Kartong Wetlands

Today was a day away from the Lodge exploring a number of sites along the Gambian coast. Initially we headed to the Kartong Wetlands. This is an area close to the Senegalese border and the coast with a reputation of being one of the best birding sites in the country. Along the way we stopped at an old quarry where we had views of several species of wader and ducks.

Before we left the quarry a Blue-breasted Kingfisher flew in and posed beautifully on a bank for several minutes providing an opportunity to get some close shots of this colourful member of the kingfisher family

Moving on we reached the Kartong wetland. This was once an area where in the past sand had been extracted. Now it’s an area of freshwater ponds, coastal dunes, mudflats, sandy beaches and patches of scrub. Despite the temperature now heading towards the 40 degree mark we picked up a number of new species. Including both an Abyssinian roller, Rufous-crowned Roller and two fabulous Blue-bellied Rollers. After spending a good hour near the entrance we headed along the path towards the beach.

Here we paused to relax a while at a shady local, beach bar where we enjoyed some freshly-squeezed juice whilst watching the numerous terns on the beach roost.

After this we took a short walk along the beach through mangroves and tidal pools on the look out for warders. With the tide on the rise we headed back to the track through the pools which were now full of Fiddler Crabs. Once back at the track we made the short drive to the Rainbow restaurant at Sanyang for lunch.

The Fish Market

After a good lunch we made our way to the Tanji Market a bustling fish market where people were selling, smoking, salting and drying huge piles of fish. Following a short walk through the town we were greeted by the chaotic scenes on the beach. There was a huge fleet of boats and thousands of people; fisherman, buyers and sellers all frantically going about their business.

We worked our way along the beach taking the opportunity to photograph both the human and wildlife activity on the shoreline. Numerous species of gull were fighting over the viscera discarded as the locals cleaned that days’ catch. There were also a number of Pelican both Pink backed and a Great white. Finally we cut back through the fish smoking houses and drove back to the peace of the lodge at Mandina.

Safely back at the lodge we rested before dinner after which we took the opportunity of a short walk to see some of the nocturnal creatures that inhabit the forest. These included a number of bats and moths, some Burrowing Wolf Spiders, and a Whipscorpion hiding in an abandoned termite mound.