EUR0 SPACES AVAILABLE
Tour Price (Per person): Price to be announced
Pricing notes : Please contact our Tailor-made team on tailormade@rockjumper.com
Our Benin extension offers a great opportunity to see the localized Anambra Waxbill along with some other wonderful wetland species including Black Coucal, Levaillant's, Jacobin and Diederik Cuckoo, elusive Allen's Gallinule, Forbes's Plover, Senegal Lapwing, Collared Pratincole, African Openbill, Little Bittern, Black Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, African Pygmy and Grey-headed Kingfisher, Red-headed Lovebird, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Oriole Warbler, Ethiopian Swallow, Slender-billed and Black-headed Weaver, Red-headed Quelea, Northern Red and Yellow-crowned Bishop amongst many others. We also travel across the small country of Togo giving guests the great opportunity to visit two seldom visited West African countries.
This tour is made available through our Tailor-made tours department. To explore this offering further for pricing, precise day to day itinerary, inclusions & exclusions, or to tailor the tour to your personal requirements, please contact our Tailor-made team on tailormade@rockjumper.com
Anambra Waxbill; Black Coucal; Allen's Gallinule; Forbes's Plover; African Openbill; Little Bittern; Black Heron; African Pygmy & Grey-headed Kingfishers; Red-headed Lovebird; Yellow-crowned Gonolek; Oriole Warbler; Slender-billed & Black-headed Weavers; Red-headed Quelea; Northern Red & Yellow-crowned Bishops.
wetlands, mashes, scrub
Hot & humid
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader
MODERATE TO CHALLENGING: This tour requires a good level of fitness, stamina, and overall health. It’s best suited for experienced birders who are comfortable with a more active itinerary. Please note that it may not be ideal for avid photographers, new birders, or those with mobility or health concerns.
Tour pace is moderate with one long travel day. Not suitable for anyone with mobility or health challenges.
Modern & comfortable in Cotonou, Benin
Birding is easy along open wetland areas & walking on flat tracks. Many species are approachable & provide good visuals in open conditions.
Good to excellent. No dedicated hides. Many species are approachable; habitat & lighting are often conducive.
Note that some of the comments I made regarding the Thailand extension apply to the main Thailand tour. I liked the sequence of sites visited; it ensured the Spoonbill Sandpiper was seen early on and then designed to minimize travel. Staying multiple nights at one site is always appreciated and seemed to be done as much as possible. The guides made special efforts to see bird species sought by the group; we saw more bird species than I expected. The drivers were excellent and also one of them, Jaime, was a good birder who helped the guides track down some species; it was an asset to have internet while in the vehicles. The drivers also produced an excellent video of the trip - a nice touch; they also did an excellent job with mid-morning breaks. I especially enjoyed visiting a hide all morning early on in the trip - it gave us a chance to see some elusive species but also several species very well. One morning was spent looking for a rare duck; I would have rather spent the time looking for a variety of Thai species. Quite a bit of birding was done along roads - it might have been better to bird trails etc. if they are available and afford good views of birds pointed out. Food was excellent (Uthai selected great dishes for the group) and accomodations were good. It was an enjoyable trip with rewarding looks at many of the bird species seen.
The guides continued their superb and tireless efforts to find bird species during the extension to the main tour.
Both Andre and Uthai were remarkably tireless and effective in finding and identifying birds, including some of the most elusive species in Thailand. They also did a great job of organizing the logistics of the trip. Our meals were already prepared when we arrived at restaurants and all of the hotel arrangements were handled smoothly. We probably will not consider going on another standard Rockjumper trip. Birding steadily from dawn to after dark was a bit much, especially for 22 uninterrupted days. This pace is appropriate for most serious birders so I don’t fault the guides, but we plan to shift to a style of traveling in which we can set our own schedule. We might consider one of Rockjumper's relaxed tours, but we're not concerned about long hikes and muddy trails as long as the schedule allows for a little down time to read, reflect and recover.
While the birding was more difficult, the guides knowledge on where to search for some of the key species. Helped the group find a number of very interesting species of birds.
I really enjoyed having Lev as a tour guide, he was very knowledgeable and helpful and great at giving directions to see "hidden" birds in the jungle.
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