Sirocco
Explorer
The 2nd park which needed mapping was Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary so the next day after a leisurely breakfast we headed off in that direction. To get there we had to pass back through St. Loius and got stopped no less than 6 times! Within 50km of our turn-off there was a clunk and a scrape... The main fuel tank had just sheered its cradle brackets and the nose of the tank which was nearly full was ploughing a line in the graded gravel road. We pulled over to take a look. The tank seemed ok but the bracket was toast. With some ingenuity and the use of a ratchet strap we managed to secure the tank enough to get back to the Zebra Bar. On the way through St Louis we had the cradle welded up and picked up the bolts and bits we needed to fix it. After being stopped another 4 times we made it back to camp and got on with the repair and spent the rest of the afternoon not really doing much.
Over the previous few days we got chatting to a group of American girls who were also staying at the Zebra Bar. Most evenings we would eat and drink together discussing travelling, politics, religion... the usual. As they didn't have their own transport we offered them the 3 seats in the back of the Land Cruiser and the chance to come and visit the Djoudj Bird Sanctuary with us (and to also see exactly what we were doing). The added advantage of this was having a female presence, as the police no longer seemed interested in holding us up for any length of time. They also spoke better French than both of us combined.
Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary is situated in the Senegal River delta near the Mauritanian border and is a wetland of 16,000 ha. There is one main large lake surrounded by streams, ponds and backwaters. It forms a living but fragile sanctuary for some 1.5 million birds and the forests and grasslands hold species typical of the Sahelian zone of Africa.
The park was mainly established as the area is so important for birds, supporting 3 million waterfowl, and is one of the main West African sanctuaries for Palaearctic migrants. It is one of the first fresh water sources they reach after crossing 200km of the Sahara. From September to April, an estimated 3 million migrants pass through, including garganey, shoveler, ruff, pintail and black-tailed godwit. Thousands of flamingo nest here regularly as well as 5,000 white pelican, white-faced tree duck, fulvus tree duck, spur-winged goose, purple heron, night heron, various egrets, spoonbill, African darter, common cormorant and Sudan bustard. Mammals include warthog and West African manatee, and several species of crocodile and gazelle have been successfully reintroduced into the area.
But this wildlife haven is threatened from many sides. Agricultural chemicals are finding their way into the once-pristine waters of the Senegal River thus disturbing delicate links in the food chain, and a dam is being built which will disturb the annual wet-dry cycles that have brought life to Djoudj. A study sponsored by the World Heritage Committee has reported on the measures required to ameliorate the effects of the dam through an inexpensive series of dikes and sluice-gates and a carefully timed release of the life-bringing waters. It is hoped that the World Heritage status of Djoudj will help convince the government of Senegal to take the necessary measures and that tourism will take notice from the work of the MAPA Project.
We got the park and booked ourselves on the next boat trip out along the backwaters logging the tracks and waypointing along the way. We took the GPS and cameras onto the wide and open boat as we headed off away from land for the next hour or two. The backwaters were lined with tall grass which harboured a number of crocodiles and a couple of Nile Monitor Lizards. We spotted the usual wetland birds along with a fishing eagle in the distance. At the end of the boat trip and that route safely logged we went for a drive around the main lake following every possible route we could see. We found a number of hides tucked away in trees overlooking predominantly dry lakes. We visited the one large lake which had dramatically decreased in size and we could just make out the pink flamingos in the distance. We followed bumpy tracks and trails for most of the afternoon and then called it a day heading back to what we now referred to as 'base camp'. Processing our data for the day and sending it across to March in South Africa we rewarded ourselves with a few beers before bed.
Over the previous few days we got chatting to a group of American girls who were also staying at the Zebra Bar. Most evenings we would eat and drink together discussing travelling, politics, religion... the usual. As they didn't have their own transport we offered them the 3 seats in the back of the Land Cruiser and the chance to come and visit the Djoudj Bird Sanctuary with us (and to also see exactly what we were doing). The added advantage of this was having a female presence, as the police no longer seemed interested in holding us up for any length of time. They also spoke better French than both of us combined.
Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary is situated in the Senegal River delta near the Mauritanian border and is a wetland of 16,000 ha. There is one main large lake surrounded by streams, ponds and backwaters. It forms a living but fragile sanctuary for some 1.5 million birds and the forests and grasslands hold species typical of the Sahelian zone of Africa.
The park was mainly established as the area is so important for birds, supporting 3 million waterfowl, and is one of the main West African sanctuaries for Palaearctic migrants. It is one of the first fresh water sources they reach after crossing 200km of the Sahara. From September to April, an estimated 3 million migrants pass through, including garganey, shoveler, ruff, pintail and black-tailed godwit. Thousands of flamingo nest here regularly as well as 5,000 white pelican, white-faced tree duck, fulvus tree duck, spur-winged goose, purple heron, night heron, various egrets, spoonbill, African darter, common cormorant and Sudan bustard. Mammals include warthog and West African manatee, and several species of crocodile and gazelle have been successfully reintroduced into the area.
But this wildlife haven is threatened from many sides. Agricultural chemicals are finding their way into the once-pristine waters of the Senegal River thus disturbing delicate links in the food chain, and a dam is being built which will disturb the annual wet-dry cycles that have brought life to Djoudj. A study sponsored by the World Heritage Committee has reported on the measures required to ameliorate the effects of the dam through an inexpensive series of dikes and sluice-gates and a carefully timed release of the life-bringing waters. It is hoped that the World Heritage status of Djoudj will help convince the government of Senegal to take the necessary measures and that tourism will take notice from the work of the MAPA Project.
We got the park and booked ourselves on the next boat trip out along the backwaters logging the tracks and waypointing along the way. We took the GPS and cameras onto the wide and open boat as we headed off away from land for the next hour or two. The backwaters were lined with tall grass which harboured a number of crocodiles and a couple of Nile Monitor Lizards. We spotted the usual wetland birds along with a fishing eagle in the distance. At the end of the boat trip and that route safely logged we went for a drive around the main lake following every possible route we could see. We found a number of hides tucked away in trees overlooking predominantly dry lakes. We visited the one large lake which had dramatically decreased in size and we could just make out the pink flamingos in the distance. We followed bumpy tracks and trails for most of the afternoon and then called it a day heading back to what we now referred to as 'base camp'. Processing our data for the day and sending it across to March in South Africa we rewarded ourselves with a few beers before bed.
