bird tours sa

​Bird Tours SA

Specialised guided birding tours in south australia.

bird tours sa

With over 450 species of birds

SOUTH AUSTRALIA is an outstanding birdwatching destination.

ADELAIDE, its capital, is the gateway to  fantastic,  easy-driving  birding, as it boasts over 250 recorded species within a 1.5 hour radius of the city centre.

Whether you wish to target particular specialties, or just want an enjoyable day out, let the experienced bird guides at BIRD TOURS SA look after your South Australian birding needs.

There are many quality habitat options for birding throughout South Australia, so look through this site and let us help you decide where you wish to focus your attention.

BIRD TOURS SA offer FULL DAY and HALF DAY tours around Adelaide as well as MULTI-DAY tours throughout South Australia that can be tailored to suit your South Australian birdwatching requirements.

So con tact BIRD TOURS SA for your next customised birding experience in Adelaide and its surrounding regions.

Steve Potter

[email protected]

(+61) 0407 398 234

Guided Birding in South Australia

Bird Tours SA - Birdwatching Tours

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Bird Tours SA - Birdwatching Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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  • Ekala Eco Tours contact
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South Africa Birding Tours

Birding tours – private bird watching eco tour – south africa.

Bird Tours

Bird Safari

South africa birding tours  – bird watching nature eco and safari – johannesburg pretoria gauteng – pilanesberg and kruger national game reserves, avitourism – south africa – birding destination par excellence – birding tours and eco safaris​..

Photographic experience paired with comfortable accommodation and a great overall birding and nature Eco tour experience.

Birding enthusiasts actually wish to spend more time at a sighting to get the perfect pictures.

As our South Africa birding tours and Eco safaris are private, you can take all the time needed to get that photo. Ekala will thus position the vehicle in the best manner to allow you to get that bird photo.

Birding Eco Safari tours in South Africa National Parks:

Indeed, some of the best birding experiences are in our National parks Pilanesberg and Kruger.

As a full-day birding experience from Johannesburg, Pilanesberg is certainly the best option.

Pilanesberg’s bird hides are fantastic.

Bird counts are typically high, and a great place to sit for some time for the best sightings.

Birding tours

Private, professional, and reliable tailor-made birding Eco tours.

Gauteng birding sites:

Johannesburg/Pretoria.

This area offers spectacular birding diversity. Over 420 regularly species with 68 endemic species or near endemics are present in the region.   Accordingly the perfect nature area for a short birding tour and very worthwhile for birders with limited time.

Rondebult Bird Sanctuary.

Mainly water birds in a series of large ponds.

Kloofendal Nature Reserve.

150 ha Reserve, 30 minutes west of Johannesburg, consisting of typical Highveld vegetation and rocky outcrops and ridges.   Circular walking trails take you around the reserve, past a dam and then a bird hide.   Indeed, birds encountered include Malachite Sunbirds, Black Cuckoo Shrike, Spotted eagle and Barn Owl, Lesser and Greater Honeyguides, Klaas’s cuckoo, Diedericks cuckoo, Bokmakierie and Fairy Flycatcher.

Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens

Excellent birding location with bird list of over 220 species. Including a breeding pair of Verreaux’s’ Eagles, African Black Duck, Cape Rock-Thrush, Half-collared Kingfisher, Mocking Cliff-Chat, Rock Kestrel, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting and Cape Bunting.

Blesbokspruit Nature Reserve

A Key wetland system of international importance running from Kempton Park and flowing into the Vaal River. Bird list of over 250 species additionally substantial numbers of waterbirds.   Accordingly acting as a sanctuary for many species in an extremely industrialized urban environment.

Marievale Bird and Nature Sanctuary

Ramsar wetland site accidentally created by mining. Part of the Blesbokspruit wetland, modified high-altitude wetland consisting of a large pan and then home to many water birds.   Bird list of over 280 species, including the Painted Snipe, African Spoonbill, Pied Kingfisher, Slaty Egret, Grass Owl, Baillon’s Crake, Cape Shoveller and Yellow Canary.

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve – Ekala Guest House close by.

Gauteng’s largest nature reserve, 45 minutes South East of Johannesburg with a huge diversity of habitats. Over 13 000 hectares with excellent hiking trails and a bird list of over 260 species.   Including Yellow-tufted Pipit, Sentinel Rock Thrush, Red-capped Lark, Black Harrier, Ground Woodpecker, Black Eagle, Red-throated Wryneck, Grey-winged and Red-winged Francolins, Orange River Francolin, Striped Pipit and Black-throated Canary.

Bullfrog Pan

While one of the most natural and attractive looking pans in the area, birding is quite unpredictable.   Over 140 species can be found at different times of the year. However a bonus is the appearance of the giant bullfrog after heavy rains.

