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  Djubouti bird watching map
Visit Djibouti Nature´s web page: https://djiboutinature.org/ for much information about birding in Djibouti
Thursday 6th of September 2018 and I was out of the bed at 4 o´clock when my alarm went off. I was pretty excited to get to see Djibouti. I was less excited doing my morning tea, the kettle wasn´t working. I had the maintenance staff running around here all morning and I managed to get a cup of tea before I went down to meet my Guide at 5 o´clock. We will drive to the Day Forest National Park and we expect it to take 2 to 3 hours to reach Day Forest National Park, Goda Mountains and the last 25 km is up the mountains on a track, at best a gravel road in some areas, otherwise it is off road. So this promise to be exciting.  5 o´clock in the morning and they wait for me
 5 o´clock in the morning and they wait for me
 Leaving Acacias Hotel behind
 Driving through the city of Djibouti early morning
 We´re on the highway
We left Acacias Hotel and the driver turned off the radio. I asked why he turned off the music. - It is not music, it is someone reading from the Koran - Please, turn it on again We drove through an almost city centre and when we came on the highway it was a different story. Already when I was flying in to Djibouti I was wondering “what the duck?” Looked like millions of trucks parked outside the city. And the highway was full of trucks. Ethiopia is landlocked and all the goods they import or export is coming through Djibouti. 1000 trucks per day are coming from Ethiopia and 1000 trucks are leaving Djibouti for Ethiopia. So it is a lot of trucks on the roads. And they charge, I think, 20 US per truck so it is 40 000 US per day. And the highway was in good condition. We were hauling arse and the day started to break around 6 o´clock. I opened the window to take picture and it stank of diesel. I discovered a tanker laying across the road and the diesel was running out the tanker along the road.  Day is breaking and I can soon start to take pictures
 A tanker across the road
 A tanker across the road
 Diesel pouring out on the road
 People are coming running with buckets to collect diesel
 People are coming running with buckets to collect diesel
 We have to make a D-tour as the road was closed
 The tanker blocking the road
We have to make a D-tour around the accident and we were soon back on the highway. And we see containers all along the highway that have felt off the trucks. And when you see how they have secured the containers you won’t be surprised to see them laying along the highway. There is really just stone, rocks and sand for as long as I can see, but I really liked the landscape. Really beautiful and I was in the back enjoying the trip.
Djubouti bird watching map
Visit Djibouti Nature´s web page: https://djiboutinature.org/ for much information about birding in Djibouti
  Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
  Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
 We stop to look at a pigeon
 2018 and people still lives in huts
 We stop to take a picture of a Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul but we get a camel on the picture
 2018 and people still lives in huts
  Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
 Approaching a bridge
     Ghoubbet-el-Kharab and the Devil's Islands
 Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
   We drive along and suddenly, I tell the driver to stop and go back. I had seen a deer on the road side. We put the car in reverse and we could soon see that it was a Pelzelns Gazelle, well, my Guide told me it was a Gazelle and I looked up the internet when I was back at the hotel and I´m almost sure it was a Dorcas Gazelle. Wikipedia only list 2 different gazelles in Djibouti: Dorcas Gazelle and the giraffe gazelle So the day had started good and I hope to see more wildlife in the mountains. It is only stone and rocks and not much vegetation but Djibouti have, not a lot, but there are some exciting wildlife around. And I hope to see some of the wild life.
 Dorcas Gazelle
 Dorcas Gazelle
 Dorcas Gazelle
 Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
 Driving towards Goda Mountains and the Day Forest National Park, Acacias Hotel
  300 US Dollars per day for the car plus 200 ++ US per day for the hotel so it sets me back by about 600 US per day to visit Djibouti, but this is a once in a life time thing. And how many people have been to Djibouti and the Horn of Africa. So it is worth every dollar. We drive through a dramatic landscape. Desert, mountains and volcanic landscape. We drive through an old lava river from the last eruption back in 1970´s.
