Contacts

African Bird Club representative

Solomon Jallow
c/o WABSA
Department of Parks & Wildlife Management HQ
Abuko Nature Reserve
Abuko
PMB 676 S/K
The Gambia

Bird recorder and checklist compiler

Lamin Jobarteh
West African Bird Study Association
Palm Grove Hotel
Banjul
The Gambia

laminjobarteh2002@yahoo.co.uk

Clubs

West African Bird Study Association
Lamin Jobarteh (President)
Palm Grove Hotel
Banjul
The Gambia

Guides

WABSA are anxious to ensure that guides belonging to their association act in a professional fashion in guiding clients and if you have any comments, good or bad, these should be sent to their Director, Lamin Jobarteh, c/o Department of Parks and Wildlife Management HQ, Abuko. The current WABSA badges, have two signatures, the signature of their Chairman (Solomon Jallow) and the signature of their Director (Lamin Jobarteh). There is a logo on the badge featuring a pair of binoculars, a bird and a book. There has been trouble recently with badges being forged, bearing the names of reputable guides but being worn by imposters.  Telephoning or emailing guides in advance of your arrival should mitigate this problem until such time as new (and we hope unforgeable) badges are provided by the GTA. Guides marked * below were part of WABSA in August 2004.

In February 2006 some of the coastal based guides broke away from WABSA to form Bird Guides Association The Gambia. Where they had previously been recommended to us or were on the WABSA list we have retained the references to them below. As we know little about their identity badges (there have been forgeries of WABSA badges) we suggest that you contact them on the numbers given to arrange to meet.

***indicates further feedback from clients below. We would appreciate further feedback on the accuracy of this information.

Pa Musa Jatta	Jeland Jobe
Lamin Bojang	Ousman Joku

Just a few of The Gambia bird guides

Photo: Courtesy of the Gambia Birding Group

Clive Barlow Director of Birds of The Gambia Co Ltd since 1985 and co author of Field Guide to Birds of The Gambia & Senegal, organises and leads a variety of tours of 1 to 14 days duration for birders, photographers, sound recordists and film makers. Whilst he is largely involved in leading safaris up-river between November through April he is sometimes available for shorter 1-3 day tours based at the coast. Private groups are particularly welcome.

Dawda M Barry This reference was sent by an ornithologist and dated February 2008. "My wife and I have just returned from two weeks birding in the coastal area of The Gambia. We spent some time with an excellent guide called Dawda M Barry. We met him at Kotu Bridge and he organised several trips to places like Pirang and Abuko. He was truly brilliant. Quiet, unassuming and not pushy like many of the other guides. He was really good company and we look forward to seeing him again before too long. We would unreservedly recommend using this guide. Contact address PMB 733, Serrekunda, The Gambia.

Yaya and Modou Barry also known as Kingbirders offer packages within The Gambia at £375 for a one week tour with 3 days up river and a two week tour with 5 days up river at £500.00 per person. This price (2005 and can be negotiated to fit other itineraries or needs) includes airport transfers, vehicle, guides, boat trips and ferry crossings, entrance fees to national parks and nature reserves, upriver accommodation with breakfast, evening meals and picnic lunches.

Lamin Bojang "I have just returned from visiting The Gambia in February 2007. I would like to recommend Lamin Bojang, one of WABSA's professional guides. He is based at Cape Boint Beach close to the Ocean Bay Hotel. Lamin guided me at Abuko and the Lamin Fields area; Brufut Woods and the Tanji coastal area; and the Kotu area. He was a very good bird guide and also good company. He will arrange all required transport for an all-in price, which I found to be reasonable. 

"Modou Colley was an excellent guide in March 2005, professional, knowledgeable and unassuming. He was able to get me very close to some good birds allowing decent photographs without disturbing the birds. He was particularly skilled at ID'ing raptors from a distance without optics & when the birds finally approached closer he was invariably proved right in his ID. Note that a visit to the internet cafe to pick up his email involves a 75 km journey - so if the matter is urgent a text message to his mobile may be better."

Buba Daffeh "We enjoy birding with Buba because he is very patient whilst we film and photograph birds. He has been part of the Habitat Africa group for several years."

Pa Jallow "We stumbled across Pa on our second visit to the Gambia in December 2005 outside the Senegambia Hotel and what a chance meeting it turned out to be. He was very knowledgable about birds, but more importantly, very patient, doing what we wanted to do. He became a friend as well as a birdguide, and we look forward to meeting up with him again. We would wholeheartedly recommend Pa if you are about to visit the Gambia at any time."

Solomon Jallow of WABSA manages a group of guides which includes Aladin Jemeh, Tamba Jeffang, Sering Bojang, Osman Sayand, Buba Daffeh, Osman Sayand and Dembo Sonko. These guides have a good knowledge of identification and bird calls and where to find some of the rarer or more difficult species in all parts of The Gambia. They can organise all transport and accommodation.