Steward’s Pan

An excellent site for the grey headed gull.

Korsman Bird Sanctuary

Natural pan bounded by residential area. Good urban bird watching site.

Ezemvelo Nature Reserve and Bronkhorstspruit Dam

10000Ha Nature Reserve of excellent grassland habitat, riverine bush and acacia veld. Bird list of over 200 species and then a haven for waterfowl. Species include Buffy and Plain backed Pipits, White backed Duck, Great Crested Grebe, White-bellied Korhaan, Blue Korhaan, Orange River Francolin and Red breasted Swallow.

Dinokeng (North East Gauteng)

A wide variety of grasslands and woodland habitats and then the 12 500 ha Dinokeng Game Reserve.   Dinokeng is a bird watcher’s paradise, with the highest species diversity in the South Africa besides the Pilanesberg and Zululand – Northern KwaZulu-Natal Natal.

Austin Roberts Memorial Bird Sanctuary

11 hectare bird sanctuary. Wetlands attract over 160 bird species. A bird hide, then makes for excellent bird watching.

Best ability to contact Ekala for birding tours: [email protected]

We will respond within 24 hours. In most cases less. However, depending on time differences.

Difficult to deal with specifics on a cell phone. Due to the time difference, or we may all be on tour and thus unable to answer your call at that time. Thus, email works perfectly.

North West Province:

Vaalkop Dam and Borakalalo Nature Reserve.

A wide diversity of water, bushveld, and woodland birds. Three hundred-plus species, a high Raptor count, and then a summer list of 120 species.

Pilanesberg National Park:

One of the largest National Parks in South Africa covering an area of 55 000 hectares with approximately 200 km of well-maintained roads while having the greatest variety of animals per square km in South Africa.

All dams in the park, the largest being Mankwe dam, have bird hides , indeed perfectly suited for bird watching. Over 300 bird species, with 120 being easily found in a summer morning tour.

Pilanesberg is indeed the best birding option

If travelling from Johannesburg or in the city for a short time.

Tailor-made ecotourism and birding tour experiences that thus cater for solo travellers, couples, families, and group birding tours.

Mpumalanga Province

Kruger National Park – Covering an area of over 20, 000 square km. Is approx. 60 km wide and 350 km long. More than 500 bird species, 146 mammals, then with more than 190 species of reptiles, fish and amphibians.   Over 23000 plant species have been recorded in this conservation area. Kruger is the Flagship national game park of South Africa and indeed a conservation area of unparalleled diversity.   Graskop-through spectacular Blyde River Canyon panorama route Kruger National park.   Always best to travel to Kruger through this area with some of the most spectacular scenery in South Africa.   An extensive and varied range of habitats, providing a home to over 74 bird families with an astounding bird list of over 500 species, 8 of these are endemic to the region. 85% of South Africa’s Raptor species are additionally found in this area.

Drakensberg Mountain range – Awe-inspiring birding setting with amazingly dramatic scenery.

South Africa’s highest mountain range (3,482 metres) and then most prominent geological feature, stretching for some 1,000 kilometres.

The Mountain range divides the coastal plain of savannah woodland from the high-lying grasslands of the interior.

This broad variety of habitats ensures a remarkable species diversity, with a total current bird count of over 400 species. Some 150 are common and 30 are endangered or highly endangered.

Appreciation of South Africa’s natural and wildlife diversity

Ekala’s South Africa birding tours and Eco safaris are structured to accommodate specific and personal requirements.

KwaZulu-Natal

The following nature and bird sites are considered to be of South Africa’s best birding sites.

Pongola Bush Nature Reserve and Vryheid Hill Nature Reserve

This region provides the birdwatcher with about 340 species, while 50 of these endemic or near-endemic. With grasslands in the west and bushveld to the east. Large catchment area with additionally many wetlands and mountains, ideal birders location.

Amatikulu Nature Reserve

2100ha coastal reserves of forested dunes and grasslands. Situated at convergence of Amatikulu and Nyoni rivers and is thus one of the few coastal (Indian Ocean) forested reserves in South Africa.   Numerous diverse habitats with a bird list of over 300 species.
Unique habitat diversity, bordering on St. Lucia Wetland Park. Then the ability to walk within the reserve, makes this a birders paradise.   With a list of over 360 species, including a number of Southern African endemic species and additionally 4 east coast endemic or near-endemic species.

Dlinza Forest – Eshowe

Prime forest birding spot of 250ha.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

 Varied landscape and habitat diversity, with a bird list of over 360 species. With daily summer time lists of 100 birds indeed possible.

Ithala Game Reserve

Variable altitudes and diversity have thus resulted in an excellent range of birds.

