple of highly unsatisfactory previous guides on the trip.

Anyway, it was a good birding cruise, with the Madeiran endemics, Houbara's Bustard, and Bolle's Pigeon.

I will visit the area in April... I don't know if try Tamri or get inside the national park. Is there any realiable place in the park? Which entrance is recommended for the Ibis? I will go from Marrakech to tiznit by car, it has to be done before sleep that day. Thanks!