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Cameroon, laying a little north of the Equator just below the 'bulge' of Africa combines some of west and central Africa's best birding. With over 900 species recorded, the highest total of any west African country, and with a total of 26 endemics, this destination is a must for any world birdwatcher.
We'll find a rich variety of habitats awaiting us. In the north, the scrub and semi-arid Sahel is a haven for unusual dry country birds. Moving south we reach the more moist regions of the Guinea Woodland belt while further south still can be found the crater lakes, grasslands and forests of the Adamawa Plateau. We'll explore stretches of lowland rainforest on coastal Cameroon and spend time on the lower slopes of Mt. Cameroon. We'll also visit the higher regions of Bamenda, the area immortalised in the Gerald Durrel books 'The Bafut Beagles' and 'The Overloaded Ark', and we'll venture deep into the heart of mountainous western Cameroon to explore Mt. Kupe and the Bokossi mountains.
Day 1: The tour begins in London with a flight to Douala where we'll spend the night.
Days 2-4: Leaving early, we'll take a flight north to Garou from where we'll drive to Ngaoundaba Ranch for three nights. Ngaoundaba Ranch is a former hunting lodge and the accommodation is set on the rim of a dormant volcano overlooking the crater lake. The variety of habitats include gallery forest, marshland, open lake and open woodlands and we'll spend time birding these. In the gallery forest we hope to see Ross’s Turaco, Grey-winged Robin Chat, Spotted Thrush Babbler, Puvel's Illadopsis, and the charismatic Oriole Warbler, whilst the forest edge and marshes could produce Marsh Tchagra, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Dybowski’s and Brown Twin-spots.
In the open woodlands we will look for Schlegel's Francolin and Brown-chested Lapwing and we can also expect to find White-collared Starling, White-breasted Cuckoo Shrike, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Black-necked Weavers, Chestnut-crown Sparrow Weaver and Black-capped Babbler. Nights at Ngaoundaba Ranch.
Days 5-6: After a morning birding close to the ranch, we drive to Benoue National Park, birding en-route in the savannah woodlands where we expect to see birds such as Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Senegal Parrot and Black-bellied Firefinch.
Our base for the next few days will be Campement de Buffle Noir and in this area we'll spend time birding along the river in the riparian woodlands and surrounding Miombo-like woodlands. The birds we expect to find here include Adamawa Turtle Dove, Grey Pratincole, the striking Egyptian Plover, Emin's Shrike, White-crested and Violet Turacos, Bearded Barbet, Grasshopper Buzzard, Stone Partridge, Abyssinian and Blue-bellied Rollers, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Senegal Eremomela and White-throated Francolin.
Day 7: Today we head to Lagdo, arriving in time to relax during the heat of the day in the beautifully clear waters of Lagdo lake, keeping our binoculars close by for any Fox Kestrels that may wander past. Night at Lagdo.
Days 8-10: An early morning walk should show us our first arid country species such as Rock-loving Cisticola, Fox Kestrel, White-crowned Cliff Chat, Red-tailed Lavender Waxbill and Black-faced Firefinch. After breakfast we continue north along the road to Chad, travelling through the northern town of Garoua. En route we should find our first African Swallow-tailed Kites and we'll notice the interesting transition of habitat as we enter the southern edge of the Sahel, an extension of the Sahara Desert. Our base for the next three nights will be in Waza National Park, on the edge of the Sahel. This national park lies just south of Lake Chad and covers approximately one thousand square miles, comprising of acacia savannah, seasonal marshes and open grassy plains interspersed with impressive granite 'koppies'. In the rainy season this area is inundated with floods from the backwashes of Lake Chad although this may not be apparent when we are in the area, just at the start of the rains. Over the next few days we'll explore this area which holds some of the richest bird life in the entire Sahel region. The possibilities include Arabian Bustard, Quail Plover, Clapperton’s Francolin, Black-crowned Crane, Black-headed Lapwing, the fabulous Swallow-tailed Kite, Fox Kestrel, Bedouin’s Snake-eagle, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Northern Carmine and Little Green Bee-eaters, Viellot’s Barbet, Black Scrub Robin, Red-pate Cisticola, Cricket Warbler, River Prinia, Sennar Penduline Tit, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Sahel Paradise Whydah, Black-rumped Waxbill, White-rumped Seedeater, Sudan Golden Sparrow, and many more.
