GHANA – The ultimate itinerary for Upper Guinea specialities, including White-necked Rockfowl

PRICE INFORMATION

Birdquest Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

We also include all tipping for local guides, drivers and accommodation/restaurant staff.

Deposit: 20% of the total tour price. Our office will let you know what deposit amount is due, in order to confirm your booking, following receipt of your online booking form.

TO BOOK THIS TOUR: Click here (you will need the tour dates)

Please note that the single supplement does not include the total of 5 nights spent at Ankasa and Bonkro, where the number of lodge rooms is limited (5 rooms better quality rooms and a few less good ones). At these two locations there is a wooden ‘privacy screen’ between the beds in the twin-bedded rooms.

Depending on the level of occupancy at the time, one or more single rooms may be available at these locations for an additional supplement (it was US$150 last time we checked). If you would prefer a single room at these locations in return for the extra charge, please be sure to inform us at the time of booking. Availability may not be known until a month or less before the tour starts. Priority will be on a first come first served basis. If we can secure a single for you, the additional charge will be invoiced at the time we confirm it.

The single supplement will not apply if you indicate on booking that you prefer to share a room and there is a room-mate of the same sex available.

This tour is priced in US Dollars. Amounts shown in other currencies are indicative.

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency will be pleased to arrange your air travel on request, or you may arrange this yourself if you prefer.

GHANA BIRDING TOUR: DETAILED ITINERARY

Ghana: Day 1  Our Ghana birding tour begins this evening in Accra, where we will spend the night. An airport transfer will be provided.

Ghana: Day 2  This morning, we will set out early in order to avoid Accra’s traffic jams. Our destination is Kakum National Park, where we will stay for three nights. We will begin our exploration of the Kakum area this afternoon.

Along the way, we will make a short detour to a lagoon, where we should see a good selection of waterbird species. The most interesting species is West African Crested Tern but we may well also find Reed (or Long-tailed) Cormorant, Striated and Western Reef Herons, Western Cattle, Little and Great Egrets, White-faced Whistling Duck, African Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Lapwing, Grey (or Black-bellied), Common Ringed and White-fronted Plovers, Eurasian Whimbrel, Curlew and Spotted Sandpipers, Sanderling, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Sandwich Tern, Malachite and Pied Kingfishers, and African Pied Wagtail. Less usual possibilities include Black Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, Bar-tailed Godwit and Marsh Sandpiper.

Open country species we are likely to encounter, either today or later in the tour, include the regionally endemic Olive-naped and Black-and-chestnut Weavers, as well as the widespread Black-winged and Yellow-billed Kites, African Hobby, Black-bellied Bustard, Levaillant’s and African Cuckoos, African Palm and Little Swifts, Mosque Swallow, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Common Bulbul, Pied Crow, Red-faced, Croaking, Singing, Zitting and Short-winged Cisticolas, Red-winged Prinia, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Northern Fiscal, Yellow-billed Shrike, Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Village Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Yellow-mantled Widowbird and Pin-tailed Whydah.

Ghana: Days 3-4  Kakum National Park is just a short distance north of our hotel. The park was created in 1932, but was not officially opened to the public until 1994. It covers an area of 347 square kilometres and protects a mixture of semi-deciduous and semi-evergreen rainforest, although this has been selectively logged in the recent past. The park is perhaps most famous as the site of Africa’s first and only rainforest canopy walkway, built in 1995, that is comprised of about 350 metres of bridge suspended between six tree platforms that reach the grand height of 40 metres above the forest floor! We will be allowed special access to the walkway before and after the official opening and closing times so that we can have the platforms peacefully to ourselves.

As the dawn breaks, a pair of Red-chested Goshawks can sometimes be seen circling overhead, our attention drawn by the repeated “chip” display call. Velvet-mantled (or Fanti) Drongos use the wires of the walkway as convenient perches and the tree snags provide good lookouts for the Upper Guinea endemic Ussher’s Flycatcher, as well as Yellow-mantled Weaver and Red-headed Malimbe. Red-fronted (and rarely also Grey) Parrots screech overhead as they leave their roosts, Blue-throated Rollers and White-throated Bee-eaters adorn the treetops, and Naked-faced and Bristle-nosed Barbets gather to feed in the fruiting trees. Forest and White-headed Wood-hoopoes inspect the epiphyte-bedecked boughs, and Upper Guinea endemic Melancholy and Fire-bellied Woodpeckers drum on the bare trunks and branches.

