When most people think of West Africa, they envisage the vibrant culture and diverse ethnic groups that create the quintessential vibe and soul of Africa. What they generally do not visualize are the fantastic birding and wildlife viewing opportunities that abound here. Cameroon supports over 900 bird species in towering mountain ranges, swathes of dense lowland forest, and Sahelian savannas. One of the main attractions of this tour is the implausible Red-headed Picathartes, and while the walk to get there is not the easiest, a glimpse of the bird more than makes up for the effort. Terrestrial, extremely shy, crepuscular, gregarious, mud-cup nesting, and cave-dwelling, it doesn’t get much stranger than this.

Day 1: Douala. Our flights arrive in Douala, where we spend the night.

Day 2: Douala to Waza NP. We take an early morning flight to Maroua, gateway to the Sahel. Without delay we set off to Waza National Park where Black-crowned Cranes flock among thousands of other birds that come to the ephemeral pools at the end of the dry season.

Days 3-4: Waza NP to Garoua. We explore Waza, home to the richest birdlife in the Sahel. The rarest birds near Waza include Arabian Bustard, Quail-Plover, and Sudan Golden-Sparrow. The dry woods and red Acacia sahel trees hold many other treats, including coveys of Clapperton's Francolins, huge flocks of Chestnut-bellied Starlings, River Prinia, Sennar Penduline-Tit, Green Bee-eater, and smart-looking Black Scrub-Robin. Roan Antelope, Red-fronted Gazelle, African Elephant, and Giraffe complement the smaller Wild Cat and Sand Fox, which are regularly seen on our night drives.

Day 5: Garoua to Benoue NP. Farther south we bird the Guinea savanna of Benoue NP. These beautiful broadleaved woodlands alongside the camp gardens and the Benoue River hold the very smart Egyptian Plover, the enigmatic Fox Kestrel, the strident Oriole Warbler, and assorted firefinches and woodpeckers. The eclectic and striking Guereza Colobus Monkeys are frequently seen around the camp.

Day 6: Benoue NP to Ngaoundaba. The fruiting figs in the lush riverine forest provide an opportunity to look for such sought-after birds as Violet Turaco and Bearded Barbet. Other Guinea savanna specialties include Blue-bellied Roller, Adamawa Turtle-Dove, Bruce’s Green-Pigeon, Senegal Parrot, Red-winged Pytilia, Gray-headed Oliveback, and Pygmy Sunbird. One of Africa´s strangest gamebirds is the Stone Partridge: their raucous calls normally alert us to their presence and with playback we normally see them doing a ridiculous jig on the bare rocky outcrops. After a late breakfast we leave for Ngaoundaba Ranch.

Days 7-8: Ngaoundaba. We spend two full days exploring this magnificent ranch situated alongside an ancient crater lake in the central Cameroon highlands. The ranch supports a number of species difficult to see anywhere else in Africa, including Schlegel's Francolin, Brown-chested Lapwing, White-collared Starling, Bamenda Apalis, and Dybowski's Twinspot. We’ll bird the open park-like woodland, home to Red-faced Pytilia, the localized Emin´s Shrike and Brown Twinspot. The gallery forests should reveal the effervescent Thrush Babbler and two of Africa’s star turacos: White-crested and Lady Ross's. The night drives are excellent and this is the best place to look for spectacular nightjars in Africa as there are several display arenas for the remarkable male Standard-winged and Pennant-winged Nightjars.

Day 9: Ngaoundaba to Yaounde. After some early morning birding we fly to Yaounde.

Days 10-11: Bamenda. Climbing into the Bamenda Highlands, we bird the Bafut-Nguemba Forest looking for local and highly threatened endemics such as the spectacular Bannerman’s Turaco, Banded Wattle-eye, and Bannerman’s Weaver. One of the real stars though is the golden-yellow and jet-black Yellow-breasted Boubou. There are several other montane forest treats up here like Cassin´s Hawk-Eagle, Neumann´s Red-winged Starling and the nuthatch-like Brown-capped Weaver. Lunch on the forest edge should get us Blue-breasted Bee-eater, and the super-skulking Bangwa Scrub-Warbler.

Day 12: Bamenda to Mount Kupé. We drive to Nyasoso at Mount Kupé. In the evening we have time to walk the highly productive trails at the base of the mountain looking for forest edge birds such as the tiny African Piculet and the striking Yellow-billed Barbet, as well as small canopy birds such as sunbirds, crombecs, and eremomelas, which are tough to see once inside the forest. The farm bush, with its many dead trees, is also great for the slightly grotesque Naked-faced Barbet and diminutive Narrow-tailed Starling.

Days 13-14: Mount Kupé. With two days to explore the wonderful trails, we will seek out many of Mount Kupé’s special birds. Diversity is high, with kingfishers, woodpeckers, honeyguides, greenbuls, shrikes, and sunbirds especially well represented. Some of the most sought-after birds include the exquisite and rare Mount Kupé Bushshrike, Green-breasted Bushshrike, Crossley’s Ground-Thrush, White-bellied Robin-Chat, White-tailed Warbler, Black-capped Woodland-Warbler, White-throated Mountain-Babbler, and Fernando Po Oliveback. In our time here we´ll also head up to the Bakossi Highlands. Here your leader will have to go the extra mile and perform a bizarre libation ceremony at a local village. This will include drinking a beer at 5 am in order to gain access to the forests.

Day 15: Mount Kupé to Douala. Today we return to Douala, where the main tour ends, or you may choose to join our Korup forest extension. (Note: the 2009 tour includes the night on Day 15 in Douala)

Day 16: (2009 only). Departure or begin extension.

Korup NP extension (6 days)

Korup National Park was established in 1986 and holds 782 square miles (1259 sq km) of unique lowland rainforest. This forest refugium survived the Ice Ages that impacted the remainder of central Africa, and it supports a greater diversity of plant and animal species than comparable forests elsewhere in Africa. It is estimated to be more than 60 million years old, and supports more than 400 tree species, 425 birds, 174 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 140 species of fish.

One of the most exciting and primeval forests in Africa, we cross the bridge at the Mana River, and enter this phenomenal ecosystem. Our guide, porters and cooks head off with us for a five night stay in basic huts hidden in thick forest alongside a trickling stream. We´ll visit one of the new Red-headed Picathartes colonies that the Tropical Birding/KREO project has located within the park. Apart from the bewildering picathartes, this area is filled with many interesting inhabitants including Rachel’s Malimbe, Vermiculated Fishing-Owl, Sjostedt’s Owlet, and a plethora of other exciting birds including massive casqued hornbills, skulking alethes, ant-thrushes, forest robins, broadbills, bee-eaters, trogons, bulbuls, greenbuls, bristlebills and akalats.

Tour Info:

CLIMATE: Ranges from hot and dry in the Sahel to chilly and damp in the mountains, hot and humid in Korup.

DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate in the north. A few hikes in the southwest are strenuous. Korup requires substantial fitness.

ACCOMMODATION: Basic to moderate with private bath. Basic hut accommodations in the Korup extension.