Ya Ya Jallow "He acted as guide with a Wildsights trip, he was friendly and helpful as well as extremely knowledgeable about the birds and, more importantly, their calls. I can thoroughly recommend him and would have no hesitation in going out with him on my own".

Yuspha Jammeh "A group of Dutch birders were so pleased with Yuspha's  services that they have commissioned the building of a website for Yuspha who lives at Kololi (March 2007).

Pa Musa Jatta "We have recently returned from The Gambia where we had an excellent guide and driver. Pa Musa Jatta proved excellent at finding and identifying birds in the many different habitats that we visited. He was also knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and patient! He also has a very good and safe driver, Alassan Colley, with a great, comfortable vehicle. Pa knew all the best places to find even rare birds, and organised a hassle-free trip upriver. He can usually be found in the guides' hut outside the Senegambia Hotel."

Jeland Jobe is based outside Senegambia Hotel. Writing in March 2007 "Jeland is very observant, picks up songs and calls at long distances. He is kind and very helpful. He will arrange transport and is familiar with exclellent birding sites."

Ousman Joku Bird & Butterfly Guide. "We used him as a bird guide for 3 half-days in different locations in and around Bakau in mid-February 2007. He was excellent in locating and identifying birds. We recorded 150+ different species in this time.  He was the only guide we saw with his own telescope and tripod which we found very useful in addition to our Leicas. We found him to be very reliable, friendly and trustworthy. We hope to return to The Gambia to go 'up-country' in October and will use him again. We recommend him without reservation."

Tijan Kanteh "We were very satisfied with Tijan on a trip in March 2006. He has a good sense of humour, speaks excellent English, is knowledgable and reliable   The transport arrangements up to Tendaba and beyond worked very well."

Ebrima Korita is contactable at  the WABSA stand at Kotu Bridge. " A young WABSA guide who is very keen. Non birding colleagues really enjoyed the added dimension he brought to their holiday, he was always polite and never pushy."

Laibo Manneh "Laibo knows Tanji and Brufut like the back of his hand but we used him at Marakissa and had an excellent morning's birding. This is the guide who also writes the list - a real boon for those taking photographs and videos. Laibo also runs trips further afield as far as Basse. Recommended by WABSA colleagues with Habitat Africa. For birding at Marakissa and dropping us off at Tumani Tenda he charged £30.00 per person."

Mustapha Kassama "I used Mustapha for a couple of days for relaxed birding trip - he charged £10.00 for a morning around the creek area and £50.00 for a dawn to dusk trip to Marakissa and Yundum fields." Another correspondent reports an enjoyable time with Mustapha in December 2005.

Lamin Sanyang "Having just returned from a Christmas break in January 2007 in The Gambia with my wife and 17 year old son I can thoroughly recommend Lamin Sanyang as an excellent guide. Having been guided to The Bijol Island on the 27 December and then Abuko Nature Reserve on the 28 December by Lamin, my family and I found him to be very knowledgeable and keen to find different bird species for us. Above all Lamin became a good friend and with his help we sighted 47 bird species. We would definitely use Lamin as a guide again."

Masaneh Sanyang "Recommended by keen birdwatchers, Masaneh was very knowledgeable, patient and extremely helpful throughout our stay. We cannot rate him highly enough and I know the other members of our group would feel the same. Also recommended to us for up river trips."

Ebrima Sidibeh "A well established and popular guide. A correspondent returned from a trip in autumn 2006 and reported an excellent holiday."

Malick Suso "I went out with him on four occasions. These tended to be mornings, usually between 7am and 1pm. The cost was very reasonable, £25 which was for taking just myself. He was punctual, knowledgeable and good company"

Tamba Suso "We have just returned from The Gambia and found a superb birding guide called Tamba Soso. He works from outside of the Senegambia Hotel and has his own jeep and can call upon the services of other guides if necessary. His keen eyes and ears (he was exceptional on bird calls) helped us achieve 178 species in 5.5 days of birding. Very well mannered, good fun and obviously loves his birding. We highly recommend Tamba"

Karamba Touray "We first met Karamba when he was working for the Parks Department in Abuko - he knew his birds, was serious about identifying them properly and ensuring visitors got the most out of their visit. He is now working independently so you will need to be clear about costs before you start.."

Lamin Touray "Lamin passed the ultimate test, he was assigned to guide us in an area he had never visited before in his life and we had some 92 species in the space of about 4.5 hours birding in the quiet season."

Wandy Touray "Wandy's ability to find birds around Tendaba, particularly in the Baobolon wetland reserve, is quite legendary. Now organised with a mobile phone he can take advanced bookings."

Last page update 6th February 2008