Lovin' Liberia - A Week in Sapo National Park, January 2024

[Pictus Safaris]

I'm very fortunate to have just returned from a week in one of Africa's least visited destinations - Liberia. Only having started issuing tourist visas a few years ago, it's no surprise that this West African country is hardly a fixture on the safari circuit. As such, I thought a very brief few posts on the visit may be a helpful resource for those on the forum (or at least of passing interest!). I'll start with a bit of background on Liberia and Sapo National Park, before moving on to discuss the logistics of a visit to the country and park and, finally, what wildlife we saw. More to follow soon...

 

[TonyQ]

Should be interesting! I confess I had to check the map to see the location of Liberia.

[Pictus Safaris]

20 hours ago, TonyQ said:

Should be interesting! I confess I had to check the map to see the location of Liberia.

 

Thanks Tony - I suspect you won't be alone in that regard!

 

A Background to Liberia and Sapo:

 

So, where on earth is Liberia?

 

 

Nestled on West Africa's Atlantic coast, Liberia sits between Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. It's not a particularly large country - about the size of the state of Virginia - and is dominated by rainforest. The capital, Monrovia, is home to about 1.8 million people (roughly a third of the total population of Liberia of 5.5 million). As you might expect, Monrovia is on the coast and is really the only settlement with any substantial infrastructure, including the country's only international airport, paved roads and westernised accommodation. Other, much smaller cities, include Gbarnga and Buchanan.

 

Liberia is often mentioned in the same breath as an example of a country never to have been colonised. I suppose whether this is true or not depends on one's definition of 'colonisation', but is hard to argue that Liberia was not in fact colonised, albeit in an unusual way. Like many territories in the region between the 15th and 17th centuries, what is now Liberia was plundered repeatedly by British, Portuguese and Dutch 'explorers', earning the name of the 'Pepper Coast' or 'Grain Coast'. Where things get unusual is that Liberia was selected as a geography to which the "American Colonization (sic) Society" would send freed American slaves. The reasons for this seems to be fairly complex but, essentially, there was a fear that freed slaves in the US would pose a risk of rebellion against slave-owners - sending slaves 'back' to Africa was a way to prevent such rebellions from happening. This wasn't unique to Liberia and, in fact, there were several areas in Africa and Latin America to which American slaves were sent from 1822 onwards.

 

The arrival of 'Americo-Liberians' was bad news for the indigenous peoples of Liberia. Violent clashes were commonplace, devastating outbreaks of disease affected both the colonisers and the indigenous chiefdoms, and many indigenous people were enslaved. By 1847, Liberia was declared independent, although only recognised by a few other nations. Strong ties with the US were in evidence, with the striped flag reminiscent of the US being adopted, and a consitution drafted along the same principles as the US constitution. Monrovia, interestingly, is one of only two world capitals to be named after a US president.

 

For a long time, including during the World Wars, Liberia punched above its weight economically and diplomatically. This was largely down to assistance from the US. Liberia was a founding member of the UN, and one of the only African states to be signatories to many international treaties. The economy grew strongly until, as has so often been the case in West Africa, political instability took hold.

 

I consider myself fairly lucky that my relative youth (which seems to be evaporating alarmingly quickly) perhaps frees me from some pre-conceptions when it comes to territories like Liberia. I'm sure for many forum members, Liberia conjures up images of the deeply turbulent period the country faced between 1980 and 2003. Most famously, Liberia seems to be known for child soldiers and blood diamonds during this time. A military coup in 1980 led to brutal repression of opposition figures, including mass executions. Charles Taylor, now infamous as a war criminal, was supported by neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire in launching a further coup d'etat in 1989. Over the course of the next seven years, up to 100,000 Liberians died and over 700,000 were displaced - across the country, people took to the forests to protect themselves from the warring factions, with ECOWAS intervention largely fruitless. Charles Taylor was elected as President in 1997 after a tenuous peace deal was signed in 1995, but this remained a dark period in the country's history. Violence remained prevalent, with blood diamonds and pillaging of timber and wildlife from the country's forests supporting both Taylor's government, but also funding the ongoing civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. 

