Tendaba Camp is a well-known lodge located on the Gambia River some 150 km to the east of Banjul. It provides basic accommodation ‘up river’ and gives bird and wildlife enthusiasts a chance to see species that can’t be observed easily in the coastal region. Many visitors also take boat trips along the river, which gives excellent views of birds on the river bank and in the nearby trees.
We spent a day at Tendaba with Aladin, leaving early from our hotel on the coast and getting back well after dark. It was a long day, but worth the long drive into the interior to see some new birds and to take a boat trip along the river.
Soon after we arrived and were parked we started walking back along the main road to the camp and managed to photograph a number of bird on trees lining the road, including Bearded Barbet, Beautiful Sunbird, Village Indigobird (female), Senegal Eremomela
After walking a few hundred metres away from the camp we turned right and followed a track up a slope that eventually led to a bird hide with a drinking pool. On the way we saw Namaqua Dove, Yellow-fronted Canary, Fork-tailed Drongo and a distant Abyssinian Roller, along with a Pygmy Sunbird, which was a lifer for us.
When we got to the bird hide we found that it was locked with no water in the pool, which was disappointing considering the number of birders who visit Tendaba. So as it was getting hotter in the middle of the day we headed back to the camp for a leisurely lunch before the afternoon boat trip. The Tripadvisor reports on food at Tendaba were very mixed but the omelette and chips we both had was fine and we had no complaints.
After lunch we discovered that our boat trip was going to be delayed until 4:30, but at least then the light would be better for bird photography, although it would mean that much of our drive back to our hotel would be in the dark – not a great prospect considering the poor standard of much of the driving in The Gambia. However, the delay meant that we could relax for a couple of hours in the hottest part of the day on the bank of the river and enjoy the view.
Once underway we soon started to see some interesting birds flying along the river or perched in trees on the bank. One of the most common was the African Darter, which when in the water with its neck above the surface, has the appearance of a snake, leading to its common name of snakebird.
Other birds we saw on our 2 hour boat trip included Striated Heron, Yellow-billed Stork, Malachite Kingfisher, Common Greenshank, Abyssinian Roller, Great Cormorant, Whimbrel, Pink-backed Pelican and Gull-billed Tern.
Towards the end of the boat trip as we returned to Tendaba a highlight was seeing an African Finfoot, a bird we’d seen only once before when we were on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. Finally, we saw a crocodile entering the water and then we were back at the camp and had to start the two hour plus drive back to the coast. As previously indicated, rural night driving is to be avoided because of the lack of lights on many cars, animals on the road and the general disregard for the rules of the road by many drivers.