We shall be on the lookout for roving canopy bird parties that may include diminutive species such as the Upper Guinea endemic Sharpe’s Apalis, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, the pretty Violet-backed Hyliota, Lemon-bellied Crombec, the Upper Guinea endemic Kemp’s Longbill, Forest Penduline Tit and the tiny Tit-hylia. The much sought-after Congo Serpent Eagle and Long-tailed Hawk are regularly observed here, and it is fantastic to be on a level with canopy species that would normally be causing cricked necks as we stared upwards from terra firma! We can expect to find mouth-watering species such as Yellow-billed Turaco, Blue Cuckooshrike, Sabine’s Puffback and the gorgeous Upper Guinea endemic Buff-throated Sunbird. At this season, Rosy Bee-eaters are non-breeding visitors and we will have our eyes to the skies in the hope of seeing them.

Other species to look out for include Palm-nut Vulture, African Harrier-Hawk, African Cuckoo-Hawk, Black Sparrowhawk, Red-necked Buzzard, African Green Pigeon, African Emerald and Klaas’s Cuckoos, Yellowbill (or Blue Malkoha), Sabine’s, Black and Cassin’s Spinetails, White-crested, West African Pied, Brown-cheeked, Black-casqued and Yellow-casqued Hornbills, Cassin’s Honeybird, Lesser Striped Swallow, the pretty Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Blue-throated Brown, Little Green, Green, Collared and Superb Sunbirds, Yellow White-eye, Black-winged Oriole, Chestnut-winged and Splendid Starlings, and Grey-headed, Chestnut-breasted and White-breasted Nigritas.

As the day warms up and more walkway visitors arrive, we shall move into the cooler interior of the forest and explore some of the trails that run through the park. In particular, we shall be looking for skulkers such as Upper Guinea endemic Grey-headed Bristlebill, White-tailed Alethe, Finsch’s Rufous Thrush and Forest Robin (here of the form inexpectatus, sometimes split as Ghana Forest Robin). We shall try hard to find a displaying Rufous-sided Broadbill, while a confusing array of greenbuls occurring here includes Little, Little Grey, Ansorge’s, Plain, Slender-billed, Yellow-whiskered, Golden, Honeyguide, Spotted, Icterine, White-throated, Western Bearded and Red-tailed Greenbuls, and Red-tailed Bristlebill.

Other species of the forest interior include Black Cuckoo, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Grey Longbill, Green Crombec, Green Hylia, White-tailed Ant Thrush, Olivaceous Flycatcher, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatchers, West African Wattle-eye, Brown and Blackcap Illadopsises, Fraser’s, Olive and Olive-bellied Sunbirds, Shining Drongo, Blue-billed and Crested Malimbes, and Western Bluebill. Primates, which can be elusive, include Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey, Lowe’s Monkey and the rare Olive Colobus.

We shall also visit the walkway in the late afternoon and stay out until dark. We stand a reasonable chance of seeing the little-known Brown Nightjar, and there is also a real possibility of Fraser’s Eagle-Owl. We may also hear other nocturnal species such as the strange-looking Nkulengu Rail and Latham’s Forest Francolin. Night mammals can be a hit-and-miss affair, but we shall look for Demidoff’s Galago, West African Potto and the stunning Pel’s Anomalure.

During our stay in the Kakum area, we will also visit areas of farmbush. These areas have been cleared for cultivation and cocoa and are extremely degraded, but nonetheless hold some interesting birds, including the beautiful Black Bee-eater. Piping Hornbills and the Upper Guinea endemic Copper-tailed Starling and Red-billed Helmetshrike are usually easy to see here. If we have not already done so, it is also a great place to see Speckled, Red-rumped and Yellow-throated Tinkerbirds.

Another area, partly comprising secondary forest, holds Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Puvel’s Illadopsis and Lowland Sooty Boubou.

Other species we may well see in the Kakum area include Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Lanner Falcon, White-spotted Flufftail, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Tambourine Dove, Didric (or Diederik) Cuckoo, Senegal and Blue-headed Coucals, Mottled Spinetail, Chocolate-backed, Woodland and African Pygmy Kingfishers, Little Bee-eater, Yellow-billed Barbet, Thick-billed Honeyguide, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Simple Greenbul (or Simple Leaflove), Swamp Palm Bulbul, Whistling Cisticola, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Yellow-browed and Olive-green Camaropteras, the skulking Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Narrow-tailed Starling, Copper Sunbird, Red-headed Quelea, Western Bluebill, African and Bar-breasted Firefinches, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Black-and-white Mannikin.

