Situated on the Brikama Road less than 30 minutes’ drive from the northern beach resorts, Abuko Nature Reserve (http://www.thegambiawildlife.com/indexx.html; open: 06.30–18.00 daily; entrance £0.60), is a popular goal for day trips out of Greater Banjul, particularly with birdwatchers. Extending over a mere 1km², it is the oldest sanctuary in the country, initially set aside in 1916 as a catchment area providing fresh water to Banjul, gazetted as a nature reserve under the supervision of Eddie Brewer, first director of the Wildlife Department of The Gambia, in 1968, and extended to its present size in 1978. The most important habitat in Abuko is the rare remnant patch of pristine gallery forest that hems in the small Lamin River and a few associated pools. This is one of the most northerly projections of the Upper Guinean Forest that extends along much of coastal West Africa from southern Senegal Casamance to western Ghana. Away from the river, the vegetation thins out to become Guinea savannah, which is not as rare as the gallery forest, but still supports plenty of wildlife.
