The Search for Cousteau in Senegal and Gambia – Chapter 3

-URDAIBAI RESERVE- More than a year ago the osprey `Cousteau´ left Urdaibai and began his incredible migratory journey to Africa. Thanks to the satellite device which is attached to his back, we know that he is alive and well. He spends most of the time in an area 10km from Ziguinchor in the south of Senegal. The following chronicle narrates my travels in Senegal last autumn.

Friday 24th November

I awoke to the sound of birds outside my window.  There was a continual coming and going of storks carrying sticks to refurbish their nests or bringing mouthfuls of fish caught they had caught in the mangroves. Much as I would have liked to enjoy this spectacle for longer, I knew that I had to get on the road. From Ziguinchor I headed to Bignona and then on to Kafountine. The landscape was fairly similar there but there was a greater presence of mangroves and the area was more flooded. I spotted a couple of ospreys in the distance but they were too far away to photograph. I continued on my way and it wasn´t until midday that I reached my destination – the home of Sisi and Davo, a Spanish/Senegalese couple who have been my friends ever since.

Kafoutine has approximately 4000 inhabitants who make their living, in the main, from fishing. The port is little more than 1000m of beach upon which the fish is unloaded and nets are mended. Roughly 300 canoes, measuring 10 to 15m in length, bring in their catches every day.

Next to the beach there is a track lined with small buildings used for storing fish and doing business. At the end of the track are the fish driers and a storage area for the wood which is used in the smoking process. Fish smoking is on the increase and local forests are suffering the consequences. The area was buzzing with life. Flies were attracted by the fish and they in turn, brought in the cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis). They were great flocks of them flying around the fish driers snapping up as many insects as they could catch. The local people were also busy. In the morning they were hard at work mending the nets and the boats and I was able to get some good pictures. However, the most amazing sight took place in the evening when the boats came in to unload their catches. Hundreds of people came down to the shore driving donkey carts or carrying buckets to collect the fish and take it home. It was an incredibly colourful scene.

Saturday 25th November

A trip to the mangroves was in store and I had told the boat owner that setting off at dawn was of the utmost importance. Not only was I keen to avoid the worst heat of the day, but I wanted to take photos in the softest light. Despite my insistence, the man arrived an hour late and we then had to go in search of fuel. As a result, the sun was beating down by the time we set off. I had two plans for my trip into this immense area of mangroves and channels which stretches from Kafountine to the mouth of the River Casamance. I wanted to travel along the channels to an island where pelicans (Pelecanus rufescens) and spoonbills (Platalea alba) nest and also take as many photos of ospreys as possible. Perhaps one of them would be from the project. As soon as we started set out, I was able to photograph a Tota monkey (Cercopithecus aethiopis) which was at the tip of a dead tree.

I was also pleased with the diversity of species of birds that I saw, despite them being in small numbers. In addition to pelicans and spoonbills, I took pictures of water birds such as the reef heron (Egretta gularis), the African darter (Anhinga rufa) and the giant kingfisher (Megaceryle maxima).

A palm vulture flew over my head and, way above me, soared an African fish eagle. I also saw about 30 ospreys and was lucky enough to get a photo of one of them catching a mugil. I was less fortunate, however, when it came to reading the rings worn by the ospreys.  I only managed to make out one clearly. European ringers later informed me that the individual had been born in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany in 2012. We navigated the channels between the mangroves for four hours, covering only a small section of the huge expanse. However, it was soon time for us to return to the village.

When we got back, I accompanied the owner to his home in order to pay him. The family were about to eat when I arrived and they kindly invited me to join them. I accepted happily. Apart from me, the group was made up of my travelling companion, his wife, their teenage daughter, young child and the family grandmother. We gathered to eat on low benches around a pot of rice and fish. After we had finished, the head of the house washed, spread a rug on the floor of the patio and began to pray. It was fascinating to witness these everyday scenes of family life. Finally, I settled the accounts, thanked the family for their hospitality and bade them farewell in their language, Diola.   Abaraka! (Thank you) and Legi-legi (See you soon).

That afternoon, I was able to check out Cousteau´s new positions on the computer. Unfortunately, the information was most disheartening. Despite being in the Ziguinchor area, Cousteau had not returned to his usual locations. I didn´t have many days left so I decided to return to the places I had visited a few weeks previously.