Not too far away, we will check out some rivers and streams where we should find a colony of Preuss’s Cliff Swallow, the glittering White-bibbed (or White-throated Blue) Swallow, Ethiopian Swallow and Rock Pratincole. White-headed Lapwing is no longer regular in the area owing to increased pollution.

There are also reasonable chances here for the striking Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Black (or Western) Dwarf Hornbill, the diminutive African Piculet, Little Green Woodpecker, Little Grey Flycatcher, Black-and-white Shrike-Flycatcher, West African Batis, Kemp’s Longbill, Red-vented Malimbe and Maxwell’s Black and Preuss’s Weavers. We shall also be on the lookout for the inexplicably localised Tessmann’s Flycatcher.

Ghana: Day 5  After a final birding session in Kakum, we shall drive westwards, towards the border with Ivory Coast, to Ankasa Conservation Area for a four-night stay.

We will stop en route to look for Mangrove and Reichenbach’s Sunbirds and Orange Weaver.

Ghana: Days 6-8  Ankasa Conservation Area is a superb area of wet evergreen forest that only suffered relatively light logging between 1960 and 1974. The visit will certainly be worth our while for the high forest offers our best chance for some of the more elusive Upper Guinea Forest endemics, and we will be making a special effort to find Yellow-bearded Greenbul, Green-tailed Bristlebill, Rufous-winged Illadopsis and Red-fronted Antpecker. African Finfoot is sometimes seen here, and the little forest pools hold White-bellied and Shining-blue Kingfishers, Hartlaub’s Duck, Nkulengu Rail and sometimes Spot-breasted Ibis or even a White-crested Tiger Heron.

At night, there is a good chance of encountering Fraser’s and Akun Eagle-Owls, and African Wood Owl, and a slim chance for Sandy Scops Owl.

We shall bird inside the forest on narrow trails beneath the tall trees and cathedral-like stands of giant bamboo, as well as along the main track. Other species we can expect here include Dwarf Bittern, Black Crake, Blue-headed Wood Dove, Great Blue Turaco, Black-throated Coucal, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, Yellow-spotted and Hairy-breasted Barbets, Square-tailed Saw-wing, Western Nicator, Black-capped Apalis, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Pale-breasted Illadopsis, Tiny and Johanna’s Sunbirds, and Western (Black-headed) Oriole.

Ankasa is a truly splendid forest tract, and here, as well as looking for the species highlighted above, we also have catch-up chances for just about every West African forest bird species mentioned for the other Ghana locations!

Ghana: Day 9  After a final morning at Ankasa, we shall return to Kakum for an overnight stay.

During the late afternoon, we shall visit an area of coastal scrub. There could be Compact Weavers and Yellow-crowned, Northern Red and Black-winged Red Bishops present, as well as Tropical Boubou.

Ghana: Day 10  We will spend the morning further exploring Kakum National Park.

During the afternoon, we will visit the Nyamebe Bepo reserve, where White-necked Rockfowl (or Yellow-headed Picathartes) has been reliable for many years. By contributing to a community-based project, we shall have special permission to visit the breeding site of this rarity, thus allowing us a marvellous and intimate opportunity to see this endangered species. Unlike many rockfowl sites, this one is easy to access. The rocks where the birds nest are about an hour’s uphill walk, initially through cultivation but then mainly along a narrow forest trail. Apart from a steep five-minute climb to the rocks themselves, this is a relatively easy walk by humid tropical forest standards. The birds are usually very obliging, being furtive rather than shy, and good views are sometimes quickly obtained. However, visitors should be prepared to have to sit and wait quietly for a long time, and the walk back may then be in the dark. The experience of seeing one of the two members of this extraordinary family will certainly be the trip highlight.

Afterwards, hopefully with everybody highly elated, we shall overnight at nearby Bonkro.

Ghana: Day 11  We will spend the morning in the forest at Nyamebe Bepo. This is an area with some potential, over and above the fabulous Picathartes. Congo Serpent Eagle and Long-tailed Hawk are both real possibilities. Indeed, even the very rare Upper Guinea-endemic Western Wattled Cuckooshrike has been recorded here on a few occasions!

Afterwards, we will head north to Kumasi for an overnight stay.

An evening visit to Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary may turn up an interesting nightbird. Nkulengu Rail, Fraser’s and Akun Eagle-Owls, and Brown Nightjar all occur here.

Ghana: Day 12  Today, we will drive north to Mole National Park for a four-night stay. During the journey, we will watch the habitat change to broad-leaved Guinea Savanna woodland and the open plains that are typical of this region.

Along the way, we will visit a remaining forest patch and cutover area at Opro Forest where we should find Guinea Turaco, the striking Blue-bellied Roller and Double-toothed Barbet.

