Privacy Policy

Last updated: 12 August 2026

WHO WE ARE

West African Birding provides birdwatching and photography tours in The Gambia and Senegal. It is led by Lamin Jobaate and is based in Serekunda, The Gambia. West African Birding is the controller of the personal information described in this policy.

You can contact us through the Contact & Booking page at https://www.westafricanbirding.com/contact-booking or by WhatsApp on +220 937 4734.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you contact us or request a tour, we may collect your name, email address, WhatsApp number, country, preferred travel dates, number of guests, accommodation status, birdwatching or photography interests, experience level, target birds and any other information you include in your message.

If you make a booking, we may also collect the information reasonably needed to arrange and deliver your tour, keep booking and payment records, communicate changes and meet legal or accounting requirements.

If you submit a review, we may collect the name, country, rating, comments and other information you choose to provide. Reviews intended for publication may appear publicly on this website.

When you use the website, we may collect technical and usage information such as browser and device type, pages viewed, approximate location, referring page, cookie identifiers and cookie-consent choices. We do not intentionally collect special-category information through the website. Please do not include passport details, health information or other sensitive information in the enquiry form unless we specifically ask for it through an appropriate method because it is necessary for your trip.

HOW AND WHY WE USE INFORMATION

We use personal information to:

• respond to enquiries and provide requested information;
• prepare personalised itineraries, prices and tour arrangements;
• manage bookings and deliver agreed services;
• communicate about dates, meeting points, transport, accommodation and changes;
• improve the website and understand which content visitors find useful;
• protect the website and our communications from misuse;
• publish reviews where the reviewer has chosen to submit one for publication; and
• maintain records and comply with legal, tax, accounting or regulatory duties.

Our lawful bases depend on the circumstances. We normally process enquiry and booking information to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform a contract with you. We may process information to meet legal obligations. We rely on consent for optional analytics cookies and where consent is the appropriate basis for publishing a review. We may rely on our legitimate interests to operate, secure and improve our service, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights.

COOKIES AND GOOGLE ANALYTICS

The website uses essential cookies required for the site and its consent controls to work. With your consent, it also uses Google Analytics 4 to measure visits and interactions, including page views and successful booking-form submissions. Google Analytics may use first-party cookies and collect information about your device, browser, activity on the site and approximate location. Google states that Google Analytics does not log or store individual IP addresses.

Analytics is configured through Webador's privacy-friendly strict mode so optional Analytics storage is controlled by the cookie choice shown to visitors. You can decline optional cookies in the banner. You can also delete or block cookies using your browser settings; deleting the consent cookie may cause the banner to be shown again.

Google explains how it uses information from sites that use its services at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and provides further Analytics privacy information at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245.

WHO WE SHARE INFORMATION WITH

We do not sell personal information.

We may share information only where reasonably necessary with:

• Webador, which hosts the website and processes website-form submissions;
• Google Analytics, when you consent to Analytics cookies;
• email, messaging, storage and other service providers used to operate the business;
• guides, drivers, accommodation providers or other local partners involved in arranging a requested or booked tour;
• professional advisers, insurers or payment and accounting providers where relevant; and
• public authorities or other parties where disclosure is required by law or is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

We limit shared information to what is needed for the relevant purpose. If a review is published, the information shown with that review will be visible to website visitors.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

West African Birding is based in The Gambia and serves visitors from several countries. Information submitted through the website may therefore be accessed or processed in The Gambia and may also be processed in other countries by Webador, Google or other service providers. Where data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we take reasonable steps to use providers and arrangements offering appropriate protection.

HOW LONG WE KEEP INFORMATION

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary:

• enquiries that do not become bookings are normally kept for up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact;
• booking, transaction and tour records may be kept for up to six years after the relevant tour where needed for tax, accounting, dispute or legal purposes;
• published reviews may remain on the website until they are removed or the reviewer asks us to consider removing them;
• Analytics information is kept for the period configured in Google Analytics and is reviewed periodically; and
• information may be kept longer where required by law, needed for an active dispute or requested by you.

We securely delete, anonymise or restrict information when it is no longer needed.

YOUR RIGHTS

Depending on the law that applies to you, you may have rights to ask for access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion, restriction, portability, or to object to certain processing. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing.

To exercise a right or ask a privacy question, contact us through https://www.westafricanbirding.com/contact-booking or WhatsApp +220 937 4734. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

If you are in the United Kingdom and are unhappy with how we use your information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/. If you are in the European Economic Area, you may also contact the data-protection authority in your country.

SECURITY

We take reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect personal information. However, no internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Please use the enquiry form only for the information needed to discuss your trip.

CHILDREN

The website and enquiry form are not directed at children. A parent or guardian should make enquiries and bookings involving anyone under 18.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal obligations change. The latest version will be published on this page with a revised date.