Mkuze Game Reserve

Covering 40 000 ha, Mkuze is one of Kwazulu Natal’s top birding sites. Protected area with a wide diversity of habitat, then with a bird list of over 450 species.
Coastal and swamp forest, mangroves, lagoons and grasslands. All thus making for excellent birding opportunities.

Ndumo Game Reserve

Bordering Mozambique with the Usuthu River and additionally has the Pongola River that flows through the reserve.   Then an extensive wetland has resulted in an amazing range of aquatic bird life. Acacia Savannah, thick bush and extensive forests have resulted in a bird list of close to 420 species.

Ongoye Forest

3900ha of stunning coastal forest stretching for about 20 km overlooking the Indian Ocean Richard’s Bay – One of South Africa’s largest estuaries and thus a top water bird area and an attraction for migrants down our East Coast.   In spite of increasing industrialization in the area, birding is excellent with a diverse range of habitats. A summer day can produce a bird list of 100 plus species.

St Lucia iSimangaliso Wetland Park

South Africa’s most definitive Eco-tourist experience. Covering a land area of about 240,000 ha and a Marine ecosystem of 84,000ha – accordingly our third largest National Park.   Wetland park with exceptional species diversity. Over the course of the year over 500 different bird species can be counted.

The Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park can actually be described in five recognized ecosystems.

Marine System . 280 km of Indian Ocean coastline and marine ecosystem. Endangered leatherback turtles return to the area year after year to lay their eggs on the beach.
Eastern Shores . Lying east of Lake St. Lucia, consisting of grassy plains, wetlands and coastal dune forests extending the full length of the reserve.   These dunes, then form a natural barrier between the wetland and the Indian Ocean. Lake St. Lucia. Largest Estuarine system in the world.
Extensive lake with an average depth of 1 metre, 85 kilometres long, and home to numerous life forms.
Mkuze Swamps Expansive reed and papyrus wetland on northern end of Lake St. Lucia.
Western shores . This is driest part of wetland park – comprising savanna and thornveld.   Each of these ecosystems offering a diverse range of birds and St Lucia is then an important breeding area for water birds.   Supporting large numbers of flamingos, pelicans and storks. Summer day lists of over 100 are achievable.

Tembe Elephant Park

30000Ha reserve of thornveld, scrub bush and sand forest habitat with a bird list of over 345.

Different birding tour options available – structured around your requirements and timing to create a multi-day local bird watching tour package:

Only one day is available in Johannesburg, the best birding experience would be a day in the Pilanesberg.

One night minimum would be best, however, as a single day birding experience does work.

Sanctuaries:

Ann van Dyk – De Wildt Cheetah Sanctuary – cheetah and wild dog experience .

Interaction elephant tour that is compatible with wildlife conservation.

Experiencing monkeys in a natural environment – NO interactions with primates.

National Park safari

Pilanesberg:

The best option for a single day or single night birding tour

Private safari within the greater Kruger National Park.

Great birding area. However, requires a minimum of 2 nights.

Panorama route tour as a day tour en-route to the Kruger

Ekala’s guides are well-spoken, providing interesting detail and clarity while on a bird watching tour.

While active engagement is encouraged between guide and guest.

Solo safari and travel:

South African safari and Eco tour holiday then catering for the single/solo traveller.

Indeed, for all diverse interests and ages.

Then, accompanied by Ekala’s professional guides.

As a solo traveller, the private safari or tour is customised to your needs.

Hence, providing quality time on your interests and requirements.

While striving to make long-lasting memories for you.

Bird nest

Johannesburg birding site with a bird list of over 250 birds:

Ekala Guest House and Farm

Private – even for 1.

Then also family wildlife and birdlife safari tailored to keep the safari alive and inclusive for everyone.

[email protected]

Superior bird watching, photographic opportunities, paired additionally with highly experienced professional guides.

Thus providing a unique private birding experience.

Birds tour

Ekala Family & Guides

Ekala Janet Davis

Ekala Family & tour guides

We pride ourselves on our extensive knowledge of South Africa’s nature and wildlife.

Thus, we focus where our experience and expertise lies – in South Africa only.

Highly Experienced Guides

Accordingly, with our vast experience and expertise, we will bring the birding tours to life.

Additionally, sharing our love and knowledge of South Africa’s nature, wildlife, and national parks.

Ensuring, as a result, you leave full of the best memories.

Thus, Ekala will endeavour to personalise your birdwatching tour package according to individual requirements/interests as well as available time.

Personal touch

Consequently, you get an enhanced understanding of South Africa’s nature and wildlife

Thus, the best South African birding experience

Our safari/bird tours are non-invasive

Focusing on the national parks and reserves – naturally wild.

