ENJOY SAHELIAN SPECIALITIES IN THE NORTHERN PAR OF CAMEROON
NORTHERN EXPEDITIONS
The following is a suggested starting itinerary for a Cameroon birding trip. We can customize this to the needs of your group.
Day by day Itinerary for …. Waza tours.
Day 1: Arrival in Yaounde
On arrival at the Yaounde-Nsimalen international airport, you will be received by your local guide, and then transferred to the hotel for briefing, dinner and night.
DAY 2: Birding around Yaounde, Evening fight to Garoua
Very early birding in the forests around the Political Capital City of Cameroon. This morning we expect to enjoy tropical lowland and farmland birds like the enigmatic Red-headed Picathartes, the colorful Emerald Cuckoo as well as Didric and Klass’s Cuckoos, Naked-faced Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Speckled Mousebird, Yellow rumped Tinkerbird, Petit’s Saw-wing, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Banded, White-chinned and Towny-Flanked Prinias, Masked Apalis, Common Wattle-eye, Green-headed Sunbird, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Splendid Glossy Starling, Black crowned and Orange Checks Waxbill, Yellow-fronted Canary and the beautiful Grosbeak Weaver. We return to Yaounde by noon and after lunch, we catch an evening domestic flight to Garoua. Garoua is the capital city of the Northen region of Cameroon. Upon our arrival in the night, we are greeted by our local guide, then tranfert to hotel de la Benoue for dinner and overnight.
DAY 3: and day 4: Garoua – Lake Lagdo – Bénoué National Park
After breakfast we immediately head southwards to the BNP via Lake Lagdo (for water birds). The BNP is the Natural Reserve located in the humid Guinea savannah biome, between Garoua in the North and Ngaoundéré in the South (at 185 Km from the Ngaoundabal Range). Created in 1968 on an area of 180,000 hectares. With 306 recorded species of birds, the park is a paradise for bird watchers. Right from the entrance of the Park, we will start seeing wonders of the nature constitute by many birds and mammals. We reach the "Campement de Buffle Noir" (our lodging camp located at the border of the river Bénoué inside the Park) around noon, check in and lunch before a late afternoon birding expedition. During the two days excursion, we expected to see a lot of Guinea savanna specialties including Grasshopper Buzzard, Blue-bellied Roller, Heuglin’s Wheatear, Senegal Batis, White-fronted Black-Chat, Pygmy Sunbird, Senegal Eremomela, Red-winged Pytilia, Emins Shrike, Adamawa Turtle Dove, White-Crested and Violet Turaco, Bruce’s Green-Pigeon, Senegal Parrot, Bearded Barbet, and Gray-headed Oliveback.and many more. Water birds along the river bank include Egyptian Plover, Spur-Winged Lapwing, African Wattled Lapwing.
Dinner and overnight stay at Campement de Buffle Noir in Bénoué National Park.
DAY 5: Bénoué National Park – Ngaoundaba Ranch
We arrive to the Ngaoundaba Ranch in the afternoon and directly begin birding safari around the crater lake of the ranch before lunch. The ranch is an old hunting lodge situated besides a dormant volcano overlooking a Crater Lake. We will bird in marsh land, open lake, woodland and gallery forest. In all these habitats, we will expect to see the following; Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Purple Glossy Starling, Western Grey Plantain-Eater, Marsh Tchagra, Blue-Breasted Kingfisher, Dybowski's, Brown Twin-Spots, Schlegel's Francolin, Brown-Chested Lapwing, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Black-Capped Babbler, Ross's Turaco, Grey-Winged Robin Chat, Puvells Illadopsis and many more. All the birding will be around the ranch property on foot and will require some moderate hiking and climing. We will also do some night birding around the lodge.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at Ngaoundaba Range Lodge.
DAY 6: Ngaoundaba Ranch
Full day excursion at Ngaoundaba Ranch.
Dinner and overnight stay at Ngaoundaba Range Lodge.
DAY 7: Ngaoundaba Ranch – Maroua
We break up early in the morning for another short excursion to target specific types of the drier regions such as Lazy Cisticola, Fox Kestrel, Lavender Waxbill and Masked Fire Finch. Today's journey takes us up to Maroua passing the Lagdo Reservoir. Here we arrive in time to escape the midday heat on the cool waterfront of the lake and again to keep searching for the Fox kestrel. Continue up to the provincial town of Maroua surrounded by dry semi-desert. The Arab tribes as the Fulani and the Amandarawa as well as members of the mountain people of Kirdi dominate the old town, city of pre-colonial times. On Mondays the large central market is especially busy as today also the Kirdi from the Mandara Mountains come to the city to sell their goods. It is possible to visit the small ethnographic museum Diamaré with a variety of interesting cultural objects of various tribal objects of the region.
Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel le Saré in Maroua.
DAY 8: Maroua - Waza Nationalpark
On the way to waza, we will admire the luxurious sahel landscap with its beautiful birds easy to see. We will have two main marvelous birding stops. At the first stop, I will bring you to a specific place where you will have the privilege to enjoy rocky specialties, including the marvelous Mocking Cliffchat, the very noisy Stone Partridge, the Rock-loving Cisticola, the Rock Firefinch, Little Green Bee Eater. At the second stop, we are welcomed by the beautiful Back scrob Robin, which will amaze us throughout our stay here by his melodious song and the exhibition of its black tail decorate by white outer tailed feathers. Here, we also expect to see the magnificent Golden Nightjar and the scarce Quail Plover.
We arrived at Waza in the evening, check in, dinner and overnight at the "Campement de Waza" located at the luxurious hillside adorning the entrance of the park.
DAY 9: Excursion at Waza Nationalpark
We spend the whole day birding in the Waza National Park. With a surface area of 1,700 km², this park offers a great variety of habitats including wetlands, dry wooded and grasslands savanna as well as hills. This beautiful landscape is home of a multitudes of fabulous wildlife such as West African giraffes, elephants, many species of antelope, lion, wart hog, cheetah, waterbuck, topi, red-fronted gazelle, hartebeest, buffalo, baboon, monkeys. During our excursion in the park, we will enjoy many bird flocks gathering Grey and White-headed Herons, Great and little Egrets, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Crowned Cranes, African Open-bill, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Abdim's Storks. We will also meet some isolated birds like Spotted Thick-knee, Clapperton's Francolin, African ostrich, White-bellied Bustard, and groups of Helmeted Guineafowls. Numerous birds of prey are found in this park. Among them we have Ruppell's Griffon, Lappet-faced and Hooded Vultures, Secretary Bird, Tawny Eagle and more. A night drive in the park will lead us to the encounter with the Northern White-faced Owl, Long-tailed, Standard-winged Nightjar, African wild dog, bush cat, and mores birds and animals. We will spend the two nights at “Campement de Waza”.
DAY 10: Waza Nationalpark – Maroua, domestic flight to Douala
After an early breakfast, we drive back to Maroua for a flight to Douala…..
MES DETAILS
DAY 11: Bénoué National Park
-We arrive around noon, check in and lunch before our first birding expedition on the way to the Hippo pond on Benoue River.
Full day excursion at Bénoué National Park.
-Today, we bird the road sides to the Campement.
-Our excursion takes us along the river bank, through lowland forests and savannah. The sand banks of the river are a retreat for Egyptian Plover (Pluvianus aegyptius) and Pel's Fishing Owl. The riparian forest lodges species as Painted Snipe, Violet- and White-crested Turaco, Oriole Warbler and Black-headed Gonolek. The main attraction however is the Adamawa turtledove (Streptopelia hypopyrrha). In the evening, we can enjoy a cooling drink at the lodge and observe the night-active Bat Hawk on his patrol.
Dinner and overnight stay at Campement de Buffle Noir in Bénoué National Park.
DAY 8: Excursion at Waza Nationalpark
We spend the whole day birding in the Waza National Park. With a surface area of 1,700 km², this park offers a great variety of habitats including wetlands, dry wooded and grasslands savanna as well as hills. This beautiful landscape is home of a multitudes of fabulous wildlife such as West African giraffes, elephants, many species of antelope, lion, wart hog, cheetah, waterbuck, topi, red-fronted gazelle, hartebeest, buffalo, baboon, monkeys. During our excursion in the park, we will enjoy many bird flocks gathering Grey and White-headed Herons, Great and little Egrets, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Crowned Cranes, African Open-bill, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Abdim's Storks. We will also meet some isolated birds like Spotted Thick-knee, Clapperton's Francolin, African ostrich, White-bellied Bustard, and groups of Helmeted Guineafowls. Numerous birds of prey are found in this park. Among them we have Ruppell's Griffon, Lappet-faced and Hooded Vultures, Secretary Bird, Tawny Eagle and more. A night drive in the park will lead us to the encounter with the Northern White-faced Owl, Long-tailed, Standard-winged Nightjar, African wild dog, bush cat, and mores birds and animals. We will spend the two nights at “Campement de Waza”.
