1. Arrive in
Bamako. Birding around Bamako. 2. Drive from Bamako to Segou. 3. Drive Segou to Djenne. 4. Drive Djenne to Bandiangara in Dogon Country. 5. Dogon Country. 6. Dogon Country to Gao. 7. Gao. 8. Gao to Timbuktu by air. 9. Timbuktu. 10. Timbuktu. 11. Timbuktu to Bamako. 12. Birding around Bamako in morning.
Leaders:
Callan Cohen or Michael Mills.
Highlights: Saharan
and Sahelian birding; impressive numbers of Palaearctic migrants;
the endemic Mali Firefinch; fascinating culture, including visits
to Timbuktu, Dogon Country and Djenne. Read the Mali
Trip Report here.
Design your own private tour.
Email
us or if you would like more general information,
write to us at mali@birdingafrica.com
It is not often that a city becomes more famous than the
country itself. Who hasn’t heard of Timbuktu? But few, if they realise
it is a place that actually exists, know that it is in Mali. For those
who like to regale their friends back home with stories of watching birds
at the end of the earth, this is your chance. If it is a unique birding
and cultural experience you’re after, or desert species, or perhaps
even getting to grips with different plumages of Palaearctic species,
Mali will keep you enthralled.
A tour to Mali offers an unusual combination of ancient
history and productive birding with unique African landscapes as a backdrop.
Although diversity may not rival that of countries nearer the equator,
Mali has several alluring attributes. While our tour is very much bird-focussed,
we will also be visiting some of the most famous cultural sites on the
African continent. Besides Timbuktu, you will see the unusual cliff villages
built by the ancient Tellem, but now inhabited by the Dogon, after which
the area is named. Add to this ancient cities along the languid Niger
River, most notably Gao and Djenne with its impressive 13th century Mosque,
the largest mud structure in the world.
From a birding perspective, Mali’s most notable
species is its own endemic Mali Firefinch, which inhabits
rocky areas in the Guinea woodland zone, together with Stone Partridge,
Fox Kestrel, Lavender Waxbill, Kemp’s
Red-billed Hornbill, Rose-ringed Parakeet, White-billed
Buffalo-Weaver, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Senegal
Parrot, Western Grey Plantain-Eater, Bearded
Barbet and Mocking Cliff-Chat. But it is perhaps
the relative ease with which one can access the Sahel and Sahara that
is Mali’s biggest draw card. Species seen on previous Birding Africa
tours include Cream-coloured Courser, Desert
Eagle Owl, Little Grey Woodpecker, and Desert
Lark . Another focus is the Inner Niger Delta, with its many
lakes. These, during the Boreal winter, attract tens to hundreds of thousands
of wintering waterfowl, including thousands of Ferruginous
Duck.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DETAILED ITINERARY:
MALI ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAY
1 Arrival: Today we meet in
Bamako, Mali’s bustling capital city that sprawls along both banks
of the Niger River. If time allows, we will do some local birding in the
Guinea woodlands on the outskirts of the city. Certainly, we’ll
have time to search for Lavender Waxbill around our hotel grounds.
DAY 2 Bamako to Segou:
We start our journey eastwards, pausing at the Kabalakoro balancing rocks,
where the endemic Mali Firefinch may be found. Random
stops en route should produce several woodland species, perhaps including
Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Piapiac and
Lesser Blue-eared Starling. At Segou we’ll watch
for Red-chested Swallow.
DAY 3 Segou to Djenne:
Continue eastwards, the habitat becomes gradually drier and we should
start to see our first Chestnut-bellied Starlings. Near
Djenne, we cross a wide Acacia-dotted floodplain, by now mostly dry except
for a few pools. Short grasslands attract Temmick’s Courser
and Black-headed Lapwing, Short-toed Eagle
and Eurasian Marsh-Harrier. Thousands of seed eaters
come to drink at the remaining pools, including Chestnut-bellied
Sandgrouse, Eurasian Turtle Dove, Cut-throat
Finch and Northern Paradise Whydah. Just before
the historical city of Djenne we cross the vast Niger River by ferry,
our waiting accompanied by our first Egyptian Plovers.
DAY 4 Djenne to Bandiangara:
Djenne, deservedly a World Heritage Site for its architecture, is famed
for being home to the world’s largest mud structure, the impressive
Konboro Mosque. After an early morning outing back onto the productive
Niger floodplain, we’ll have time to admire and photograph this
impressive structure before commencing our journey to Bandiagara, gateway
to the Dogon country.
DAY 5 Dogon
Country: Dogon Country is rich in cultural history, with
cliff villages precariously perched along the steep sandstone cliffs.
