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Merops bulocki
Bansang Quarry
The Gambia, Dec. 2008

We have seen quite a few different species of bee-eaters during our travel through The Gambia. Although I like all kind of bee-eaters, the red-throated ones are without doubt the most spectacular of all.
I had read about a colony that could be found in Bansang, so that's where we headed for when we travelled through the east. Arriving in Bansang, we asked several times for the exact location but the people didn't seem to know what we were looking for.
Finally we met a police officer who was willing to take us to a local 18 years old boy, who might be knowing this location. We found the boy and he told us he could show the place, it was located at his playground when he was young. So the policeman stepped out of our car and the local boy got in. After a couple of minutes drive we arrived at the colony. It was just awesome to see these vivid coloured birds who nest in rocks. We spend an hour orso before we took the boy home again, with a nice tip of course ;-)

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Lamprotornis purpureus
The Gambia, Dec. 2008

These gorgeous starlings are common in The Gambia so you can find them everywhere. Their beautiful colours really come alive when the sun shines on their feathers. I particularly loved this scene, where they were taking a bath together.

Wishing you Happy New Year and a colourful 2009 my friends!

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The Gambia river is inhabited by just a small amount of hippo's, which can be found near Janjanbureh - there where the salt water from the ocean is turned into fresh water. In order to get a view of these animals we arranged a boat trip. The 5 hours we've spend on the boat was spectacular. Along the shore we saw many birds, monkeys and monitor lizards, but the absolute highlight was spotting a hippo family!

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Yesterday morning we returned from our trip to The Gambia. Now I understand why they call it The Smiling Coast... People are extremely friendly and despite their poorness they all look so happy. We 'spoiled' people have still a lot to learn!

Again, we have had such a wonderful trip and met a lot of great people. With a rented car we explored the beautiful country by ourselves. We have visited many (national) parks and have seen the most gorgeous (tropical) birds, monkeys, lizards, snakes, bats, crocodiles and hippo's.
It has been a trip which I will not forget but ofcourse way too short...

*This image shows some fishermen on the river Gambia who return home in the late afternoon. Captured during a boattrip right after we had seen the hippo's near Janjanbureh, formerly known as Georgetown.

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