We will arrive at Mole during the afternoon, and after dinner, we will search for the Standard-winged Nightjars that frequent the airstrip. Long-tailed Nightjar also occurs here, and we will also be on the lookout for both Greyish Eagle-Owl and the delightful Northern White-faced Owl.

Ghana: Days 13-15  At 4840 square kilometres (1869 square miles), Mole National Park is Ghana’s largest reserve and mainly consists of open Guinea Savanna woodland dissected by lushly vegetated riparian watercourses. There are also areas of open grassland and swamps in the floodplains and around waterholes. At least 314 species of birds have been recorded from the park, as well as some 90 species of mammals.

A waterhole lies below our hotel, which is situated on a 250m (820ft) high escarpment offering breathtaking views over the park. The lure of water attracts many birds and mammals that need to quench their thirst in the dry heat, and Exclamatory Paradise Whydahs are possible visitors. The pool is also home to Hamerkop, Woolly-necked and Saddle-billed Storks, Hadada Ibis, Greater Painted-snipe, Senegal Thick-knee, Grey-headed and Giant Kingfishers.

During our visit, we will mainly explore the park on foot, taking walks with our armed park ranger. In this way, we should find the range-restricted White-throated Francolin, Double-spurred Francolin, Stone Partridge, Violet Turaco, Western Plantain-eater, Senegal Parrot, Bearded Barbet, Sun Lark, Senegal Batis, the stunning Yellow-crowned Gonolek, White-crowned Robin-Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, Rufous and Rock-loving Cisticolas, Senegal Eremomela, the fascinating Oriole Warbler (or Moho), Blackcap Babbler, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, the wonderful African Spotted Creeper, Lavender Waxbill and Gosling’s Bunting.

Rare possibilities include Denham’s Bustard, Forbes’s Plover, Rufous-rumped Lark, Emin’s Shrike and Yellow Penduline Tit.

As the day heats up, so the conditions improve for raptor watching, and we shall be on the lookout for African White-backed, White-headed and Hooded Vultures, Lizard and Grasshopper Buzzards, Dark Chanting and Gabar Goshawks, Shikra, Bateleur, Beaudouin’s and Brown Snake Eagles, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Hawk-Eagle, Red-necked Falcon and Grey Kestrel.

During our walks, we are going to come across a lot of widespread birds such as Knob-billed Duck, Helmeted Guineafowl, Black-headed Heron, Spotted Thick-knee, African Wattled Lapwing, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Speckled Pigeon, Black-billed Wood Dove, Laughing, Red-eyed, Vinaceous and Namaqua Doves, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Red-headed Lovebird, Brown-necked Parrot, African Scops Owl, Pearl-spotted Owlet, wonderful Northern Carmine and Red-throated Bee-eaters, Abyssinian, Purple and Broad-billed Rollers, Eurasian Hoopoe, Green Wood-hoopoe, Black Scimitarbill, the huge Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, African Grey and Northern Red-billed Hornbills, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Greater and Lesser Honeyguides, Eurasian Wryneck, and Fine-spotted, Golden-tailed, Grey and Brown-backed Woodpeckers.

Widespread passerines include Flappet Lark, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Red-chested, Wire-tailed and African Red-rumped Swallows, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, African Paradise Flycatcher, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, White-shouldered Black Tit, African Moustached Warbler, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Crombec, Common Whitethroat, Western Olivaceous and Melodious Warblers, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, African Thrush, Northern Black, Pale, Swamp, Pied and African Blue Flycatchers, Grey Tit-flycatcher, Brown Babbler, Scarlet-chested, Pygmy and Beautiful Sunbirds, Woodchat Shrike, Brubru, Northern Puffback, Black-crowned Tchagra, African Golden Oriole, Fork-tailed Drongo, Purple, Bronze-tailed, Greater Blue-eared and Lesser Blue-eared Starlings, the strange Piapiac, Sahel Bush Sparrow (or Bush Petronia), Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver, Little, Heuglin’s Masked and Red-headed Weavers, Red-billed Quelea, Black-bellied, Red-billed and Black-faced Firefinches, Black-rumped Waxbill, Quailfinch, Red-winged Pytilia, Yellow-fronted Canary and Brown-rumped and Cabanis’s Buntings.

More uncommon possibilities include Black-headed Lapwing and Singing Bush Lark.

Likely mammals at Mole include Olive Baboon, Patas and Green (or Callithrix) Monkeys, African Savanna Hare, Kintampo Rope Squirrel, Striped Ground Squirrel, Common Genet, African Savanna Elephant, Common Warthog, Buffon’s Kob, Bushbuck, Waterbuck and Yellow-winged Bat.