 

In 1999, the Second Liberian Civil War reared its ugly head as a rebel group based in Guinea launched a prolonged assault on Taylor's government. This lasted until 2003, when peace talks (pushed for by the famously women-led Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement) bore fruit. Taylor resigned and went into exile (he would later be put on trial in The Hague for war crimes) and the 2005 elections brough Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to power. She was the first female head of state elected in Africa and would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, although she is certainly not without several skeletons in her closet. Subsequent presidents have included George Weah, famed as a world-class footballer, and Josep Boakai was elected last year and was formally sworn in in January. These peaceful transfers of power are certainly encouraging and the future for Liberia looks brighter than it has for some time.

 

Sapo National Park is located in east-central Liberia, a drive of about 200 miles from Monrovia. 

 

 

The park's history is, like Liberia's, an interesting and turbulent one. Formally gazetted in 1983, the park for a long time was the only national park in all of Liberia - in fact, if you tell most Liberians nowadays you are going to Sapo you will get a blank stare, but mention 'the national park' and they will know exactly where you are talking about. Excellent work by the WCF (more about that later) has now allowed the Grebo-Krahn National Park to be set up, and there are plans to gazette the Krahn-Bassa National Park, although these have been thrown into ucnertainty by Boakai's election.

 

The park was initially well protected, with multiple international NGOs including WWF developing park infrastructure. However, the civil wars were disastrous for Sapo. All park infrastructure was destroyed, park employees were killed, and logging and poaching were commonplace. Almost all surrounding communities took refuge in the park, relying on bushmeat to support thousands of people. Gold panning polluted the waterways and Sapo, despite being the second-largest area of protected primary rainforest in West Africa after Tai in Cote d'Ivoire, saw much of its natural wealth extirpated.

 

Following the end of the Second Civil War, the park was expanded in area significantly, and efforts were undertaken to remove people from within the park boundaries - this took until 2005. In recent years, FFI (now known as FF) have taken an active role in managing the park in partnership with the Liberian government. Now, though, this role seems to have been taken on by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, who have set up accommodation just outside the park. More to follow on the logistics of arranging a visit to this special part of the world.

[wilddog]

This is so interesting. Thank you @Pictus Safaris

[Pictus Safaris]

Glad this is of interest, @wilddog!

 

Logistics:

 

Getting to Liberia is, in itself, more difficult than it is to get to many other destinations on the continent. There is only one flight from Europe to the capital, Monrovia, which is with Brussels Airlines from, unsurprisingly, Brussels. Currently this flight stops over in Freetown in neighbouring Sierra Leone, which turns what should be a six-and-a-half hour flight into one of over eight hours - the return, at least, is direct to Brussels. The only other realistic option for travellers from Europe/North America would be to transit through Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc. If you can make this work, I'd recommend it over Brussels, who seem to be the carrier of choice for Chinese mining companies, and that brings with it some fairly unpleasant behaviour on their flights. Still, Brussels Airlines have made improvements in recent years, and are of course much more reliable than carriers such as Ethiopian. Other options into Monrovia include ASKY, Air Cote d'Ivoire, Air Peace and Kenya Airways - the airport is no longer served by British Airways, Delta or Air France.

 

The airport itself is small and fairly easy to navigate. Yellow fever certificates are checked. Visas, at least in the UK, are easy enough to acquire - the Liberian embassy was efficient even over the Christmas period, and required little more than an application form and a letter of invitation. For those who live in countries without permanent Liberian consular representation, there is a visa on arrival letter that must be filled out before you travel by whomever is inviting you.

 

Monrovia is a long old way from the airport. Expect a drive of at least 90 minutes, and more in traffic. The road is paved, although undergoing reconstruction in long sections, and the driving standards are appalling. For some reason, all drivers have their headlights permanently on full-beam, blinding everyone coming in the other direction - any drive in Liberia is hair-raising.

 

Accommodation in Monrovia:

 

In Monrovia, I stayed at the excellent Libassa Ecolodge, who have partnered with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation to design and build the Sapo Ecolodge. Libassa itself is a very popular beachside hotel to the east of the capital. The owner is French, so the food is (unsurprisingly) very good, rooms are comfortable and the hotel has a well-kept swimming pool. The nearby beach is lovely, and the hotel focusses on its eco-friendly credentials unrelentingly - it even owns its own wildlife sanctuary nearby. Libassa has now opened Kokon Ecolodge, which we will use in future, which is a slightly more remote, out-of-the-way ecolodge that should offer some real solitude away from Monrovia. 

