Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins

Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins Naturetrek Tour Itinerary Outline itinerary Day 1 Depart London and overnight Accra Day 2/5 Rainforest Lodge, Kakum National Park Day 6/8 Picathartes Forest Day 9 Depart Accra Day 10 Arrive London Departs March and November. Focus Mammals and birds, with a special effort to look for pangolins. Grading Grade B - Easy to moderate day walks, and some night walks in search of nocturnal mammals. Dates and Prices See website (tour code GHA03) or brochure Highlights • Search for Long-tailed & Tree Pangolins in remote forest. • Chance of other elusive forest mammals including Potto, Pel’s Anomalure & Western Tree Hyrax. • Visit a Yellow-headed Picathartes breeding colony. • Africa’s highest canopy walkway in Kakum NP. • West Africa’s best forest birding. • Rufous-sided Broadbill, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, White-crested Hornbill & Akun Eagle-Owl possible. • Stay in a remote village in the heart of the rainforest. • Led by expert guides, with help from local trackers to From top: Yellow-headed Picathartes, Long-tailed Pangolin, Violet Turaco boost our chances of finding rare mammals. Images courtesy of Lucas Lombardo, Ben Chapple and Shutterstock Images Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf’s Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins Tour Itinerary Introduction Home to over 750 species of birds, and some of the region’s healthiest populations of mammals, Ghana is rapidly becoming West Africa's premiere wildlife destination. This small tropical country - known in the past as the 'Gold Coast' - is now widely recognised as a friendly and safe destination to visit and is blessed with a diverse range of exciting habitats, including the rich Upper Guinea rainforests of the south. This 10- day tour, focusing on mammals and birds, will take you to two of the best protected forests left in Ghana, both of which are home to a remarkable variety of exotic creatures. Amongst an exciting range of birdlife, which may include Rosy Bee-eater, Congo Serpent Eagle, Black Dwarf Hornbill and the little known Brown Nightjar, we will be looking for the bizarre and elusive Yellow-headed Picathartes. This remarkable bird – one of the world’s most sought-after species – was only discovered breeding in Ghana in 2005, but the country is now the best place in the world to see it. Alongside a diverse and fascinating avifauna, Ghana is also a stronghold for a variety of threatened mammals. Most excitingly, the country is perhaps the best place in Africa (and indeed the world) to search for wild pangolins. While these species’ plight is well known (they are the most trafficked animal in the world after humans), they are still seen relatively frequently in Ghana. On this tour, we’ll make a special effort to locate two species – the diurnal Long-tailed (or Black-bellied) and nocturnal Tree (or White-bellied) Pangolins. This tour will consequently involve a good deal of night walks and spotlighting, to maximise our chances of finding pangolins and a host of other exciting nocturnal mammals, such as Potto, Pel’s Anomalure and Brush-tailed Porcupine. While we do think the chances of success are reasonably good, it must be stressed that pangolins are highly elusive and endangered animals, and there is therefore no guarantee that we will achieve a sighting. Itinerary Please note that the itinerary below offers our planned programme of excursions. However, adverse weather & other local considerations can necessitate some re-ordering of the programme during the course of the tour, though this will always be done to maximise best use of the time and weather conditions available. Day 1 Depart London We depart London's Gatwick Airport on an early afternoon British Airways scheduled service to Accra, the capital city of Ghana, arriving mid-evening. After clearing immigration and customs we will meet our local guide and transfer to a comfortable hotel for the night. © Naturetrek Feb ‘21 2 Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins Tour Itinerary Day 2 Rainforest Lodge, Kakum NP After an early breakfast, we will begin the tour at the Shai Hills reserve, an interesting expanse of savannah, grassland and woodland, and including a cave system that we’ll visit for its roosting Egyptian Tomb Bats. Other mammals in the reserve include Olive Baboon, Red-fronted Duiker and Kob. The birdwatching here is excellent and we will hope to find African Grey Hornbill, African Hobby, Violet and Guinea Turacos, Stone Partridge, White-crowned Cliff Chat, Senegal Parrot, Croaking Cisticola, Blue-bellied Roller, White-crowned Robin-chat and many more. After a full morning in Shai Hills, and lunch in a nearby restaurant, we’ll set off towards the Upper Guinea rainforests of Kakum National Park. We will aim to arrive at our accommodation in the late afternoon, giving us the option of visiting the forest either before or after our evening meal. This will give us our first opportunities to see nocturnal mammals, including Maxwell’s Duiker, West African Potto, Western