Boa Bolong Wetland Reserve, Gambia, 8 Nov
This morning we took a small boat to go on the other shore and explore the Boa Bolong Wetland Reserve. It was one of the highlights of the trip, I must say. Packed with birds and it had a lot of different habitats too so that every 20 mins looked different from the next. It was definitely one of the 'hot spots' for birdwatching in Gambia and as rich as Kakadu in Australia or Bharatpur in India or even the Pentanal in Brazil. It had the same quality about it. It was delightful to glide along and look out for 'treasures'... I was seated next to a Danish bird expert who was here to collect data on the birdlife and loved to show off his skills at bird spotting, which suited me fine of course, though he didn't let me borrow his amazing binoculars - I mean, I didn't dare ask and he didn't offer. We spent a good 2h30 exploring the wetland and really had a great time, I was seated right at the front of the boat so I had the best seat (the furthest away from the engine).
After that, it was time to check-out and board the Safari Queen again to head further inland to Farafenni. At that point, we got onto a bus and drove to Kuntaur, via the Kau-ur and Panchang Wetlands. We then reached our traditional Gambian pirogue, the Lady Hippo, 1H later than planned, where we eventually had lunch ! By then, it was 4.15pm and I would have been seriously starving if we had not stopped at the market to buy peanuts and bananas to keep us going. Peanuts is big here and one of the main industries so they are easy to find and very tasty (still soft unless roasted) but I am sure I had 3,000 calories worth of peanuts in 2 hours so an earlier lunch would have been much better for my waist line really ! The staple diet here tends to be rice (they have many paddy fields), potatoes, sweet potatoes and lots of French baguettes... all very tasty but toooo much carb basically. You can forget your diet. Add the sugary drinks to keep you going and fight off the lack of energy triggered by heat waves and I'm sure I was on double if not triple the amount of calories I usually have in the UK daily.
This next part of the trip was one of the most scenic by far... the river was more and more beautiful and actually made up the River Gambia National Park. On the way, we passed Baboon Island which is now a reserve (the only one of its kind in Gambia) where they keep chimps that have been rescued from the pet trade. It started off with 1 (Lucy, the chimp who was taught sign language), and now they have a few dozens, and are onto their 3rd generation of chimps, proving that the rehabilitation project was a resounding success. However, there isn't enough food on the island to sustain everybody now so their diet is complemented by extra bananas brought in every day by the park rangers. You are not allowed to step on the island as they want the chimps to remain as wild as possible. In fact, you can only see them if they happen to be right on the edge, otherwise you stand no chance. I think you can now buy a package for $150 a night where you can get a bit nearer and sleep on a boat anchored nearby, but that's about it.
Thankfully we managed to see 4 chimps that were sitting pretty in branches, eating their bananas. One mother even had a baby in her arms. Another female was Judith and we saw Jumbo too, a big male. Don't ask me how the rangers know which chimp is which but they do. It was a big thrill for me as I'd never seen chimps in the wild, ever. I took some really nice shots too as they always seem to pose. Their cries sounded so familiar too !
We then sailed on some more and came across a few hippos, but didn't get too close not to upset them so my pix aren't great. Besides, they look more like logs than hippos unless they do the traditional hippo yawn.
When we got towards dusk time, it seemed that more & more birds were coming out.. hundreds of herons and egrets and the scenery was really pretty, with lots of palm trees and some baobabs. I took lots of pictures... and the icing on the cake was the stunning sunsets that we had every night at 6.30pm. Picture perfect sunsets with reflection in the water and palm trees in the foreground and impressive pinky orange colours.
At 7pm though, it was quite dark and I was getting worried about mosquitoes as my spray was packed away in my suitcase so I just wrapped myself in the table cloth (!) and tried to doze off to keep warm and kill time. It was actually a bit silly of me because I assumed we'd see nothing in pitch dark but they actually saw a beautiful star-lit sky and many fireflies !!! ahhhh... but nobody came to tell me either... phew. Who can understand people anyway???
We eventually got to the Bird Safari Camp on McCarthy Island at around 8pm. Dinner was supposed to be served at 8.30pm but I didn't believe it and I really wasn't in the mood for dinner as it had been such a loooooong day and I'd already had 3,000+ calories worth of nuts and a very late lunch. I made my apologises and headed for my tent. It had a toilet that flushed -amazingly- but, shock and horror, only cold showers. The tent was spacious enough, at least, but the lino was terribly slippery when you had wet feet so I had to ask for a mop or at least something to wipe the floor with. I didn't want to tear a tendon... easily done... better safe than sorry esp. as the nearest hospital was probably miles away.
I slept ok-ish, but it was a bit hot (foam mattresses really aren't great) and then it got too cold as of 3am, and then hot again at 5am but by 4.30am the birds had started chirping away like mad so that was the end of my lie-in, even with ear-plugs.
Breakfast was served as of 7.30am but I'd already told them I'd skip it... I needed to catch up on some sleep more than eat at this point.
