Trip Report for February 2006
Arrival Day
January in England was cold and bleak, so it was with great anticipation we set off for Gatwick and our flight to The Gambia for a week's birding.
Checking in was smooth though we had been advised to arrive three hours before flight time, which gave us plenty of time to browse through the airside shops and have a leisurely breakfast.
The flight left on time and was comfortable and uneventful.
Views of the Sahara Desert caused excitement amongst passengers and the landing at Banjul International Airport at Yundum brought us our first Gambian birds, with Cattle Egrets , Black Kites and Pied Crows welcoming us back to The Gambia .
Yundum Airport Arrivals proved to be the most chaotic we have experienced and though we were checked through Passport Control fairly quickly the baggage area was heaving with people from three incoming flights. There was limited seating, it was extremely hot and we were glad to have brought some bottled water from the plane. With only one X-ray conveyor operating it was an exhausting two hours before we could make our way through Customs to be greeted by two of our hosts from Halcyon Gambia , Bob Randell and his son Philip , complete with cool drinks and very comfortable air-conditioned vehicle to take us to our destination in Bijilo .
We had hoped to do some birding on the way but the delay in Arrivals caused us to have little time to do more than look from the vehicle, though we did manage our first Hooded Vultures , with Pied Kingfishers and Blue-bellied Rollers on the roadside wires. There were innumerable but unidentified Doves to add interest (and not a little frustration!) to our drive.
On arrival at Halcyon we were greeted by Bob's wife Jane and Philip's wife Clare , who together with their husbands own and run Halcyon Gambia .
Philip is the primary driving force behind Halcyon Gambia and a keen birder. He was to accompany us on all our birding trips.
As we were shown our ground floor accommodation in a very attractive two-storey round house built in the traditional Gambian style, we were delighted to see a male Beautiful Sunbird in the lemon tree, and to hear the unmistakeable and reverberating call of a Yellow-crowned Gonolek coming from the large mango tree in the corner of the Halcyon Gambia grounds. Common Bulbuls were darting in the nearby trees and Village Weavers flying past in flocks.
There were Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleus pecking away to one side, a Laughing Dove and a Mourning Dove , all just a few yards away.
To add to the interest was a large brown Cricket on one wall, and nearby a Dragonfly that was so well camouflaged it almost went unnoticed.
The swimming pool looked wonderfully inviting, but we unpacked first, and then had a leisurely and enjoyable dinner. Our guide for the week, Mustapha Manneh , arrived and we spent an interesting hour going over our expectations for the week, and discussing the flexible itinerary he and Philip had outlined in order for us to get the most out of our stay. Mustapha turned out to be a very pleasant and well-informed young man, with a good sense of humour and a good grasp of our own English humour – a promising start! We then headed for bed, wanting an early night, in order to be ready for our 7.30 am start the following day.
