Abuko gallery forest — dawn chorus and monkeys
Western red colobus, green (vervet) monkey, patas; green turaco, violet turaco, western bluebill, hornbills, paradise flycatcher, Nile crocodile; Palearctic warblers in winter. Abuko Nature Reserve, Kombo North, The Gambia.
Best time: 15 Jun – 15 Aug (June to August). Where: Abuko Nature Reserve – main gate and Darwin field station, Lamin bolong (mangrove creek), Bijilo Forest Park (Kololi) (The Gambia). Time of day: Gate opens about 08:00 — the chorus is already well under way, so ask the wardens about an earlier entry.
- You can go on your own
- Low cost
- Binoculars helpful
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Jun – 15 Aug. First rains (mid June to mid August) for the fullest chorus and frog nights; November–February for Palearctic migrants and easy conditions
Active from 1 Jan to 31 Dec (all year) in a typical year.
Time of day
Gate opens about 08:00 — the chorus is already well under way, so ask the wardens about an earlier entry; the crocodile pool hide is best in the first hour; colobus call loudest at dawn and dusk
- Dawn chorus: 20 min before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
- Evening: 1 h before sunset → sunset
What will you hear?
Red colobus barks and crashing through the canopy, turacos' rolling calls, the hornbill pairs, and a full gallery-forest dawn 15 minutes from the coast hotels — the easiest West African forest chorus to reach.
Binoculars?
Binoculars helpful. Colobus and turacos are in the canopy above the trails; binoculars help pick them out, the crocodile hide is close.
Where to go
- Abuko Nature Reserve – main gate and Darwin field station — 107 ha of gallery forest and savanna on the Brikama road; entry fee, paths and the crocodile pool hide. Map
- Lamin bolong (mangrove creek) — Mangrove creek 3 km away for a paired hydrophone/mangrove session; pirogue hire at the Lamin landing stage. Map
- Bijilo Forest Park (Kololi) — Coastal monkey park; habituated green monkeys and colobus, heavy tourist feeding — ambience only. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Gelly-gelly from Serekunda towards Brikama and get off at Abuko (the gate is on the main road); pay the DPWM entry fee and walk the marked trails alone. Hours roughly 08:00–18:00; earlier entry only by arrangement with DPWM.
Cost: DPWM entry fee, small (recently a few hundred dalasi for non-residents) — check current prices.
Field-recording notes
The Brikama highway and the airport flight path (Yundum is 5 km away) are the noise; the western side of the reserve is quieter. Monkeys are fed by tourists at Bijilo — not at Abuko, keep it that way. Opening hours limit the dawn; a written request to DPWM (HQ is at Abuko) can get you in before the gate. Humidity is extreme in the rains — desiccant, and expect condensation on capsules at dawn.
Sources
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More: all spectacles in The Gambia · dawn choruses · June · July · August