Birdwatching with Malick Suso

25 February 2011 - The Travel Editor.com - Ron Toft

The Gambia is one of the nearest and most accessible of all African countries for UK-based bird-loving tourists who want to sample some of this continent's diverse avian delights but spend less than seven hours aboard a plane.

Getting there is not a problem, thanks to the regular, direct service offered by The Gambia Experience. But how does the first-time or infrequent visitor know where to go and what to see without wasting valuable time?

When I last visited The Gambia, shortly before Christmas 2010, I had just three days to see some of the special birds that make their home in this ultra-friendly, English-speaking country, so I needed to hit the ground running. Thanks to The Gambia Experience, I was placed in the capable hands of professional bird guide Malick Suso - a Lenny Henry sort of guy who never stops smiling.

I knew that Malick came highly recommended. In fact, TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham often uses him when birding in The Gambia. According to Chris, Malick is "one hell of a birder," and has been "a fantastic asset to every trip I've made there." I would wholeheartedly agree.

Malick's knowledge of birds is nothing short of breathtaking. He can see more with his battered pair of binoculars, only one eyepiece of which works, than I can with the two eyepieces of my new, top-of-the-range bins. What's more, he can pick up the slightest tweet, warble or whistle and instantly identify the bird making the sound. Within just a few hours, I was in awe of the man.

Malick, who not only works for The Gambia experience but also offers a range of birding packages himself, has been watching birds since he left school. He was ‘trained' by his uncle - one of The Gambia's foremost authorities on birds. Malick, who says he is "deeply concerned for the environmental welfare" of his country but recognises "that conservation needs to generate an income for the local communities to be sustainable."

My birdwatching experience began before I had even left the airport in Banjul. While waiting for the coach to transport me to The Karaiba Hotel, I spotted cattle egrets, hornbills and several long-tailed/heavy-billed birds called piapiacs. The early bird, it is said, catches the worm, and that is certainly the case as far as birdwatching is concerned. If you want to see lots of birds, especially normally elusive ones, you need to rise early before other people are about. That meant, in The Gambia at least, rising at 5 am to be ready for a 6 am departure.

I and several other birdwatchers (not necessarily the same ones every day) were taken to six birdwatching hotspots during the three days: Abuko Nature Reserve, Kotu Stream, Tanji Bird Reserve, Brufut Woods, Makasatu River and associated jungle, and Kachikally Crocodile Pool and nearby rice fields. We went out in the morning for several hours, returning for lunch. After resting, swimming or shopping (I did yet more birdwatching in the hotel grounds), we gathered again in late afternoon for another two or three hours with Malick.

The number and range of birds we spotted was truly incredible - everything from vultures, herons, egrets, ibises, plovers, sandpipers and truly stunning rollers to various kingfishers (including the giant), iridescent sunbirds, gorgeous bee-eaters, well-hidden owls, shrikes, orioles, bulbuls, flycatchers, waxbills, firefinches, barbets, terns and cuckoos. My favourite birds? Probably the African harrier-hawk, Senegal coucal and yellow-crowned gonolek.

At the end of three days, I felt I had known Malick for years and very much regretted having to leave. I wasn't going home, though - simply across the Gambia River and into neighbouring Senegal for another birdwatching experience. My wanderings there will be the subject of another article.

Useful Information
I travelled with specialist tour operator The Gambia Experience (reservations 0845 330 2087, www.gambia.co.uk) whose seven-night holidays at the five-grade Kairaba Hotel in Kololi start from £799 per person (Dec 2010 prices). This price is based on two people sharing a deluxe room on a B&B basis and includes return flights from London Gatwick, taxes and transfers. Malick Suso Three-Day Birdwatching Tours start from £175 per person. This cost is added to the holiday price.

The Gambia Experience has been operating in The Gambia for more than 20 years and has always offered birdwatching excursions, as well as working with specialist birdwatching companies providing fully-escorted tours. In 2008 the company began offering its own tours with Chris Packham. "These proved very popular," said Gambia Experience product manager Karen Durham, "leading us to add on a secondary Chris Packham tour option, incorporating accommodation at the award-winning Mandina Lodges at Makasatu (a haven for wildlife)." In 2010 The Gambia Experience introduced three additional birdwatching tours with Malick Suso. "I am confident we will continue to see the interest in birdwatching increase over the next few years," added Karen.

Malick Suso can be contacted directly at malicksuso@hotmail.com
Also go to http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/Malick_Suso.htm

A good field guide is essential and one of the best is Birds of The Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow and Tim Wacher (published by Christopher Helm, an imprint of A & C Black) at £24.99 in paperback.