Sunday 26th November

Before leaving at mid morning, I enjoyed the sight of some beautiful birds flying around Sisi´s house: the Senegal coucal (Centropus senegalensis), the steelblue widowfinch (Vidua chalybeata) and the Senegal firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala). I saw more birds on my way to Bignona and stopped to take pictures. I photographed two very beautiful species: the orange bishop (Euplectes franciscanus) and the Abysinnian roller. (Coracias abyssinicus). Having travelled about 100km, I arrived in Badioure. I got a room in the same hotel I had stayed in before and was greeted warmly by Veronic and Salif, two of the staff.

That evening I decided to try to locate Cousteau in an area situated at a considerable distance from the Trans-Gambia Highway. It was further downriver than the places I had explored a few days before. My journey took me 20km down a dirt track to the village of Santack, which is so far from the main road that its children have rarely, if ever, seen a white man. 

My presence did not go unnoticed! As I drove past the children shouted, “Tubah, tubah!” (White man, white man!) I felt like an animal in a zoo. When I had parked the car, some men approached me. They introduced themselves and one of them explained that he was the head of the village. I told him that I wanted to go to the river and take photos. It was decided that one of them would accompany me, which was very helpful as it prevented me from being surrounded by a huge group of curious adults and excited children. We set off immediately. Having crossed an area of houses and cereal fields dotted with large trees, we came to a palm forest and then the river. Despite the fact that it was only a tributary to the Casamance, the river´s floodplain was very large. The landscape was a patchwork of grasslands, rice fields and areas which were half covered with water. In the distance I could see some dead trees which would have been ideal perches for ospreys but there was no sign of Cousteau. I did, however, manage to photograph two beautiful black crowned cranes (Balearica pavonina) which raised my spirits a little.

Monday 27th November

I knew this was my last chance to find Cousteau before returning to Dakar. I decided to try my luck in the places he had visited most in the last few months. One of those was the baobab tree near the Trans-Gambia Highway and the other was the village of Mampalago.

As day broke, I set off on my search in the hope that Cousteau would have returned to his favourite spots and would still be resting. It was very early but there roads were busy, especially with children on their way to school. My first stop was at the baobab tree. The light there was incredible and as soon as I started walking I spotted two beautiful western red-billed hornbills sitting in a tree. They made the perfect photo. Some ducks and herons flew up out of the water, and were closely followed by a pair of sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). There wasn´t an osprey in sight, however.

The village of Mampalango was my last hope. Having made my way there, I parked the car and headed towards the river. As I was walking through a small wooded area, I realized that two youths were following me. This made me feel uneasy, to say the least. I decided to wait for the men to approach me and to ask them what they wanted. However, the situation was complicated and feeling increasingly uncomfortable I decided to leave. Before doing so I checked that there were no ospreys in the surrounding area.  As I drove out of the village I was stopped by a group of men and informed that it was forbidden to take photos without authorization. By this they meant without the permission of the head of the village. Seeing that things were taking a turn for the worst, I apologized profusely and left at the earliest opportunity. I headed north, making my way slowly towards Dakar. I felt very downhearted that I had not managed to find Cousteau. Crossing the border at Parafenni was relatively quick but I had to wait four hours to catch the ferry over the river Gambia and this slowed me down considerably. By nightfall I had reached Mbodiene, a small coastal village inside the Sine-Saloum National Park. In Le Thiosanne I got accommodation with a family I have known for many years.

Tuesday 28th November

The camp was situated next to an area of lagoons which stretches 8km north and is a favourite spot for ospreys. In 2013 I had been lucky enough to see Urdaibai there. This bird was one of the first ospreys from the project which was tracked with a satellite device. Hoping to get lucky again I spent the morning travelling up and down and the beach and saw approximately thirty ospreys. Most of them were perched on baobabs or on the mud itself and some were eating fish that they had captured in the sea. Unfortunately, it was impossible to see whether they were ringed.  Pelicans, herons and egrets were busy fishing and on the beach there were and whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) and grey headed gulls (Chroicocepahalus cirrocephalus).

A little further to the north on the road to Dakar, I reached the lagoons of Somone and Popenguine. They are also popular with ospreys.  Both the lagoons are used by people so the ospreys are used to humans. This makes photographing them a lot easier. It was here that I took my last picture of the journey; an osprey with a flying fish in its talons.