During the day we’ll have to opportunity to visit one of these villages
and admire its strange buildings and famous Dogon door, but only once
we’ve made the most of the morning’s birding. The upper escarpment
itself will be a focus, where we will strive to find Mali Firefinch.
Rocky areas are particularly productive, and we will search for Fox
Kestrel, Stone Partridge, Mocking Cliff-Chat,
Sun Lark and Neumann's Starling. Well-developed
Faidherbia woodlands line many of the watercourses and are a good place
to look for species such as Abyssinian Roller, Rose-ringed
Parakeet, White-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Bruce's
Green-Pigeon, Black-billed Wood Dove, Veillot’s
and Bearded Barbets, Senegal Parrot,
Western Grey Plantain-Eater, Northern Anteater
Chat, Speckle-fronted Weaver, and Yellow-billed
Oxpecker.
DAY 6 Dogon Country to Gao:
with a long drive ahead of us, we make an early departure for Gao. Fortunately
the road is tarred as far as Gao, so travelling should be relatively comfortable.
As we drive we’ll see the landscape becoming drier, and our first
sand dunes will appear.
DAY 7 Gao:
The various arid habitats in the vicinity of Gao make for very productive
birding. In the morning we’ll visit an area of sand dunes to the
west of town. En route we’ll watch for flocks of Cream-coloured
Courser, and in areas of dense Acacia thicket, Olivaceous,
Eastern Bonelli’s, Subalpine and
Orphean Warblers. The dunes themselves may produce the
scarce Kordofan Lark, although we’ll stand a better
chance of finding African Swallow-tailed Kite, Black-eared
Wheatear and the dainty little Cricket Warbler.
In the afternoon we’ll visit a small rocky ridge near town, that
is home to a pair of striking Desert Eagle-Owls, as well
as House Bunting. Surrounding thorn thickets and gravel
plains are a good place to look for Yellow-breasted Barbet,
Little Green Bee-eater, Blackstart and
Desert Lark. After dark we’ll spotlight for visiting
Red-necked Nightjars.
DAY 8 Gao to Timbuktu:
After some final birding around Gao we’ll take a flight to the Timbuktu,
on the northern most bend of the Niger River. Timbuktu is infamous for
epitomising remoteness and inaccessibility. It gained its fame between
1400 and 1600, as a trading Mecca and centre for international learning.
Today, although still vibrant, it is no longer of such regional economic
importance. Set in the desert, the Timbuktu area is rich in biodiversity,
with sand seas to the north, arid savanna in the surrounds and several
important wetland sites less than 100km to the west. Some time will be
available for exploring a couple of the historical buildings in Timbuktu,
for those who wish.
DAY 9-10 Timbuktu:
We have two full days to explore the Timbuktu area, including the arid
grasslands, stunted Acacia woodlands and some of the larger wetlands.
Birds regularly seen throughout the area include Gabar Goshawk,
Black-crowned Sparrowlark, Fulvous Babbler,
Black Scrub-Robin, Sudan Golden Sparrow,
White-rumped Seedeater, African Silverbill,
Greater Short-toed Lark, Brown-necked Raven
and Black-eared Wheatear. Sandy areas to the north are
best for flocks of Desert Sparrow, and if we are very
fortunate, Arabian Bustard. To the west of town we hope
to find Little Grey Woodpecker, alongside many other
species, and on a rocky hillside, the bold White-crowned Black
Wheatear. However, the main birding attraction is several lakes
to the west, where hundreds of thousands of waterfowl
regularly winter, including several thousand Ferruginous Duck.
The surrounding shores draw impressive numbers of waders
that may include Great Snipe or Temminck’s
Stint. Raptors too are common, and should include
good numbers of Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers
and Booted Eagle. Timbuktu is, ornithologically, very
poorly known, so we can expect some surprises. On our last visit we recorded
one of the first Sardinian Warblers for Mali.
DAY 11 Timbuktu to Bamako:
After some final birding in the Timbuktu area we return to Bamako by aeroplane.
If time allows we’ll do some local birding in the afternoon.
DAY 12 Bamako:
We will spend our final day birding around Bamako. A mixture of rocky
outcrops and woodland make for productive birding. Species may include
Western Red-billed Hornbill, Northern Long-tailed
Starling, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver, Brown-backed
Woodpecker, Senegal Eremomela, Lavender
and Black-rumped Waxbills, Beautiful
and Pygmy Sunbirds, Senegal Batis, and
if we are very lucky indeed, perhaps Saville's Bustard.