This morning we took a small boat to go on the other shore and explore the Boa Bolong Wetland Reserve. It was one of the highlights of the trip, I must say. Packed with birds and it had a lot of different habitats too so that every 20 mins looked different from the next. It was definitely one of the 'hot spots' for birdwatching in Gambia and as rich as Kakadu in Australia or Bharatpur in India or even the Pentanal in Brazil. It had the same quality about it. It was delightful to glide along and look out for 'treasures'... I was seated next to a Danish bird expert who was here to collect data on the birdlife and loved to show off his skills at bird spotting, which suited me fine of course, though he didn't let me borrow his amazing binoculars - I mean, I didn't dare ask and he didn't offer. We spent a good 2h30 exploring the wetland and really had a great time, I was seated right at the front of the boat so I had the best seat (the furthest away from the engine).
After that, it was time to check-out and board the Safari Queen again to head further inland to Farafenni. At that point, we got onto a bus and drove to Kuntaur, via the Kau-ur and Panchang Wetlands. We then reached our traditional Gambian pirogue, the Lady Hippo, 1H later than planned, where we eventually had lunch ! By then, it was 4.15pm and I would have been seriously starving if we had not stopped at the market to buy peanuts and bananas to keep us going. Peanuts is big here and one of the main industries so they are easy to find and very tasty (still soft unless roasted) but I am sure I had 3,000 calories worth of peanuts in 2 hours so an earlier lunch would have been much better for my waist line really ! The staple diet here tends to be rice (they have many paddy fields), potatoes, sweet potatoes and lots of French baguettes... all very tasty but toooo much carb basically. You can forget your diet. Add the sugary drinks to keep you going and fight off the lack of energy triggered by heat waves and I'm sure I was on double if not triple the amount of calories I usually have in the UK daily.
This next part of the trip was one of the most scenic by far... the river was more and more beautiful and actually made up the River Gambia National Park. On the way, we passed Baboon Island which is now a reserve (the only one of its kind in Gambia) where they keep chimps that have been rescued from the pet trade. It started off with 1 (Lucy, the chimp who was taught sign language), and now they have a few dozens, and are onto their 3rd generation of chimps, proving that the rehabilitation project was a resounding success. However, there isn't enough food on the island to sustain everybody now so their diet is complemented by extra bananas brought in every day by the park rangers. You are not allowed to step on the island as they want the chimps to remain as wild as possible. In fact, you can only see them if they happen to be right on the edge, otherwise you stand no chance. I think you can now buy a package for $150 a night where you can get a bit nearer and sleep on a boat anchored nearby, but that's about it.
Thankfully we managed to see 4 chimps that were sitting pretty in branches, eating their bananas. One mother even had a baby in her arms. Another female was Judith and we saw Jumbo too, a big male. Don't ask me how the rangers know which chimp is which but they do. It was a big thrill for me as I'd never seen chimps in the wild, ever. I took some really nice shots too as they always seem to pose. Their cries sounded so familiar too !
We then sailed on some more and came across a few hippos, but didn't get too close not to upset them so my pix aren't great. Besides, they look more like logs than hippos unless they do the traditional hippo yawn.
When we got towards dusk time, it seemed that more & more birds were coming out.. hundreds of herons and egrets and the scenery was really pretty, with lots of palm trees and some baobabs. I took lots of pictures... and the icing on the cake was the stunning sunsets that we had every night at 6.30pm. Picture perfect sunsets with reflection in the water and palm trees in the foreground and impressive pinky orange colours.
At 7pm though, it was quite dark and I was getting worried about mosquitoes as my spray was packed away in my suitcase so I just wrapped myself in the table cloth (!) and tried to doze off to keep warm and kill time. It was actually a bit silly of me because I assumed we'd see nothing in pitch dark but they actually saw a beautiful star-lit sky and many fireflies !!! ahhhh... but nobody came to tell me either... phew. Who can understand people anyway???
We eventually got to the Bird Safari Camp on McCarthy Island at around 8pm. Dinner was supposed to be served at 8.30pm but I didn't believe it and I really wasn't in the mood for dinner as it had been such a loooooong day and I'd already had 3,000+ calories worth of nuts and a very late lunch. I made my apologises and headed for my tent. It had a toilet that flushed -amazingly- but, shock and horror, only cold showers. The tent was spacious enough, at least, but the lino was terribly slippery when you had wet feet so I had to ask for a mop or at least something to wipe the floor with. I didn't want to tear a tendon... easily done... better safe than sorry esp. as the nearest hospital was probably miles away.
I slept ok-ish, but it was a bit hot (foam mattresses really aren't great) and then it got too cold as of 3am, and then hot again at 5am but by 4.30am the birds had started chirping away like mad so that was the end of my lie-in, even with ear-plugs.
Breakfast was served as of 7.30am but I'd already told them I'd skip it... I needed to catch up on some sleep more than eat at this point.
posted by Sylvie at 12:53 PM
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