8-Day Trips
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The Gambia Special
8 Days pro birding & photography trip
Discover the coastal area and rural Gambia. All inclusive, trip can be customized as you wish. First 4 nights in a hotel around the tourist center of Senegambia, then 3 nights in lodges inland. No vaccinations required, but recommended: Malaria pills.
Standard prices:
2-4 people: 1150 euros per person
5-6 people: 1000 euros per person
Contact Fatou Tours for personalized trip and the best price!
- incl. All meals
- incl. Transport
- incl. Accommodation
- incl. Boat trips
- incl. Park entrances
- incl. Water and soft drinks during trips
- excl. Flight
- excl. Alcohol
- excl. Drinks in restaurants
- excl. Security fee at Banjul airport on arrival and departure
- excl. Tips for the guides
Sample
What can you expect on a 8-day trip
Day One: Arrival in Banjul
You will arrive at Banjul International Airport, where one of our expert guides will greet you and transfer you to the Bamboo Garden Hotel. After checking in, you’ll have the rest of the afternoon to settle into your comfortable accommodations before enjoying dinner at the hotel’s restaurant and preparing for the adventures ahead.
Day Two: Kotu Creek and Rice Fields
Following breakfast, your guide will collect you at 7:30 AM for the short drive to Kotu Creek. A one-hour boat trip brings you close to the water’s edge, where dazzling Pied, Giant, Malachite and Blue-breasted Kingfishers hover and dart. You’ll also spy waders such as the Greater Painted Snipe and herons like the Black and Western Reef, while raptors including the Yellow-billed Kite patrol overhead. After the boat excursion, a leisurely walk through the surrounding rice paddies may reveal shyer species—the Common and Wood Sandpipers—as well as flocks of Wire-tailed and Red-chested Swallows, babblers in the undergrowth, and the occasional Northern White-faced Owl or Pearl-spotted Owlet. By 6:30 PM you’ll return to the Bamboo Garden for dinner.
Day Three: Tanji Reserve and Brufut Woods
Today begins with a drive to the coastal Tanji Bird Reserve, where shorebirds forage along the surf-washed sand. Lunch at 1 PM is served at the Ocean Lounge Restaurant in the fishing village of Tanji, after which you may explore the bustling fish market or stroll along the beach. In the afternoon, you’ll head to Brufut Woods to photograph Violet and Green Turacos perched high in the canopy, watch Swallow-tailed and Little Bee-eaters flit among the treetops, and search the understorey for Pygmy Kingfishers, Four-banded Sandgrouse and Long-tailed Nightjars before returning to the hotel by 5 PM.
Day Four: Southern Gambia’s Woodlands
After breakfast, you’ll journey south, visiting Tujereng Woods and Gunjur Forest. In these shaded habitats, the rhythmic calls of Vieillot’s and Bearded Barbets echo through the trees, while skulking Red-winged Prinia, Yellow Penduline Tits and collared sunbirds flit among the foliage. Keep an eye out for African Goshawks gliding overhead, and listen for the subtle songs of Singing and Whistling Cisticolas hidden in the undergrowth. The day concludes with a return to the Bamboo Garden, where dinner and a comfortable night’s rest await.
Day Five: Farasutu and Pirang Forests
This morning you travel inland to the famed forests of Farasutu and Pirang. In these verdant woodlands you may encounter Greyish Eagle-Owls roosting in tree hollows, while quieter paths may reveal the elusive Spotted Honeyguide or African Green Pigeons feeding on canopy fruits. Raptors such as Lizard Buzzard and Dark Chanting Goshawk patrol overhead, and the melodious calls of African Paradise and Red-bellied Paradise Flycatchers herald the late morning. As dusk falls, you’ll settle in at Jamoria Lodge, where the night sounds of the forest provide a fitting backdrop to dinner.
Day Six: Rice-field Birds and Bintang Bolong
Before breakfast, a short walk beside the lodge’s rice paddies often yields Senegal Parrots chattering overhead and the secretive Dwarf and Little Bitterns among the reeds. After a hearty breakfast, you depart for Bintang Bolong Lodge, pausing en route to set up a photo-hide at Killy Woods. Here, afternoon light brings Black-faced Firefinches and White-fronted Black Chats into view, while Senegal Batis, Brubru and White-crested Helmetshrikes dart between branches. By 6 PM you’ll return to the lodge for an evening meal and rest.
Day Seven: Woodland Trails and Faraba Banta
Your final full day begins with a walk through nearby woodlands, where flocks of White-throated and European Bee-eaters flash vibrant colors, Abyssinian, Blue-bellied and Rufous-crowned Rollers perch on exposed branches, and a Pearl-spotted Owlet watches silently from a shaded fork. After lunch back at the lodge, the afternoon is spent exploring the Faraba Banta bush track in search of any last specialties before returning at 6:30 PM for dinner under the stars.
Day Eight: Departure
Enjoy a final morning at leisure—perhaps a last stroll through the gardens or a final peek for any birds you haven’t yet seen—before your guide transfers you to Banjul International Airport for your onward flight.