BANJUL AIRPORT
– TRANSFER TO KOLOLI DISTRICT – SENEGAMBIA HOTEL
I arrived on time and alone! My group didn’t
arrive until much later, so I was collected by my guide Modou and taken to the
Senegambia Hotel. As I stepped off the plane a blast of hot air hit me and the
humidity immediately produced beads of sweat on my brow, I had forgotten about
that part.
My trip to the terminal from the aircraft
produced several Hooded Vultures, Speckled Pigeon, Pied Crow and some distant
hirundines. The passage through immigration and baggage control went much
smoother than previous times so we were on the road within an hour of touching
down.
The short drive to the hotel went uneventful
and I never saw as many species as last time but the usual White-billed buffalo
Weaver colonies were still in the baobab trees hundreds of doves sat the wires
whilst Yellow-billed Kites circled with the Hooded Vultures.
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| BROAD-BILLED ROLLER |
As I was on my own for the rest of the
afternoon I took a stroll in the sumptuous gardens of the hotel and had a very
enjoyable few hours getting reacquainted with the calls of all the common
birds. The doves are a nightmare at first but soon you can separate Vinaceous,
Red-eyed, laughing Doves from Speckled Pigeon and African Collared Dove. I also caught sight of quite few other birds:
four different glossy starling, Greater Blue-eared, Lesser Blue-eared, Purple
and Long-tailed, North Black flycatcher, Common Bubul, Brown Babbler,
Broad-billed Roller, Hammerkop, Yellow-billed Shrike, Grey Woodpecker, Red-billed
Hornbill, Grey Plantain Eater, Senegal Parrot, Woodland Kingfisher and
Grey-headed Sparrow.
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| A SCENE FROM THE EXPANSIVE GARDENS OF THE HOTEL |
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| SPECKLED PIGEON |
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| YELLOW-BILLED SHRIKE |
I met up with Modou once again at 9pm when we
drove back to the airport to meet my group of clients; they arrived 30 minutes
late at 10pm from Brussels. We finally sat down to dinner at 11:30pm and I was
in bed at 12:30am after rising at 4am......a long day to say the least, but I
am now in beautiful Gambia and raring to go tomorrow!
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