I told my Guide that it looked like Iceland and he told me, and we passed their camp a little later on. Anyway, he told me that there was a group from Iceland building a geothermal power that will be run by the underground steam. And it was a very nice experience to drive through the lava river. Amazing the amount of lava that had come out from the volcano. Good if they can build a geothermal power and they can use clean energy to run the country, well, I hope they can learn not to throw away garbage where ever they stand. Anyway, we reached a dust road and we left the highway behind, now we have 25 km on a very rough stretch to reach the forest reserve on top of the road.  We reach the dust road and time to leave the highway
 Only two worn signs marking the dust road
 We´re going to drive up the Goda Mountains on the dust road
 We´re going to drive up the Goda Mountains on the dust road
 We´re going to drive up the Goda Mountains on the dust road
 We left the highway and I was surprised, the dust road was not bad. My Guide had told me that it would be a very rough road. We drove for a kilometre or two and BOOM! The road was gone and we were driving on the bottom of a dry river/ stream and it was a very rocky and bumpy road. It was changing between a good dust road and rocks and we didn´t make any speed to write home about. The driver and the Guide was excusing for the bad road, I only said “ass massage” and we were laughing. Well, if you want to see wilderness you cannot expect it to be a comfy trip.  Going up Goda Mountains
 Going up Goda Mountains
 Going up Goda Mountains
 Going up Goda Mountains
 Some kind of squirrel
 Some kind of squirrel
 We stop to look for birds
 Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
 We reach a small village and we spot a few birds around a well. I was not to happy about the pictures as the distance was too far. There was a beautiful pigeon that was red around the eyes that I had never seen before. But the pigeon took off and I never got any pictures. We took off towards the forest but we stopped after 10 meters and I got out of the car. There were plenty birds around a water tap in the village. I walked away from the tap to be able to come back with the sun in the back. I spotted a few birds that I had never seen before. I tried to get pictures of the red eyes pigeon and the Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul when I, suddenly had a yellow bird in front of me. A bird that I had never seen before. It was a very beautiful bird and I got two pictures that I could use. When I was back at the hotel I looked up the bird on the internet and it was a Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula.     Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
  Speckled Pigeon
 The village
 A donkey shows up and scare all th ebirds
 Juvenile Rüppell's weaver
 Juvenile Rüppell's weaver
I wanted to record the sound of the Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul and I went back to the car to get my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder. I get back to make the recording, BOOM! Suddenly there is a guy driving thousands of goats through the village so the record is for sure nothing I can upload to the www.xeno-canto.org. But I was very happy about the birds, 3 new birds that I had never seen before: 1) Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul (I had seen several on the way here but today was the first time) 2) Speckled Pigeon 2) Rüppell's weaver I had seen the Laughing dove in India when I was in Tadoba to look for tigers. The recording was not good enough for www.xeno-canto.org. but I can keep it for my self and you can listen to it below. Just click on the play icon. Trying to record an Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul when they suddenly
comes with thousands of goats along the dust path next to me  We left the village and after a few minutes the road was blocked by all the goats that had destroyed my recording. It was a little bit of a bother to get passed the goats. It is really not a road to talk about. But we managed to pass the goats and we continued up the Goda Mountains. We saw some birds, mostly the Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul. We also passed some baboons on the way and they were scared when we came, a good sign, they are not used to humans. Scared baboons so I never got any good pictures of the baboons. Well, we had seen a Gazelle, Squirrels and now baboons so this have turned out to a real safari.  Goats are blocking the road
 Goats are blocking the road
 We see a Grey sunbird
      Baboons
 Baboons
 More goats
       Finally, we can see our destination, the forest