 

Getting to Sapo:

 

It is unusual to be trying to get to Sapo - ecotourism is nascent here. The drive is an extremely tough one, lasting anywhere from six hours on a motorbike in the dry season to upwards of 15 hours in a 4x4 in the wet season. The estimate we were given was ten hours.

 

The route from Libassa takes you first north-east back towards the airport (around an hour), and then south-east towards the city of Buchanan, where the tar stops. Google tells you this should be a drive of 6.5 hours, but as always in Africa this is best ignored. By good fortune, perhaps, the dirt road from Buchanan to the River Cess Crossing was freshly graded by Chinese vehicles - presumably for logging or mining access. It was a shame to see tracks already being ploughed into the rainforest either side of the road, but it meant that the drive from Buchanan to the crossing took only two hours, and I often looked across to our speedometer to see us at over 90km/h. 

 

 

The road after the River Cess crossing was 'au natural' - heavily rutted, with plenty of deep water and mud to navigate - and it is easy to forget that this is classed as a 'highway' and serves as the main route linking Monrovia with the city of Greenville. A 4x4 is absolutely necessary, as well as an experienced driver. In the wet season, it is fair to say that the route is likely to become impassable as trucks get stuck and block the road - I wouldn't attempt the drive any earlier in the season than January. MAF, which many forum members will be familiar with, do operate in Liberia and a real boon for Sapo would be taking advantage of these flights to bring clients to Greenville, from where it is just two hours's drive to Sapo. MAF are pretty picky about who they fly nowadays, though, which is fair enough, so I doubt there is much of a future partnership there. The best solution might be a boat connection from Monrovia to Greenville, but this requires significant further exploration.

 

Once you finally emerge at the intersection with the road to Greenville, it is then just an hour to Jalay Town (for reasons unknown, referred to as 'Jatia Town' on Google) - this final stretch is a good dirt road. In all, the drive took us eight hours, with an hour wasted in Buchanan looking for fuel.

 

Jalay is the location of the Sapo National Park Headquarters, accessed down a jungle track, and signposted fairly well. On arrival, the park management take park fees from you and assign you a guide - as happens so often in West Africa, our expression of interest in particular species (zebra duiker primarily) meant we were charged top dollar as 'researchers'. You are then 'blessed' in a meeting with local villagers, for which a donation is expected, before you embark on the 45-minute walk to the edge of the national park and Sapo Ecolodge.

 

Accommodation in Sapo:

 

Sapo Ecolodge was built in 2019, and is the only permanent accommodation serving the park. It is situated just outside the park boundaries, overlooking the Sinoe River, and consists of three wooden cabins. It is sometimes marketed as 'luxury' - this is a bit of a stretch, but it is certainly some of the best forest accommodation in West Africa, on a par with Ecotel Touraco in Tai and Ankasa Forest Lodge in Ghana. Each cabin has a double bed with a mosquito net, a flush toilet, electricity, a cold shower and plenty of space. There is a communal area where meals are served - at the moment, only local fare is served, and the portion sizes are truly humungous. We only ate breakfast and dinner as a result. Expect plenty of plantains, canned fish, rice and egg - by and large, this was all passable, although canned sardines for breakfast was a low point. For those wishing to camp, covered camping platforms are also available, with shared toilet and shower facilities.

 

All in all, the Ecolodge is a huge step forwards for Sapo. It does not offer anything like a luxury East African experience, and indeed is a far cry from, for example, the Odzala camps run by Kamba (formally CCC). But, by the standards of the region, the work done by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation with the local community is admirable and extremely impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weather:

 

January is the dry season, but this is the rainforest. It rained torrentially just twice during our week's stay. It was hotter than usual, with highs in the mid-30s, and it never got below 28 degrees or so. The early morning was the only time at which the temperate could be considered comfortable. Most mornings began with a thick mist, which generally lifted over the course of the day, but it usually remained cloudy - the white sky and dark forest made decent photography almost impossible. If a day passes without sun, as happened several times during our stay, the solar-powered pumps do not work and your room will be without water.

