Hippo watching onboard the 'Lady Hippo'

Take a boat trip downstream to the Kai Hai islands where you might see some of the few remaining hippopotamus in West Africa.

For spiritual reasons, the main island of Kai Hai has never been inhabited by man and as a result its dense forest is a rich haven for wildlife.

As the boat glides past the river bank, Senegal parrots and rose-ringed parakeet fly over your head while red colobus and green vervet monkeys watch your every move from the safety of tree tops. You may even spot the odd crocodile lazily basking in the sun or a wild boar sniffing the ground for food. In the evening, as you return to the camp, troops of baboons perched in Mango trees along the river's edge will pull faces at you and shake the branches if you get too close.

Since 1969, the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust www.chimprehab.com, now the longest running chimpanzee rehabilitation project in Africa, has been working to give orphaned chimpanzees the opportunity to grow up free and independent in their natural environment, rather than leaving them to their all too frequent fates as sad captives in a human world, or worse, as substitute humans in a laboratory.

The CRT protects and monitors a total population of sixty-three chimpanzees occupying three islands downstream from Bird Safari Camp in the River Gambia National Park. Although you cannot set foot on the islands, you can sail through the area onboard one of our boats, the Lady Hippo, as part of our 'Discover the River' trips. See www.hiddengambia.com for more info.

The area is as rich in history as it is in wildlife. You might like to visit the historic site of the stone circles at Wasu (an archaeological excavation dating from around 1200 years ago). Or go to the point from which the Scottish explorer, Mungo Park, first set out in 1795 to explore the course of the Niger river.

Take a guided visit of Janjanbureh town together with Mr. Manka, the former primary school headmaster, and learn about the town's colonial history - see the infamous slave houses - their crumbling walls are a visible reminder of the notorious slave trade which took place in this area many years ago.

Evening entertainment back at the camp

In the cool evening breeze, The Gambia comes alive! No African experience is complete without the exhilarating rhythms of the West African drum. Where in the world is there a more enchanting place than Bird Safari Camp, deep in the bush with its starry night skies and magical atmosphere?