Hi Ollie,
My friend Mohamed Mediani who lives in Dakhla and also a member of the local NGO,
Association Nature Initiative confirmed to me these:
- The petrol station does not operate. Best is to fill in at Dakhla, and also take with you petrol in tanks if you want to explore more south of Aousserd or want to spend the night in the field there (that’s what we did in Oct 2010, and what the locals do when they go inland for more than 1 day).
- The accommodation doesn’t exist also (but it’s worth checking if there is anything small).
- Exploring off-the-main road south of Aousserd needs 4x4 cars (also as we did in Oct 2010).
I would add these interesting birding spots in Aousserd other than the well-known Oued Jenna,
Sebkhat Imlily and the Dakhla-Aousserd round itself:
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South of Aousserd there are many small rivers/wadis with many Acacia trees. These are like Oued Jenna but at a smaller scale. Sudan Golden Sparrows found in one of these wadis at 10 km south of Aousserd last year. Zoom in and out in this
Google Map to see these sites.
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Barrage Boularyah and around: excellent spot. It’s where Thomas Pettersson and Krister Mild found the Sudan Golden Sparrow in 2013. To have a taste of this site see this
blog-post about reptiles, birds and mammals of the spot by Mohamed Mediani.
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Bougouffa track: excellent also. See the link where birds but especially mammals are included (Mediani’s blog also). This is the
location in Google Maps, where it seems like a bare desert but the pictures in the blog are saying another story. Haven’t visited yet this spot myself.
Good luck to you and to subsequent birders.