 

Money:

 

The official currency in Liberia is the Liberian Dollar (LRD) - $1 equates to about 200 LRD. We never had to use any currency other than USD, including for gratuities. 

 

Language:

 

English is the official language in Liberia, but the local dialect is extremely difficult to understand - I only catch about a third of what is said on a good day. Luckily, the local team do make a special effort to slow themselves down when speaking to visitors, and communication was never a major issue.

[Kitsafari]

super! another fascinating adventure by @Pictus Safaris into a most remote and interesting country/park. Absolutely looking forward to riding along with you. 

[lmSA84]

These types of reports are fascinating! Thanks for sharing 

[Pictus Safaris]

Thanks @Kitsafariand @lmSA84, great to be able to share this forest with you.

 

As I say, I won't go into a day-by-day of my time in Sapo - the routine was very similar each day. Instead, I'll focus on what was seen (and what could be reasonably expected to be seen) and divide this into four segments: Forest mammals, community mammals, river birding and forest birding.

 

Forest Mammals:

 

So, the chances are if you've made it to Sapo that you'll be keen to make it into the national park, rather than look across the river into it from the ecolodge. If so, you're in luck. The guide assigned to you will paddle you across to the park each morning, and you're free to explore the trails with them throughout the day - we even easily secured permission to walk the forest at night (although we opted not to). There is no permanent research presence in the park, so the trails are not as clear as, say, Tai - in short, walking conditions are challenging, with plenty of rivers to cross, logs to vault and swamps to navigate. This shouldn't dissuade most potential visitors, and you'd be fine provided you have a high level of physical fitness, but you should be prepared to spend most of your time looking at your feet rather than scanning for mammals.

 

This, combined with the fact that mammal densities are lower than in areas like Tai due to prolonged conflict and habitation of the park, means that the wildlife-watching requires dedication and effort. Our key targets were rare forest duikers, most notably zebra and Jentink's, that we have seen in Tai but suspect occur in higher densities in Sapo.  The tactics for 'locating' these duikers are twofold; firstly, and most productively, locating feeding monkeys was a great bet, as the fruit dropped to the forest floor is consumed readily by duikers. Secondly, finding dry, hilly areas with significant amounts of duiker sign and waiting near confluences of game trails was also sometimes worthwhile. The first tactic was richly rewarded on our first day, with extremely brief views of the wonderful zebra duiker, and longer but obscured views of a fleeing bay duiker enjoyed. These would be our only sightings of these species during the tour, despite our guide seeing a further pair of zebra duiker. The second tactic offered excellent views of a confiding Brooke's duiker, by far the best encounter of the tour. We disturbed plenty of other duikers during the tour, but never got a visual. Maxwell's duiker are expected to be by far the most numerous species in the forest, but none were seen (not helped by opting not to walk the forest at night) - black duiker, yellow-backed duiker and Jentink's duiker are present but were also not encountered.

 

Brooke's Duiker, Cephalophus brookei

 

Primates are another big draw to this part of the world, and the diversity is high, although most species were extremely skittish. This appears to be a particular stronghold for sooty mangabey and Campbell's monkey which were seen well, albeit fleeing at pace. Western red colobus were the most commonly encountered primate in the park, followed by spot-nosed monkey which were usually in the company of diana monkeys. There is a healthy population of chimpanzee in the park but we saw no sign of them, and olive colobus and king colobus were both missed.

 

Western Red Colobus, Piliocolobus badius

 

When sat quietly in the forest, we were also fortunate to encounter common cusimanse, a delightful little carnivore - I had hoped that Liberian mongoose may make an appearance, but no luck. Squirrels, in particular forest giant squirrel, were extremely common, with one red-legged sun squirrel seen.

 

Community Mammals:

 

Much of one's downtime at the lodge is spent staring out at the Sinoe River bordering the park. The birding was good, but a particular highlight was an African clawless otter torpedoing itself onto the far bank of the river - the freshwater crab shells littering the rocks mid-river indicated this chap was a frequent visitor. 

