Entries about mandina

I lay awake in my bed early this morning, listening to the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer before daybreak. The first rays of daylight brings with them screeching plantain eaters flying through the camp, pigeons cooing in the rafters, quarrelsome crows in the tree tops and the chattering of many small birds. Makasutu Forest is awake once more. I shall miss this.

We wander around the hotel grounds before breakfast, enjoying the whimsical architecture and meandering paths overlooking the mangrove and mud flats. In addition to the four floating lodges, Mandina has Jungle lodges, a Stilted Lodge and a Mangrove Lodge – each room being individually designed.

The pool

Reception area

Breakfast

We travel to the airport with three other Brits in a mini bus, and on the track leading to the main road we encounter many children running alongside the bus. One of the tourists has bought a large box of sweets which she is throwing out of the window to them. Not only is she encouraging the children to beg rather than go to school, she is putting their lives at risk by them getting too close to the moving vehicle. The driver is getting more and more angry and shouting out to the kids. The woman's husband tries to involve me in the hope of getting some support. Wrong move. Telling him exactly what I think of the practice doesn't sit too well with him and he tries to justify it by telling me he doesn't approve of people “flashing at dinner” (referring to me taking pictures of us and food). I shrug and reply “fair enough”, letting the conversation die right there.

Banjul has a new airport building which is almost finished. It looks very different to how it looked last time we came in 1996. We check in our luggage in the new terminal, but have to walk across to the old terminal for security and passport control. There is a long queue snaking its way through the covered area and out into the sun.

Bottles confiscated at security

The departure lounge in the old terminal building hasn't changed much over the years, it still looks more like a cafeteria than an airport, with a large outside seating area.

The flight is full of British school children – three separate classes from what I can gather. They are mostly well behaved, and on landing they give the pilot an enthusiastic applause that goes on and on with cheering and whooping.

The flight lands at 22:30, and with a 3.5 hour drive back from Gatwick, we have decided to spend the night at the airport before driving back home tomorrow. We quickly grab a few things for a 'room picnic' from M&S before trying to locate the Premier Inn next to the terminal.

And so ends another Howard holiday.

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I get up early this morning to catch the sunrise – there is a beautiful mist rising over the river.

Sensing some movement out of the corner of my eye, I spot a new bird (to me) in amongst the foliage: a Mangrove Sunbird.

Speckled Pigeon

Catching the sunrise was not the only reason I got up early today; we are off on a boat trip through the mangroves this morning.

It's a glorious sunrise.

An old boat lies moored near the lodge.

The water is very still, creating beautiful reflections.

Guinea Baboons

Just around the corner from the lodge, where our tributary meets a wider river, the trees are full of baboons. There are five different species of baboons worldwide, and the Guinea Baboons found here in The Gambia are the smallest.

These are a new (sub)species for us, and I am very excited to see and photograph them at such close quarters.

It looks like there may be more baboons here in the future.

I am so in love with their facial expressions.

African Darter drying out his wings.

Great White Egret

Green Backed Heron

Blue Breasted Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Rose Ringed Parakeet

African Darter

A crocodile sunbathes on the bank of the river.

He doesn't look too friendly.

I hope he didn't hear me and is coming for his revenge!

I am very excited to see this elegant and flamboyant Violet Turaco fly over – another new one for me.

One of the birds on my wish list when I came over here, was the Western Plantain Eater. Here they are two-a-penny!

Oyster Factory

Oysters are big business around here, with the meat being eaten, and the shells burnt to make lime which is mixed with water to make house paint, and with sand to make cement. There are no wasted elements as anything left is used for chicken feed.

Oysters growing on the mangroves

Pied Crows mobbing a Harrier Hawk

Greenshank

Spur Winged Plover

Senegal Thick Knee

Common Sandpiper

Whimbrel taking off

Long Tailed Cormorant drying his wings out

And so the morning's boat trip is over, and we are back at the lodge in time for lunch.

I am absolutely fascinated by the bats in the ceiling of the restaurant.

Isn't he cute?

Look at him yawn! ♥

Today there is also a Speckled Pigeon in the rafters.

Mr Heron is back in position in amongst the mangroves as usual.

He is after the crabs, of course.

I am not sure what is happening here – it looks like the big crab is stalking the little one.

We return to the room for a little siesta, but find we are not alone.

This girl is looking down on us from the rafters.

It looks like she is raising a family.