The park is also rich in mammal species, and we should see Red-fronted Gazelle, Kob, Topi, Western Roan Antelope, Bohor Reedbuck, and Patas Monkey, as well as the more familiar African Elephant, Sahel Giraffe and African Lion.
A night drive should produce Long-tailed Nightjar, Northern White-faced Owl and, with luck, the stunning Golden Nightjar which Rod Cassidy discovered for the first time in Cameroon in 2003.
Day 11: Today we leave early to drive south to the town of Morou, where we catch a flight south to Douala, and from there drive up into the Bamenda highlands.
Days 12-13: The Bamenda highlands are only a shadow of their former glory when Gerald Durrell first visited the area and wrote about it in his books the "Bafut Beagles" and "The Overloaded Ark". At that time this was covered with rainforest whereas now birds cling to tiny remnant forest patches for survival.
It's these remnant forest patches in the Bamenda Mountains that will be the focus of our attention. Birds we'll search for here include the rare and highly local Bannerman’s Turaco, Fernando Po Swift, Banded Wattle-eye, Bangwa Forest Warbler, Green Longtail, Cameroon Pipit, Cameroon Sunbird and Bannerman’s Weaver. Other birds we'll look for in this region are Western Green Tinkerbird, Green-backed Woodpecker, Black-collared and Grey Apalis, Neumann’s Starling, Brown-capped Weaver and Thick-billed Canary and, despite the lack of extensive habitat, our time here is bound to be filled with some great birdwatching. Nights in the Bamenda Highlands.
Days 14-16: Our drive today will take us through agricultural land to the base of Mt Kupe for three nights at the village of Nyasoso. Mt. Kupe and the close-by Bokossi Mountains are mostly covered in pristine forest, the latter on more gentle slopes and only recently explored. The area holds some of West Africa’s most sought-after birds, many of which are listed as endangered and threatened. Those which will be high on our wish list include White-throated Mountain Babbler, Mt. Kupe, Green-breasted and Montiero’s Bush-shrikes, Ursula’s Sunbird and Bate’s Weaver. Other species we'll search for include Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Pied and White-crested Hornbills, Naked-faced, Bristle-nosed, Yellow-spotted and Yellow-billed Barbets, Brown-eared, Gabon and Elliot’s Woodpecker, Sabine’s Spinetail, Forest Swallow and Square-tailed Saw-wing, Black-throated and Black-capped Apalis, Tit and Green Hylia, Black Bee-eater, Bare-cheeked and Bar-tailed Trogon, and a host of greenbuls, warblers, flycatchers and many more weavers, twinspots, negrofinches and waxbills. Nights at Nyasoso village.
Day 17: Today we'll drive to Mundemba, from where we'll access the legendary Korup National Park. Roadside birding along the way can be very productive, and we'll make numerous stops seeing our first Spotted Greenbul, White-thighed or Piping Hornbills, Black-headed Waxbill or Long-legged Pipit. Night in Mundemba.
Days 18-19: We have two full days to explore the lowlands of Korup National Park. This vast wilderness area offers an excellent chance for Red-headed Picathartes, which will be our main target species, and we will have to spend one night camped deep in the forest in order to be at the cave where these birds roost in the evening and early morning. We'll also see numerous species of greenbuls and hosts of other forest birds including Green-tailed and Common Bristlebills, Black-capped and Pale-breasted Illadopsises and the diminutive Forest Robin. Other highlights may include Blue Cuckooshrike, Black-casqued, Yellow-casqued and Red-billed Dwarf hornbills, Bare-cheeked Trogon and Blue-headed Wood Dove.
Days 20-21: After some early morning birding we transfer to the town of Beua at the foot of Mount Cameroon. The better part of the afternoon and most of the next day will be spent on the mountain where we hope to find several of its endemic species, although this will entail a lot of stiff climbing if we are to get the Mount Cameroon Speirops, or have a slight chance of the Mount Cameroon Francolin. Other species may include the endemic Little Olive-back, Cameroon Olive and Western Montane Greenbuls, and Cameroon Mountain Robin.
Later in the afternoon of Day 21 we transfer to Douala for our last night in Cameroon.
Day 22: Our last morning will be spent at the Senaga River at Edea where we should find Grey Pratincoles and African Skimmers. Later we transfer to the airport for our flight back to London where the tour ends on Day 23.
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Last updated June 2008.
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