Trip blogs from: Gambia

We also walk a long way along the coast, where we see beautiful bee-eaters and swallows. Other species than we know in the Netherlands of course. Cows also walk on the beach, with an oxpecker. But for a Dutch person it is especially great to see how many nets are lying on the beach. Actually nothing is cleaned up anywhere. They do sweep their own piece in front of the house, but otherwise there is a lot of plastic waste everywhere. With goats looking for something to eat in the garbage. The drive back is also 2 hours. In a car without air conditioning 2 hours driving is quite tiring.

The walking itself is reasonable, but after 2 hours of walking and mainly standing, my leg battery is empty. When we get back, I first take a nap. Until late in the afternoon I amuse myself with my photos. There are many photos: the walk, the bird hide in the afternoon and in the evening of an owl that often sleeps in a tree near the lodge. Encouraged by Jim's call.

The next stop is the Bonto Forest where there is a bird watching spot. No hide, but a bench 10m from a pool. The birds are so thirsty that they come anyway. Guide Omar has an assistant here, she knows how to find a sleeping owl. She always starts the day by finding the tree where the owl is sleeping, to point out the owl to passing guides. A very large owl, a Verreaux's Eagle-Owl. With the guide we walk through the forest where, with the help of my speaker, we take beautiful pictures of honeysuckers.

Many rice fields come from the river. Now everything is dry. A little further from the river there are many agricultural fields. Don't imagine anything large-scale: they are more like allotments in an area that is very dry. There are many wells in the gardens, where mainly the women draw water to water their vegetables. Every day, buckets per bed. They mainly grow onions, tomatoes and white cabbage. One of the women asks or that white person cannot afford pumps. The population is poor and white people can afford everything. That feeling remains, it is very difficult to help them I think. Positive is that there are projects to educate more people. It is a long way, especially because many children age 6-12 actually only have Koran education.

Near the destination we go to a quarry, where the locals dig lime. Bee-eaters love it, not the digging, but the straight excavations. We see 3 different types of bee-eaters. We also saw a long-tailed bird of paradise, a male with the long tail feathers to which he owes his name.

The first stop was at the rice fields. There were many herons: pond herons, cattle egrets and silver herons. More special were taxis to the nearby village: donkey and horse carts with the visitors of the market, and supplies of local food and furniture. At the market the horse carts are left with a large bag of hay. I imagine that this is how it was in the Netherlands 100 years ago. In Gambia I don't have seen two-axle carts, and given the state of the dirt roads I understand that.

There were fewer bee-eaters at the excavation, but during the morning and afternoon trips some nice species were added, a white-rumped seedeater and a grass warbler (winding cisticola).

In the afternoon I was not so inspired. Omar is now familiar with my camera, so he finds the necessary new species in the large garden. Actually not my photos, but I just take them with me. Usually I have seen birds, either standing next to Omar for birds that I do not see directly, here in Gambia or last summer in South Africa.

Today's destination is the Kingfisher lodge on a river. Especially in the autumn, the sand quarry nearby is flooded, a paradise for kingfishers. Now you see rollers and dragonflies there. The quarry itself is very beautiful. The trees are often left standing on islands now. There is even a large crocodile in the water.

The next stop is the fishing village of Tanji, where the boats bring in their catch. There are about 30 large boats that bring the fresh fish in ice. They are sold on the spot, it cannot be much fresher. There is more fish than is sold locally, so trucks come by to sell the cleaned fish. There is also a lot of fish dried and smoked on site.

The destination is the Tanema Creek lodge. You have to go through a lot of dirt roads, with also large houses. "From Europeans" Omar says then. From the lodge you see a lot of pelicans, ducks, seagulls and terns. We are the only customers. The houses are nice and relatively large. The sea breeze makes the weather more pleasant, so pleasant that I put on a cardigan.

We go to a birdhouse that is made at Brufut Woods, according to the principle of free water for the birds, and tickets and drinks for the people. A good initiative actually. Unfortunately I have to go back quite soon because my intestines are out of whack again. I think that is a disadvantage of this country. The whole trip is difficult.

To help the 4 men who take care of me at the lodge, one of them is going to wash my clothes tomorrow. After all, it is difficult to earn something during Ramadan, you would help me a lot. It is difficult for the residents when those white people come by. For them, and also for me it is hard to feel guilty all the time.

During the walk we can add a new bee-eater species: the Swallow-tailed Bee-eater. The split tail is indeed clearly visible. Another nice new species is an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Eastern because this species breeds in Eastern Europe, despite the fact that part of the population winters in West Africa. A typical small brown bird, with a striking eye ring, by which you can recognize it.

In the afternoon my muscles have recovered and we walk a bit further along the creek, upstream. The nicest thing we actually found were cashew nuts, which Omar roasts. It can't be fresher!