Tree Hyrax, and a variety of bats and rodents. We will stay for four nights at Rainforest Lodge, a comfortable establishment located near the edge of the forest and only 10 kilometres from the national park. Finally, after a long and exciting day we can retreat to our air- conditioned rooms and retire to bed. Day 3 Rainforest Lodge, Kakum NP We will have an early breakfast today, in order to arrive at Kakum’s world famous canopy walkway in the cool of the early hours. We will then spend the most critical wildlife-viewing hours 40 metres above the forest floor on the canopy walkway, whose platforms are large enough to support telescopes. The 607-square-kilometre Kakum National Park protects critically endangered primary Upper Guinea tropical rainforest and is home to a Canopy walkway, Kakum National Park variety of exciting forest species. A particular target from the canopy walkway will be Long-tailed Pangolin, which often likes to sun itself on high branches in the early morning – Kakum is one of the best places in the world for this species. A bewildering diversity of squirrels – African Giant, Gambian Sun, Red-legged Sun, Green, Fire-footed Rope and Slender-tailed Squirrels amongst them – is also possible. Birding from the walkway is superb, and species to look out for include Green Hylia, Violet-backed Hyliota, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Little Grey Flycatcher, Grey-headed, White-breasted and Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch, Grey Longbill, White-headed and Forest Woodhoopoes, West African Batis, Western Bluebill, Blue Cuckoo-shrike, Red-billed Helmetshrike, Large-billed Puffback, Sharpe’s Apalis, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Brown-cheeked, Yellow-casqued, Black-casqued, © Naturetrek Feb ‘21 3 Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins Tour Itinerary Akun Eagle Owl, by Arthur Grosset Piping and Black Dwarf Hornbills, beautiful Preuss’s Weaver, Red-headed and Red- vented Malimbes, Rosy Bee-eater, Yellow- spotted and Hairy-breasted Barbets, Red- fronted, Brown-necked and Grey Parrots and Fanti Drongo. Raptors may include Red-necked Buzzard, Palm-nut Vulture, African Cuckoo Hawk, Congo Serpent Eagle, Cassin's Hawk-Eagle and Long- tailed Hawk to mention just a few. During the heat of mid-afternoon, we will focus on sleeping and rest at Rainforest Lodge, as we will be out late on a night walk this evening. An afternoon visit to the canopy walkway will offer our best opportunity for endangered Olive and Geoffroy’s Pied Colobuses, and Lowe’s and Lesser Spot- nosed Monkeys, while Long-tailed Pangolin will again be a possibility. Various birds, including the huge Brown-cheeked, Yellow-casqued and Black-casqued Hornbills, also appear easier to see later in the day. As dusk falls, we may be rewarded with a sighting of the amazing Pel’s Anomalure – a large, strikingly patterned flying squirrel – or perhaps the poorly known Brown Nightjar. Other possible nocturnal creatures include several owls – Fraser’s Eagle-Owl, African Wood Owl, and the near-mythical Akun Eagle-Owl – alongside elusive mammals such as West African Potto, Emin’s Giant Pouched Rat, and Western Tree Hyrax (whose repetitive shrieking call is typical of the rainforest night). We will return to our hotel for dinner and the checklist, before retiring to bed (or returning to the forest for those with the inclination!). Days 4 & 5 Over the next two full days, we will dedicate our time to exploring the remarkable forests of Kakum, in search of all our main target species. Amongst the mammals, we will make special efforts for Long-tailed and Tree Pangolins, West African Potto, Demidoff’s Galago, Common Cusimanse (a rainforest mongoose), Pel’s and Lord Derby’s Anomalures, Royal Antelope and Maxwell’s Duiker; these efforts will include a good deal of spotlighting, both before dawn and after dusk to maximise our chances of success. Our lodge’s proximity to the forest means that group members are welcome to dip in and out of activities as much as they like Black Bee-eater, by Dick Forsman – there is certainly no obligation to be up all hours! While the mammals will receive our particular attention, it is impossible to ignore the birds, and your guides will happily point out some of the fascinating species you encounter. Birds that we should see during our walks include Little, White- throated, Rosy and Black Bee-eaters, Blue- throated Roller, Piping Hornbill, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, White-spotted Flufftail, Cassin’s Spinetail, Sabine’s Spinetail, Diederik Cuckoo, © Naturetrek Feb ‘21 4 Ghana – Picathartes and Pangolins Tour Itinerary Melancholy and Buff-spotted Woodpeckers, Vieillot’s Black and Black-necked Weavers, Kemp’s and Grey Longbills, Western Nicator, Western Bluebill, Olive-bellied, Superb and Johanna’s Sunbirds, Copper-tailed Glossy and Violet-backed Starlings, Northern Yellow White-eye, Bronze Mannikin and Orange-cheeked Waxbill, while the more difficult species include Yellow-billed Barbet, Rufous- sided Broadbill, Forest Penduline Tit, Ayres’s Hawk Eagle and Ahanta Francolin.

Load more