 

African Clawless Otter, Aonyx capensis

 

The forest between Jalay Town and the ecolodge is referred to as 'community side', as it is not part of the national park. We selected these, much more open, trails for night walks every other night or so, and these were surprisingly productive. A highlight was an excellent look at two water chevrotain, truly a beautiful little creature. We also recorded good views of West African potto and African brush-tailed porcupine. The calls of western tree hyrax and galagos were commonplace each night, but we really struggled for sightings - a single Demidoff's dwarf galago was seen on the last night. A stunning specimen of an Emin's pouched rat was encountered one evening. 

 

West African Potto, Peredicticus potto

 

By day, this trail was occasionally used for birding, which revealed the presence of black-bellied pangolin and fire-footed rope squirrel.

 

River Birding:

 

The river birding in Sapo was good, but not nearly as prolific as in Tai. Permanently in residence in front of the lodge were rock pratincoles and Cassin's flycatchers. Frequently seen were palm-nut vultures overhead, as well as yellow-casqued hornbills, yellow-billed turacos, great blue turacos, white-browed forest flycatchers, common sandpiper, brown sunbirds, western bronze-naped pigeon and white-bibbed swallows. Boat trips upstream are available, and highly recommended, as the river becomes narrower and the birding improves. African pygmy kingfisher, spot-breasted ibis, hadada ibis, Cassin's spinetail and more were all reliably seen. Back at the lodge, giant kingfisher and shining-blue kingfisher made regular appearances, and perhaps the best of the bunch was a pair of African finfoot, common here as they are in almost every river system in West Africa.

 

White-Bibbed Swallow, Hirundo nigrita

 

Hadada Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash

 

Rock pratincole, Glareola nuchalis

 

Western Bronze-Naped Pigeon, Columba iriditorques

 

African Finfoot, Podica senegalensis

 

Palm-Nut Vulture, Gypohierax angolensis

 

Shining-Blue Kingfisher, Alcedo quadribrachys

 

White-Browed Forest Flycatcher, Fraseria cinerascens

 

Giant Kingfisher, Megaceryle maxima

 

Forest Birding:

 

The forest birding in Sapo was, at times, spectacular - and far superior to much of Gola and Tai. The highlight was undoubtedly immediate views of a mixed flock containing Gola malimbe, shining drongo and a western wattled cuckooshrike on the trail to Vera's Camp, a campsite/old research station within the park boundaries. There were several more open areas of forest on this trail, and one could easily spend hours at any one of these as mixed flocks make their way through. Blue-billed malimbe, red-headed malimbe, green hylia, Fraser's sunbird, yellow-whiskered greenbul, whistling long-tailed cuckoo, red-fronted antpecker, capuchin babbler, grey longbill, white-tailed alethe, western nicator, brown illadopsis, red-tailed bristlebill, spotted greenbul, chestnut-capped flycatcher, lesser honeyguide and Timneh parrot were all seen whilst sat quietly in these areas. Photography was immensely difficult, but I'm certain that more skilled and patient birding photographers would leave with some excellent shots.

 

The trails around the lodge produced blue-breasted kingfisher, blue-headed wood-dove, white-crested hornbill, black-casqued hornbill and dwarf black hornbill. 

 

Whilst the drives between the park and Monrovia did not allow for much birding, we still recorded piping hornbill, West African pied hornbill, chestnut-and-black weaver, white-throated bee-eater, blue-spotted wood-dove, northern grey-headed sparrow, little egret and western cattle egret. Libassa ecolodge produced whiskered tern, African green pigeon, common ringed plover and common bulbul.

 

Yellow-Casqued Hornbill, Ceratogymna elata

Edited February 12 by Pictus Safaris

[Pictus Safaris]

Summary:

 

Overall, then, a visit to Sapo NP is, for now, recommended primarily for the most intrepid and enthusiastic birders, or perhaps those mammal-watchers desperately seeking a glimpse of zebra duiker. Photographers will either need an extended period in the forest, or a big slice of luck, to leave with the quality of photo one might be used to in more open forests. For those seeking the most 'bang for your buck' in the West African forests, Tai NP is for now absolutely your best bet for quantity of species and quality of sightings. But the unfettered access we currently have to Tai will not be possible forever, and Sapo is certainly emerging as a real contender over the next few years for those seeking a high-quality wilderness experience in the region.

