Day 1: The tour starts this evening with arrivals at Roberts International Airport (ROB) in Monrovia, capital of Liberia. Night in Monrovia.

Day 2: We will leave early this morning and drive all the way to the exceptional, UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. There will be some stops along the way to stretch our legs, with the stunning Crimson Seedcracker a possibility. We will spend the next six nights in a hotel in the Mount Nimba area to make the best of this fantastic yet under-visited site!

Day 3-4-5-6: We will have four full days in the Mount Nimba area, mostly birding at different elevations on the mountain itself. Past mining activities have made the summit accessible, and here we will be looking for the Endangered Sierra Leone Prinia, as well as “Black-capped” Grey-winged Robin Chat and Western Square-tailed Drongo, but also many more widespread species like Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Yellow-casqued Hornbill (surprisingly common here!), Guinea and Yellow-billed Turacos, White-spotted Flufftail, Black Dwarf Hornbill, Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher, Red-tailed Leaflove, Western Bearded Greenbul, Ussher’s Flycatcher, White-tailed Alethe, and more. Lower down, we will be on the lookout for the rarely seen Nimba Flycatcher, Rufous-winged Illadopsis, the most-wanted Black-headed Rufous Warbler, Sharpe’s Apalis, Kemp’s Longbill, Buff-throated Sunbird, but also Ahanta Spurfowl, the localised Blue-moustached Bee-eater, Little Green Woodpecker, Willcock’s Honeyguide, Fiery-breasted Bushshrike, Finsch’s Rufous Thrush, West African Wattle-eye, and Grey-headed Bristlebill, among others. We will also visit a lowland Community Forest where we stand excellent chances of finding the mythical Gola Malimbe, plus Rufous-sided Broadbill, Red-billed Helmetshrike, Red-fronted Antpecker, Lowland Sooty Boubou, Yellow-bearded Greenbul, and many more. Nights near Mount Nimba.

Day 7: After breakfast, we will start the long journey towards Sierra Leone. We will cross the land border with Sierra Leone and make our way to Tiwai Island for a three-night stay.

Day 8-9: We will have two full days birding the Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, exploring the Moa River with canoes and birding the pristine lowland forest in the surrounds. We will be looking for White-breasted Guineafowl, Olive Ibis, Rufous Fishing Owl, White-crested Tiger Heron, “Western” African Pitta (taxonomy is still not resolved!), and Brown Nightjar, to name just some of the most-wanted specialties. Other birds might well include Western Crested Guineafowl, Hartlaub’s Duck, Rock Pratincole, Egyptian Plover, the ultimate Western Long-tailed and Yellow-casqued Hornbills, Spotted Honeyguide, White-browed Forest Flycatcher, and Yellow-mantled Weaver. Tiwai Island is also a great place for mammals, with Chimpanzee, Diana Monkey, and the ultra-rare Pygmy Hippopotamus all recorded! While we probably don’t stand a realistic chance of finding the latter, we should see a nice variety of monkeys. Nights on Tiwai Island.

Day 10: Today, we will drive to the Gola Rainforest Park for a three-night stay.

Day 11-12: We will have two full days to make the most of Gola. Lowland West African rainforest offers some of the toughest birding on Earth, so we will have to work hard to find the specialties calling this habitat home! A vast array of birds are possible, including Latham’s Francolin, Afep Pigeon, Congo Serpent Eagle, Long-tailed Hawk, Timneh Parrot, Fire-bellied Woodpecker, Puvel’s Illadopsis, “Grey-hooded” Capuchin Babbler, the scarce “Western” Lagden’s Bushshrike, "Western" Yellow-bellied and Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Dusky Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bearded Greenbul, Green-tailed Bristlebill, and Copper-tailed Starling, among commoner species. Of course, we will also visit a White-necked Picathartes cave on one evening! No long walks or camping required at this site, since we should have already seen Gola Malimbe in Liberia! Nights at Gola Rainforest Park.

Day 13: Today, we drive west to Bumbuna for a two-night stay. Birding a bit on the way might well produce Forbes’s Plover, the localised Black-backed Cisticola, or even the rare Dybowski’s Twinspot! Night at Bumbuna.

Day 14: We will have a full day birding the open country surrounding Bumbuna, a pleasant relief after all the difficult forest birding of previous days! Some stunning specialties occur in this region, and we’ll mostly be looking for the mega Emerald Starling, Turati’s Boubou, West African Swallow, Yellow-winged Pytilia (the host of Togo Paradise Wydah, which also occurs in the area), and Cameroon and perhaps Jambandu Indigobirds, among more widespread savanna species like Stone Partridge, Grasshopper Buzzard, Senegal Eremomela, Cabanis’s Bunting, and Zebra Waxbill. Night at Bumbuna.

Day 15: After some final birding, we will drive to Freetown International Airport (FNA), where the tour ends this afternoon.