For the first time in 10 years (since 2016), the West Africa Pelagic is on offer again for 2026! Sailing from Cape Verde Islands to Madeira, this great tour is a real must for all seabird and wildlife enthusiasts. We will visit the rich Cape Verde waters for birds like Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Booby, Cape Verde & Boyd’s Shearwaters, Fea’s and Bulwer’s Petrels plus White-faced and Cape Verde Storm Petrels. There might also be chances for Red-footed Booby and even White-tailed Tropicbird which was one of the first birds seen on the inaugural voyage in 2011.

The Cape Verde Islands lie 375 miles off the coast of west Africa and are all volcanic in origin. The islands display a variety of landscapes from the spectacular rugged mountains of Santiago, Santo Antao and Sâo Nicolau to the flat salt pans of Sal and Maio. The Cape Verde Islands were ‘discovered’ by the Portuguese between 1455 and 1461. An interesting account of the history of the Cape Verde can be found in the museum in central Praia. The isolation ofthe Cape Verde islands has resulted in a number of endemic (sub)species, particularly of birds including Bourne’s Heron, Cape Verde Buzzard, Cape Verde Swift, Raso Lark, Cape Verde Warbler and Cape Verde Sparrow. But there are other interesting species too like Cream-coloured Courser, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Hoopoe Lark, Bar-tailed Desert Lark, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark and Spectacled Warbler. Another point of interest for naturalists is that on 16th of January 1832, Charles Darwin landed on Santiago (recorded as St. Jago in his diary) and noted a layer of white shells in a cliff face at Porto Praya. An observation which later led to one his less well known theories of ’raising continents’ and ’sinking ocean floors’.

From Praia we will cruise along the west coast of Santiago and north towards the small island of Raso, approximately 120 miles from Santiago, There will be plenty to enjoy en route, especially in the evening when the shearwaters and other seabirds begin to return to the islands after a day feeding out at sea. We will make a zodiac cruise close to Raso to find Raso Lark and breeding seabirds before sailing to the West-African coast for some migration spectacle! Here, in the rich waters along the shelf edge off Mauritania and Western Sahara, we might expect the unexpected. 1000’s of birds will be migrating north, including all 4 skua species. Groups of Grey Phalaropes are also a common sight here, along with flocks of Sabine’s Gulls, European Storm Petrel, gannets and both Arctic and Black Terns. These northern breeders are joined from the south by African Royal Terns, Wilson’s Storm Petrels, plus Sooty Shearwater and - for the fortunate - perhaps even South Polar Skua; a species recently shown to head north into these waters during our spring and summer months.

We will then sail through the Canary Islands where we will look out for Barolo’s and Cory’s Shearwaters, Bulwer’s Petrels and White-faced Storm Petrels.

The Selvagen Islands, which lie 80 miles north of the Canaries, are perhaps the ultimate destination for anyone interested in Western Palaearctic ‘tube-noses’. Huge numbers of petrels and shearwaters breed here including approximately 15,000 Cory‘s Shearwaters, 5,000 Bulwer’s Petrels, 2,000 Barolo’s Shearwater, 60,000 White-faced Storm Petrels and 1,500 pairs of Madeira Storm Petrels. Since many of these species gather off shore in the evening before returning to their nest sites after dark, our evening cruise here should be one of the ornithological highlights of this holiday.

The tour continues to Madeira where we will search for Desertas Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Bulwer’s Petrel and Madeira Storm Petrel which all breed on Desertas Island. Next morning, we will visit the water north of Madeira where Zino’s Petrel (endemic to Madeira) is known to forage and where we can also encounter Barolo’s Shearwater and White-faced Storm Petrel.

Around midday we will arrive in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, where you will disembark the MV Plancius.

**A Rockjumper leader will not accompany the expedition unless a minimum number of participants are signed up through Rockjumper. In the case that a Rockjumper leader is not on board, the professional expedition staff will take care of all participants signed up through Rockjumper.**

These prices are subject to foreign exchange fluctuations.