 

As always, more than happy to answer any questions here (or by pm) about Sapo, and I'll use this thread to provide any pertinent updates about Sapo that may be useful for those planning travel to the park.

 

Mammal List - 25 species:

 

Species	Scientific Name	Location(s)*
Carnivora – 4 species
African Clawless Otter	Aonyx capensis	SNP
Common Cusimanse	Crossarchus obscurus	SNP
Egyptian Mongoose	Herpestes ichneumon	ER
Common Slender Mongoose	Herpestes sanguineus	ER
Cetartiodactyla – 4 species
Brooke’s Duiker	Cephalophus brookei	SNP
Bay Duiker	Cephalophus dorsalis	SNP
Zebra Duiker	Cephalophus zebra	SNP
Water Chevrotain	Hyemoschus aquaticus	SEL
Chiroptera – 4 species
Buettikofer’s Epauletted Fruit Bat	Epomops buettikoferi	SEL
Little Collared Fruit Bat	Myonycteris torquata	SEL
Veldkamp’s Dwarf Epauletted Fruit Bat	Nanonycteris veldkampii	SEL
Banana Pipistrelle Bat	Neoromicia nanus	SEL
Pholidota – 1 species
Black-Bellied Pangolin	Phataginus tetradactyla	Withheld
Primates – 7 species
Sooty Mangabey	Cercocebus atys	SNP
Campbell’s Monkey	Cercopithecus campbelli	SEL, SNP
Diana Monkey	Cercopithecus diana	SNP
Spot-Nosed Monkey	Cercopithecus petaurista	SEL, SNP
Demidoff’s Dwarf Galago	Galagoides demidoff	SEL
West African Potto	Perodicticus potto	SEL
Western Red Colobus	Piliocolobus badius	SNP
Rodentia – 5 species
African Brush-Tailed Porcupine	Atherurus africanus	SEL
Emin’s Pouched Rat	Cricetomys emini	SEL
Fire-Footed Rope Squirrel	Funisciurus pyrropus	SEL
Red-Legged Sun Squirrel	Heliosciurus rufobrachium	SNP
Forest Giant Squirrel	Protoxerus stangeri	SNP

^{*LEL – Libassa Ecolodge, ER – En route to Sapo NP, SEL.- Sapo Ecolodge, SNP – Sapo National Park}

 

Bird List - 75 species:

 