While based at Mole, we will make an excursion to the White Volta River at Daboya. Our prime target in the Daboya area is the superb Egyptian Plover. Not just a charismatic and beautiful bird, but nowadays also a monotypic family.

We also have a good chance to find Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle and Fox Kestrel along the way. Around Daboya, we should find Cut-throat Fiunch and African Silverbill, while Black-backed Cisticola is an uncommon possibility.

Ghana: Day 16  Following a final morning at Mole, and after paying a short visit to the ancient mud and reed mosque at Larabanga, which dates back to 1421, we will return to Kumasi for an overnight stay.

Ghana: Day 17  This morning, we shall visit Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary. This site offers further chances for Afep and Western Bronze-naped Pigeons, and there is a good chance for other forest species we may have missed up to now, such as Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Black-throated Coucal, Red-chested Cuckoo, Forest Wood Hoopoe, Black Dwarf Hornbill, African Piculet, Willcocks’s Honeyguide and Grey-throated Flycatcher. Narina Trogon can often be found here, and we could find a surprise or two. The spectacle of hundreds of colourful butterflies is quite something. As the morning activity subsides, we shall transfer to the Tafo area for a two-night stay.

This afternoon we shall begin our exploration of the Atewa Range, concentrating on the farmbush that holds species such as Compact and Thick-billed (or Grosbeak) Weavers.

Ghana: Day 18  The Atewa Range Forest Reserve is an IBA (Important Bird Area) containing remnant evergreen rainforest, an endangered habitat within Ghana. This hilly area reaches an altitude of around 800m (around 2600ft) and, although the forest has suffered from much logging in the past, it nonetheless remains incredibly ‘birdy’, with the open nature of the forest facilitating viewing of canopy species.

Here we have the chance of finding some very localised birds, although some of the best have the ‘if we are lucky’ caveat placed upon them. We have occasionally found the rare Nimba Flycatcher at Atewa, so we shall be inspecting the tall trees carefully for these black-coloured birds that run along the large boughs! In addition, the superb Blue-moustached Bee-eater is regularly seen here (this is probably the best site in Ghana for the species). Sometimes a Yellow-footed Honeyguide is to be found.

The forest also gives us another chance for species such as Green-tailed Bristlebill and Rufous-winged Illadopsis. Most of the Ghanaian records of Lowland Akalat come from Atewa, and Red-fronted Antpecker also occurs, although we would be very fortunate to see either of these difficult species. Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, on the other hand, seems to be a little easier to see here than at other sites, and Many-coloured Bushshrike is regularly observed.

Ghana: Day 19  This morning, we shall drive to Ho, situated not far from the Kalakpa Resource Reserve in the Volta Region, for a two-night stay.

We will begin our exploration of Kalakpa this afternoon. Situated in the forest/savanna transition zone, Kalakpa Resource Reserve protects some 320 square kilometres of savanna and wide gallery forest. At least 153 species have been recorded from the reserve, and although birding here is often quiet, there are some good birds around.

In particular, we shall be hoping to find the secretive, uncommon and patchily-distributed Capuchin Babbler, Ahanta Francolin, Spotted Honeyguide and Splendid Sunbird in particular, as well as Fiery-necked Nightjar, Marsh Tchagra, White-crested Helmetshrike and Green-headed Sunbird. We also have a further chance for the pretty Northern White-faced Owl and a slim chance for the uncommon Thick-billed Cuckoo.

‘Etchécopar’s Owlet’, a West African form which was formerly sometimes split from African Barred Owlet, is very occasionally found at Kalakpa, but this seems to be a rare bird everywhere in its range.

Mammals are few but include the range-restricted Benin Tree Hyrax.

Ghana: Day 20  Today, we will visit the small hilltop town of Amedzofe. The forested hills in this area rise to nearly 700m (2300ft), and here we have a good chance of finding the skulking, range-restricted Baumann’s Olive Greenbul and the stunning ‘Togo’ form of the Western Yellow-billed Barbet, a bird that only occurs from far southeastern Ghana to southwesternmost Nigeria and which is a potential split. Other birds we could well encounter in this area include Fiery-breasted and Many-coloured Bushshrikes, Leaf-love and Sharpe’s Drongo.

Ghana: Day 21  After some final birding at Kalakpa reserve, and after a chance to wash and change at our hotel, we will head back to Accra. Our Ghana birding tour ends this evening at Accra airport.

SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE EXTENSION

For full details click here.