Benin Club Faune & Pendjari National Park 3rd to 11th November 2019 (9 days) Violet Turaco by Adam Riley Tiny Benin, sandwiched between Nigeria, Togo and Burkina Faso, is situated within the Dahomey Gap. This is a unique region of West Africa where the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic separates two lowland forest regions by extending all the way to the coast. It is dominated by broad-leaved Guinea woodlands and dry Sahelian savanna. Rarely visited, Benin turned from Marxist rule to democracy in the early 1990’s, and has since remained not only stable, but among the safest countries to visit on the continent. This stability has provided birders with access to the vast Arli-W-Singou protected area complex that RBL Benin Itinerary 2 straddles the Benin-Burkina Faso-Niger borders. This is the largest remaining intact natural ecosystem in the whole of West Africa. The paucity of birders to the country means there is still plenty to discover. The tour centres on the habitats associated with the Pendjari National Park in northern Benin, a 275,000 ha central component of the greater protected area complex. This protected area is a crucial refuge for some of the last West African populations of large game including African Elephant, the Critically Endangered ‘West African’ Lion, Hippopotamus, African Buffalo and various antelope. Among the birding highlights are large colonies of Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Double-spurred Francolin, Arabian Bustard, Senegal Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, Violet Turaco, Abyssinian Roller, Standard- winged Nightjar and Lavender Waxbill. THE TOUR AT A GLANCE… THE ITINERARY Day 1 Arrival in Cotonou, Benin Day 2 Cotonou to Club Faune Days 3 to 8 Club Faune & Pendjari National Park Day 9 Club Faune to Cotonou and depart TOUR MAP RBL Benin Itinerary 3 THE TOUR IN DETAIL… Day 1: Arrival in Cotonou, Benin. Our tour begins with our arrival in the coastal city of Cotonou. You will be met at the airport and transferred to our overnight accommodation to relax after your international flights. This evening we will meet up for a welcome dinner, and discuss our forthcoming adventure to northern Benin. Day 2: Cotonou to Club Faune. Today is essentially a travel day, a rather long 9-hour trip from Cotonou to our private camp on the border of the Pendjari National Park. Departing early in air- Abyssinian Roller by Ignacio Yufera conditioned transport, we’ll head north into the interior of the country. The trip will be broken up into rest-stops, allowing opportunities for short birding forays while stretching our legs. The interior of Benin is seldom birded, and patches of intact woodland and gallery forest vegetation may turn up unexpected species. Time permitting, we will briefly explore these habitats, keeping a look out for Fox Kestrel, African Yellow White-eye and Rock-loving Cisticola. Remnant gallery riparian forest may contain lowland forest species that reach their northern-most range here. Target species include Black- throated Coucal, Blue Malkoha, Western Nicator, Oriole Warbler, Grey-headed Bristlebill and both Guinea and Violet Turacos. We will arrive at the lodge in the late afternoon, and after freshening up and settling in, there will be the opportunity to enjoy relaxing sundowners while watching the sunset in the middle of this vast and remote wilderness. Days 3 to 8: Club Faune & Pendjari National Park. The next 6 days will be spent exploring the mosaic of habitats associated with northern Benin. Pendjari National Park and its environs are remote, nestled between the Oti River and the scenic Atakora mountain range to the south. While the focus will be on birding, this tour also offers a genuine African wilderness experience. Accommodation will be in a comfortable and exclusive tented camp offering breath-taking vistas of the Atakora Mountains and vast, open savanna plains. We will be traversing an exclusive private concession, and also accessing habitats within a National Park that is currently under- developed from an ecotourism perspective. This translates into a low tourist density, and the real sense of being alone in a vast Abyssinian Ground Hornbill by Rich Lindie RBL Benin Itinerary 4 wilderness. Unlike other parks in Africa, you are unlikely to see many other vehicles on game drives and sightings of Cheetah, Leopard, Lion and Africa Elephant will be unhurried, and enjoyed with minimal disturbance to the animals. The trip is scheduled for the end of the short wet season, and hopefully sufficient rain will have fallen to inundate the large wetlands that dominate the lowland and valley bottom areas. We will spend time birding the floodplains, searching for spectacular Black Crowned Cranes and Saddle-billed Storks amongst the assorted Yellow-billed, African Openbill and Woolly- necked Storks, large flocks of Spur-winged Egyptian Plover by Ignacio Yufera Geese and both Pink-backed and Great White Pelicans. Together with more common waders, the undoubted specials to look out for are Black-headed and Spur-winged Lapwings and the scarce Forbes Plover. Grazing herds of ‘Defassa’ Waterbuck and Western Kob dot the open areas, and with luck we’ll also see the graceful Oribi. Waterholes and pans should offer opportunities to watch and photograph African Elephant, Lion and Buffalo as they come down to drink. With luck these patches of open water will also attract flocks of Four-banded and Chestnut-banded Sandgrouse. The emergent vegetation and sedge meadows provide good habitat for both Dwarf and Little Bitterns, the exquisite Greater Painted-snipe, African Crake, Lesser Moorhen and Allen’s Gallinule. Vast flocks of the locust-like Red-billed Quelea coming down to drink are likely to provide an amazing spectacle as they are harassed by marauding Yellow-billed and Black Kites, Tawny Eagle, Lanner Falcon and the dashing Red- necked Falcon. At dusk we will search open areas for hawking Long-tailed Nightjars and, with luck, the rare Standard-winged Nightjar in full regalia. The Oti River will form the focal point of our search for two stunning and highly sought-after species. The river contains pools of water interspersed with open sandbanks, perfect habitat for Grey Pratincole and the dazzling Egyptian Plover. Additional species may include foraging White-headed Lapwing and the comical Black Heron. We’ll keep an eye out for drinking groups of Red-cheeked Cordonbleu, Black-rumped and Lavender Waxbills and both Black-faced and Bar- breasted Firefinches. The fringing herbaceous vegetation will provide the opportunity to see such avian jewels as Red- winged, Yellow-winged and Green-winged Pytilias, together with their brood-hosts the Sahel, Togo and Exclamatory Paradise Whydahs. The river banks support colonies Leopard by Markus Lilje RBL Benin Itinerary 5 of the spectacular Northern Carmine Bee-eater, while Blue-cheeked and Red-throated Bee-eaters hawk insects from high overhanging perches. We will also take time to bird the well-developed riparian gallery forest. Since rivers traverse the landscape, their associated riparian gallery forests are often able to form linkages between disparate tracts of forest, and support true forest species even within a non-forest habitat matrix. Hence there is the potential for us to encounter unexpected and surprising forest species, such as Red-thighed Sparrowhawk. The bizarre Western Plantain-eater, Brown-backed and Fine-spotted Beautiful Sunbird by Markus Lilje Woodpeckers, Senegal Parrot, Guinea and Violet Turacos, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Shining Blue Kingfisher and both White-crowned and Snowy-crowned Robin-Chats are all possible. The main target species, however, are the uncommon Black-capped Babbler and the beautiful Grey-headed Oliveback. The rivers and forested areas may provide views of secretive Bushbuck, and dainty Red-flanked Duiker. The woodland mosaic could provide us with hours of birding entertainment. Among the target species we will be searching for Red-headed Lovebird, Double-spurred Spurfowl, Bearded and gaudy Vieillot’s Barbets, Lavender Waxbill and White-shouldered Black Tit. This habitat is particularly rich in raptors, and we’ll keep an eye out for quartering Grasshopper and Red-necked Buzzards, Fox and Grey Kestrels, Scissor-tailed Kite and specials such as Beaudouin’s and Short-toed Snake Eagle. We’ll comb moist broadleaved woodlands for the spectacular Blue-bellied Roller, Double-toothed Barbet, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Purple Starling and the endearingly wicked Pearl-spotted Owlet. Drier, more open savanna habitat may yield Yellow Penduline-Tit, the unusual Piapiac, acrobatic Abyssinian Roller, Yellow-billed Shrike and Crested Lark. Thickets may house the vocal Yellow-crowned Gonolek and Blue-naped Mousebird, while flowering trees host foraging Copper, Pygmy and Beautiful Sunbirds. A variety of increasingly vulnerable vultures have been recorded in the region, among them Ruppell’s, Lappet-faced, White-backed and White-headed. Should we manage to find any large mammal carcasses, then we can look forward to watching these magnificent birds squabble amongst themselves or take on small predatory mammals. The area will also provide identification challenges for the committed birder, with no fewer than 10 species of Cisticola recorded, namely: Short-winged, Red-faced, Singing, Black-backed, Zitting, Winding, Rufous, Croaking, Rock-loving and Red-pate. We’ll scan the open areas for Standard-winged Nightjar by David Shackelford RBL Benin Itinerary 6 Arabian and ‘Northern’ White-bellied Bustards, foraging Secretarybirds and Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, paying particular attention to rocky, open hillsides for the tiny bantam-like Stone Partridge and Heuglin’s Wheatear. The long days will end over cold sundowners and stories of the day’s highlights, as the night closes in. Relaxed evening meals will be taken around a large fire under the stars, accompanied by the calls of Freckled Nightjar and trilling African Scops Owl. Night drives and nocturnal camp walks may turn up Northern White-faced Scops Owl, Greyish Eagle-Owl, and the burly Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl with its pink eyelids.