Species	Scientific Name	Location(s)*
Accipitriformes – 6 species
Red-Chested Goshawk	Accipiter toussenelli	SNP
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle	Aquila africana	SEL, SNP
Palm-Nut Vulture	Gypohierax angolensis	ER, SEL
Yellow-Billed Kite	Milvus aegyptius	LEL, ER, SEL
African Harrier-Hawk	Polyboroides typus	ER, SEL
Long-Tailed Hawk	Urotriorchis macrourus	SEL
Apodiformes – 3 species
Little Swift	Apus affinis	SEL
Common Swift	Apus apus	SEL
Cassin’s Spinetail	Neafrapus cassini	SEL
Bucerotiformes – 7 species
Brown-Cheeked Hornbill	Bycanistes cylindricus	SEL
Piping Hornbill	Bycanistes fistulator	ER
Black-Casqued Hornbill	Ceratogymna atrata	SEL
Yellow-Casqued Hornbill	Ceratogymna elata	ER, SEL, SNP
White-Crested Hornbill	Horizocerus albocristatus	SEL, SNP
Black Dwarf Hornbill	Horizoercus hartlaubi	SEL
West African Pied Hornbill		ER
Caprimulgiformes – 1 species
Plain Nightjar	Caprimulgus inornatus	LEL
Charadriiformes – 4 species
Common Sandpiper	Actitis hypoleucos	SEL
Common Ringed Plover	Charadrius hiaticula	LEL
Whiskered Tern	Chlidonias leucopterus	LEL
Rock Pratincole	Glareola nuchalis	SEL
Columbiformes – 5 species
Western Bronze-Naped Pigeon	Columba iriditorques	SEL
African Green Pigeon	Treron calvus	LEL
Blue-Spotted Wood-Dove	Turtur afer	ER
Blue-Headed Wood-Dove	Turtur brehmeri	SEL
Tambourine Dove	Turtur tympanistria	SEL
Coraciiformes – 6 species
Shining-Blue Kingfisher	Alcedo quadribrachys	SEL
Blue-Breasted Kingfisher	Halcyon malimbica	SEL
Woodland Kingfisher	Halcyon senegalensis	ER
African Pygmy Kingfisher	Ispidina picta	SEL
Giant Kingfisher	Megaceryle maxima	SEL
White-Throated Bee-Eater	Merops albicollis	ER
Cuculiformes – 1 species
Whistling Long-Tailed Cuckoo	Cercococcyx lemaireae	SNP
Gruiformes – 1 species
African Finfoot	Podica senegalensis	SEL
Musophagiformes – 2 species
Great Blue Turaco	Corythaeola cristata	SEL, SNP
Yellow-Billed Turaco	Tauraco macrorhynchus	SEL, SNP
Passeriformes –  32 species
White-Tailed Alethe	Alethe diademata	SNP
Mangrove Sunbird	Anthreptes gabonicus	SEL
Little Green Sunbird	Anthreptes seimundi	SEL, SNP
Black-Headed Rufous Warbler	Bathmocercus cerviniventris	SEL
Red-Tailed Bristlebill	Bleda syndactylus	SNP
Green-Backed Camaroptera	Camaroptera brachyura	SEL, SNP
Yellow-Browed Camaroptera	Camaroptera superciliaris	SNP
Pied Crow	Corvus albus	LEL, ER
Blue-Throated Brown Sunbird	Cynaomitra cyanolaema	SNP
Fraser’s Sunbird	Deleornis fraseri	SEL
Shining Drongo	Dicrurus atripennis	SNP
Velvet-Mantled Drongo	Dicrurus modestus	SNP
Rufous-Crowned Eremomela	Eremomela badiceps	SEL
Yellow-Whiskered Greenbul	Eurillas latirostris	SNP
White-Browed Forest Flycatcher	Fraseria cinerascens	SEL
Green Hylia	Hylia prasina	SEL, SNP
Brown Illadopsis	Illadopsis fulvescens	SNP
Spotted Greenbul	Ixonotus guttatus	SNP
Western Wattled Cuckooshrike	Lobotos lobatus	SNP
Grey Longbill	Macrosphenus concolor	SNP
Gola Malimbe	Malimbus ballmanni	SNP
Blue-Billed Malimbe	Malimbus nitens	SNP
Red-Headed Malimbe	Malimbus rubricollis	SNP
Western Yellow Wagtail	Motacilla flava	SEL
Cassin’s Flycatcher	Muscicapa cassini	SEL, SNP
Western Nicator	Nicator chloris	SNP
White-Breasted Nigrita	Nigrita fusconotus	SNP
Red-Fronted Antpecker	Parmoptila rubrifrons	SNP
Northern Grey-Headed Sparrow	Passer griseus	ER
Chestnut-and-Black Weaver	Ploceus castaneofuscus	ER
Common Bulbul	Pycnonotus barbatus	LEL
Capuchin Babbler	Turdoides atripennis	SNP
Pelecaniiformes – 5 species
Intermediate Egret	Ardea brachyrhyncha	ER
Hadada Ibis	Bostrychia hagedash	SEL
Spot-Breasted Ibis	Bostrychia rara	SEL
Western Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	ER
Little Egret	Egretta garzetta	ER
Piciformes – 1 species
Lesser Honeyguide	Indicator minor	SNP
Psittaciiformes – 1 species
Timneh Parrot	Psittacus timneh	SNP

^{*LEL – Libassa Ecolodge, ER – En route to Sapo NP, SEL.- Sapo Ecolodge, SNP – Sapo National Park}

 

[Kitsafari]

Thanks for the TR @Pictus Safaris 

[Atravelynn]

May others follow in your footsteps!  Thank you for sharing this unique report to Liberia.

[TonyQ]

A fascinating report, thank you @Pictus Safaris