I know every mother thinks their babies are the most beautiful in the world; but, I'm sorry, there is nothing remotely attractive about these chicks.

I drift into a light snooze, knowing that I am being looked over by the pigeon family.

Coffee is delivered to each room every morning, at a time of your choice. We have ours outside at 07:30 this morning, while watching the beautiful sunrise over the river.

We're not the only ones enjoying the sunrise.

The morning goes something like this:

Breakfast
Bird watching
Walk around the grounds
Bird watching
Back to room
Sit outside
Birdwatching
Snooze

Cheese and chilli omelette, sausage and beans = a great breakfast

Pied Kingfisher

Black Headed Heron

Another one of the fifteen cats at Mandina Lodges

Village Weavers and Red Eyed Dove in a plant pot on the island in the middle of the pool

Laughing Dove

Bats in the ceiling of the restaurant

The birds are fed every day

Lovely bougainvillea in the grounds

Village Weaver

Black Kite - it looks like he has caught something - a mouse maybe?

Black Necked Weaver

Beautiful water reflections in the river

Long Tailed Cormorants

David at the poolside

Lunch

We eat our lunch in the shady bar, while watching a Whimbrel trying to catch a crab on the mud flats. The crab gets away several times before the bird finally managed to grab it.

The crab has lost its claw.

He still managed to escape though.

But not for long.

A Grey Heron wants to get in on the action.

As well as a Western Plantain Eater.

Time for another siesta.

Transfer day. After a leisurely breakfast, we get picked up for the transfer to our next – and last – lodge on this trip. The journey takes the best part of an hour, with the last half on dirt tracks that the driver describes as “African Massage”.

Mandina Lodges

The modest track leading down to the lodge from the main road is not indicative of the opulence that meets us at the lodge. Linda, the manager, greets us warmly and gives us a briefing about the lodge and its surroundings. I am a little disappointed that we do not have a private guide as advertised in the brochure, but share with a single lady from the UK. I can, however, understand the desire to keep staffing levels down this late in the season, especially as this evening there are only five of us staying.

Reception area

Porters take our luggage as we are shown to the room along elevated wooden boardwalks.

The rooms are nicely spread out to allow for plenty of privacy.

There are nine rooms at Mandina, including four floating lodges, one of which we are staying in.

Our lodge is # 3

As we are in the third room from the main public area, there is just one lodge beyond ours. The gangway from the main boardwalk leading across to our room varies in steepness according to the level of the tide.

The gangplank leads to a floating terrace where there are two sunbeds, plus a covered area with a couple of chairs and a table.

Another gangplank leads across to the room itself, which is also floating on the river.

The room has a small balcony that wraps itself around on three of the four sides, offering great views up, down and across the river.

The wood panelled inside is spacious with a four poster bed in the centre of the room.

The en suite bathroom is open to the elements out the back of the room.

A preservation order forbids the owners to bury pipes under the lodges, so the toilet is fitted with a de-compostable plastic bag which takes a bit of getting used to. It is changed every day, but flushing it can be a little awkward, and the sound when you pee is rather disconcerting.

Once we have settled in, we check out the large free form swimming pool.

We're amazed to see a Pied Kingfisher nonchalantly sitting at the edge of the pool.

He dives down into the pool, not for food, but to cool down in the hot, midday sun.

Dotted around the pool are covered sunbathing areas (or rather shady areas to get away from the sun), again spaced apart for privacy.

There is also a firepit, surrounded by chairs for sharing stories and keeping cosy on those chilly winter evenings.

A large wooden deck leads down to the river, where the lodge's boats are moored.

The restaurant features large, heavy metal chairs and ornate mosaic decorations on the floor.

We saunter down to the bar area, where there is a little bit of a cooling breeze.

David is delighted to find the bar stocks cider, while I choose a non-alcoholic ginger drink with a real punch.

Fancy going all the way to West Africa to drink British cider!

My ginger punch looks like mud but tastes delicious.

The bar overlooks the mud flats around the mangroves, which are dry when we arrive, but as we stay for a while drinking and enjoying some lunchtime sandwiches, the water rises with the tide.

The mud appears to be moving, and on closer inspection we see hundreds of little Fiddler Crabs.

Odd looking Mudskippers, who appear to have legs, fins and wings, also frolic in the shallow waters.

The flowerpots attract Red Billed Firefinches.

After lunch we retire to our new home for a siesta in the midday heat.