To celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary (New Years eve 2009) our family spent a week in Gambia Dec 24-31. It's not your typical charter destination, but it has a lot to offer for the entire family. We managed to find a reasonably priced hotel directly on Sunset Beach outside of Serekunda and alternated between family outings to local markets and points of interest, sunset walks on the beach, and photography outings with the local birding guides. Some of the best bird photography was on the grounds of the Senegambia Hotel where the birds where almost tame. Photography is best during the morning and evening. Between 11AM and 3PM the harsh light and the heat can be too much. But even midday will work for the birds on the hotel grounds since the birds can also be found relaxing in the shade. So while Lena and Kristina lay by the pool and worked on their tans, Johan and I crawled on our bellies across the hotel lawns armed with our 500mm and 300mm lenses...
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| The beach behind our hotel |
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| Apparently white-crowned robin chats have young to feed in December... |
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| Village weavers beating the midday heat... |
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| Our local bird guide did a great job! His contact info is on my Pbase page |
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More images from Gambia can be seen at:
http://www.pbase.com/kingfisher/birds_of_gambia
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