It took us about 2 hours to reach the forest. We had to stop at a military check-point to report that we were going to visit the forest. It took us a few minutes to report and we were on our way again. We left the road and we drove in to the forest. Forest, it was not what I had expected, looked like a forest of ghost trees as most of the trees looked to be dead. We drove through the forest and we reached the end of the mountain. We walked along the edge without seeing any birds. We could hear some bird but we didn´t spotted any.  The forest, not what I had expected
 The forest, not what I had expected
 The forest, not what I had expected
 The forest, not what I had expected
 View from the edge of the mountain
 View from the edge of the mountain
 View from the edge of the mountain
 Forest
There is a village just outside the forest and according to my guide this is the only place in Djibouti you can find the Hemprich's Hornbill. And they were flying around in the village, used to people but too scared to get real close, well, I was close enough but the bird was always sitting so I had the bird between me and the sun. Not a good situation when you take pictures. But I was happy to have seen the beautiful bird. And the pictures turned out to be OK   Hemprich's Hornbill
 Egyptian Vulture
 Hemprich's Hornbill
 Hemprich's Hornbill
 Hemprich's Hornbill
 Hemprich's Hornbill
 Hemprich's Hornbill
 Our hero in the Hornbill village
 Campemente Foret Du Day
 “Rough accommodation ” at Campemente Foret Du Day
We move on to the camping, Campemente Foret Du Day further down the dust past. It is a camp place with “rough accommodation ” as they call it. I spotted a Grey Sunbird and there were several Common Bulbuls / Somali Bulbuls that I wanted to record with my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder. We had seen a white and black, very beautiful Egyptian Vulture when we took the pictures of the Hemprich's Hornbill. The pictures was of course not any good. We could see 2 brown birds of prey from the campsite, Campemente Foret Du Day. The pictures of the Grey Sunbird we spotted when we arrived was shit but I never found the bird again. I had managed to get my recording of the Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul and it was time to drive back to Acacias Hotel in Djibouti city  Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
 Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
 Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
Listen to the Common Bulbul / Somali Bulbul
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
  Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
 Driving back to Djibouti City
We left Day Forest National Park and we started to drive down the Goda Mountains and I was not looking forward to the bumpy ride. But it went kind of quick as we didn´t stopped to look for birds or to take any pictures. It was very nice when we reached the paved road and we could make good speed going back to Djibouti. And we were the only car on the road, I think we meet 2 cars on the road # RN9 going back to Djibouti City and Acacias Hotel. But when we reached the highway RN1 between Djibouti and Ethiopia the road was full of trucks. We drove along road #R9 following Gulf of Tadjoura and Lake Ghoubet. And again, we drove through the lava landscape. We made a few stops to take pictures on the way.  Back on the paved road # RN9
 Back on the paved road # RN9
 Back on the paved road # RN9
 Long empty roads
 Long empty roads
 Long empty roads
 Long empty roads
   We reach the lava landscape
 View over Lake Ghoubet
 View over Lake Ghoubet
 View over Lake Ghoubet
  Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
 Lava from Ardoukoba volcano
We leave the volcano area behind and we can see sand blowing around when we pass the desert area. I pillars of sand blowing around. We leave road #RN9 behind when we reach road # RN1. We stop at a look out point before we reach #RN1 to look out over Lake Ghoubet.        The road where we came from the look out
 Lake Ghoubet from the look out
 Lake Ghoubet from the look out
 Lake Ghoubet from the look out
     We passed the tanker that was blocking the road this morning. They were pumping the diesel to another tanker. Of course, there were plenty people with buckets. Back in Djibouti city and we stopped at a Supermarket. They had Pepsi MAX and I bought a bag. Back in the car and I opened the can, a small sip and the content went out the window. That was a terrible Pepsi MAX We tried to buy a SIM card for me but they needed my passport so we skipped this idea. They dropped me at the hotel and I´m soon to discover that I have forgoten my phone in the car.  They will be back at 5 o´clock tomorrow morning to pick me up and we will drive to Ali Sabieh and Assamo Garden to look for birds. Clcik HERE to find out if we see any birds.    Visit Alternativ för Sverige's You Tube channel by clicking HERE
 If you cannot reach their channel, or see some of their videos, it is because of the censorship. China!!?? NO NO, it is Sweden 2018!!
    
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