Ghana Day Five, Breakdown Day

The plan for today (27th March) was to head to Kakum NP via the Carmelite Sunbird spot and do the afternoon on the canopy walkway. After doing the moths. at the breakfast briefing Kojak was considering whether to get dropped off at a Beach resort for the rest of the trip because not only had the tough birding at Ankasa broken his spirit but he also suffers from vertigo and didn't want to go on the walkway. It looked like it was going to be a man down situatuon so we set off on our journey with things in the air. 

Within an hour or so we were pulling up on the side of the road for the third time this trip (two previous stuck in the mud episodes). This time a hydraulic brake fluid pipe had been damaged and was pumping out hydraulic fluid resulting in complete brake loss. Alex and Robert managed to fix the pipe and while they were doing that Kojak and I had a quick look round the farm bush habitat we were in. A few trip ticks and the fortuitous result of lifting Kojak's birding spirits as the birding was easy (as it was his first trip to Ghana we should have started off in farm bush and did the common birds first before heading first into the tough forests looking for tricky targets). Ebird checklist from the road HERE . Highlights included Piping Hornbills, some nice views of Lesser Striped Swallows, Dusky-blue Flycatcher and Chestnut-backed Weavers. 

We were back on the road but a few minutes later the quick fix had broken and we lost all brake power again. Fortunately we stopped outside a mechanics so while we waited an hour and a half to get it fixed properly Kojak and I explored the farm bush in that area. Checklist HERE. Further trip ticks included Honey Buzzard, Black and Little Bee-eaters, Reichenbach's Sunbirds and good numbers of Red-vented Malimbes in the coconut plantations. 

We were now back on the road (after a 2.5 hour delay) and headed to Half Assini near the Ivory Coast border. A few miles later and the air conditionig belt broke so we on the side of the road again. After removing the belt and now not having any air con we carried on to Half Assini where while watched the Carmelite Sunbrids HERE Alex and Robert got the air con fixed. Three breakdowns in one day and a total of five breakdowns for the trip in as many days. 

By now we had racked up a 3 hour or so delay and then got stuck in coast road traffic. We picked up lunch from Robert's wife and daughter again but by the time we approached Kakum is was nearly dusk so we had to abandon the plan of trying out the canopy walkway. In the Elmina area there were some salt pans where we noticed a flock of Black Herons flying over the road. We pulled over and intersected a roost movement of Black Herons where we counted 125 birds- one of the highest counts for Ghana HERE.

We finally arrived at our hotel after a long problematic day but Kojak was in better spirits and decided to stay on the tour. 

Carmelite Sunbird (lifer)

Reichenbach's Sunbird

Dusky-blue Flycatcher

Male Honey Buzzard

Lesser Striped Swallow and Speckled Tinkerbird

Black Herons going to roost

Robert and our troubled truck