Headed home today, so just a walk on the beach then a taxi to the airport. Wow, every car we’ve been driven in has been so astonishingly knackered, dusty and broken that I’m amazed when they start. This one had an utterly shattered windscreen. A week in The Gambia hasn’t been a great wildlife trip, » » »
Archive for January, 2016
1 January 2016
Malta
28 December 2015 Let me tell you about Malta. No, not the quirky Mediterranean island with centuries of complex history, I’m talking about the non-alcoholic soda drink brewed by Gambia’s main beer brewery. As the name implied it has a strongly malty flavour, indeed there is even a pronounced hoppiness to it. You get the » » »
Tags: accommodation, drink
1 January 2016
Back to the coast
27 December 2015 We took one more shot at finding an otter across the river, but another two hours in the mangroves didn’t show up anything more interesting than whistling ducks and sacred ibis. No otters in The Gambia for us. On the way back to shore we had another fun example of Gambian witlessness. » » »
1 January 2016
Kiang West NP
26 December 2015 Up until our arrival at Tendaba our mammal list for The Gambia was one item long – the green vervet monkey seen at Tanji. Now it’s up to ten mammals (including 7 or 8 we’ve never seen before): Green vervet monkey – seen at Tanji bird reserve & Bo Bolong Patas monkey » » »
Tags: wildlife
1 January 2016
To Tendaba with Junkung
25 December 2015 We did nothing much in the morning, just lounged about on the beach. Hm. Okay, granted, that would be Entirely Appropriate Holiday Behaviour for many, it’s just very unusual for us! Jinack Island is like a bunch of other places we’ve gone looking for wildlife around the world – without a guide » » »
1 January 2016
Jinack Island
24 December 2015 The two main export crops of Jinack island are marijuana and oysters. That’s pretty whacky. We learned this while walking with Amadou to the village across the island (his village, as it turned out) for a boat trip into the mangroves. We also discovered that 15 minutes is always an hour, as » » »
1 January 2016
Local colour
23 December 2015 Today we transferred from Tanji to Jinack Island, which involved a car ride through the most built-up part of The Gambia to the capital Banjul, and then a boat over the River Gambia and along an empty coast to almost the northernmost point of the country. This gave us a good little » » »
1 January 2016
Tanji Bird Reserve Eco Lodge
22 December 2015 There is a vast difference between roughing it in places like Khao Sok or Amed, and roughing it here at Tanji Bird Reserve. The difference is friendly, useful service. This guy who is looking after us here at Tanji Bird Reserve Eco Lodge – name of Lamin – is a complete idiot. » » »