Promote conservation through education.

As Kruger and Pilanesberg National Game reserves.

An experience to be remembered for the right reason

We do not support private – commercially based “parks”

Birds

South Africa is a country known for great hospitality, colourful people and indeed fantastic food.

Then let Ekala Eco Tours provide the gateway to your discovery of South Africa and its birdlife.

Come with us and experience the rhythm of South Africa as well as our birdlife.

South Africa’s breathtaking beauty and then the unforgettable hospitality of your hosts.

owl

The planning stage of South Africa safari/tour/trip

So if you are in the planning stage of a South African trip, we can help.

Please supply the duration that you are looking at, group size, then your estimated dates and duration.

Then additionally what you wish to include in this time, and we can advise using our extensive experience.

Enjoying and respecting South Africa’s national assets.

A Birding Eco safari tour to remember for the right reason

Birds

Ekala’s safari vehicles

Vehicles provide advantageous views of scenery and additionally are all air-conditioned.

Far superior for birdwatching and best photos.

Private ‘small group’ safaris enjoyed in all-weather 4×4 vehicles.

Furthermore, our vehicles provide a more intimate and exclusive safari experience.

Ekala’s vehicles easily manoeuvred for outstanding photography opportunities.

Moreover, individual interests can be met within small private groups.

Accordingly, our vehicles are comfortable, practical, and suitable for photographic birding tours/safaris and South Africa’s variation in weather and seasons.

No birding tour/safari prices on our website as a result of unique and specialised requirements for each birdwatching tour we supply.

Thus, Ekala structures our birding tours around the client’s requirements.

 Responsible and ethical tourism/consumerism.

A short selection of Ekala Eco Tours most popular package safari and tour options

Safari tour packages

Private – Professional – fully guided day and multi-day tours and bird watching safaris

South Africa

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bird tours sa

Subtropical South Africa Birding Tour: Comprehensive Eastern South Africa

Go to: South Africa Birding Tours | Birding Tours in Africa | All our birding tours

Dates and Costs:

14 – 31 October 2024

Spaces Available: This trip is full, waitlist only, but please consider booking the 2025 departure early.

Price: R105,987 / $6,013 / £4,749 / €5,539

Single Supplement: R20,338 / $1,154 / £911 / €1,063

21 November – 08 December 2024

* Please note that currency conversion is calculated in real-time, therefore is subject to slight change. Please refer back to  base  price when making final payments.

14 – 31 October 2025

Price:  R117,646 / $6,675 / £5,272 / €6,148

Single Supplement: R22,575 / $1,281 / £1,011 / €1,179

Recommended Field Guide

(Please also read our blogs about recommended field   guides for the seven continents here )

Tour Details

Duration : 18 days Group Size : 4 – 6 Tour Start : Durban Tour End : Johannesburg

Price includes:

All accommodation Meals (from lunch on Day 1 until lunch on Day 18) Unlimited bottled water Expert tour leader All entrance fees All ground transport, including airport pick-up and drop-off

Price excludes:

International/domestic flights (to Durban, and from Johannesburg) Visas Items of a personal nature, e.g. gifts, laundry, internet access, phone calls, etc. Any pre- or post-tour accommodation, meals, or birding excursions Soft/alcoholic drinks Personal travel insurance Gratuities (please see our tipping guidelines blog )

2024 Featured Guide:

Joshua Olszewski

Subtropical South Africa Birding Tour: Comprehensive Eastern South Africa November 2024/October 2024/2025

This is a premium tour with open safari vehicles in kruger and enough time to stop for mammals while accumulating a large bird list.

This subtropical (eastern) South Africa birding tour provides a representative sample of the very best that African birding can offer. Large numbers of species will be seen (the typical bird list for this adventure is in the range of 400 – 450 species for our October departures when migrants are present). Among these many birds, we encounter a lot of South African endemics such as the numerous localized denizens of the scenically spectacular Drakensberg Escarpment (the imposing “Barrier of Spears” as locals call it). Apart from yielding hundreds of bird species, this dream African experience also provides the possibility of seeing Lion , Cheetah , Leopard , African Elephant , White and Black Rhinoceros , Hippopotamus , Giraffe , Burchell’s Zebra , multiple antelope species, Nile Crocodile , and many other large (and small) animal species, with breathtaking scenery as a backdrop. We also often get feedback that the accommodation on this tour is great and indeed South Africa has an unsurpassed infrastructure of brilliant value B&Bs/lodges as well as good roads, compared to anywhere else in Africa.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

We start this birding safari with an arrival in Durban on the east coast of South Africa, bounded by the warm Indian Ocean. Durban must be one of the “birdiest” cities on earth, and here we spend time looking for subtropical coastal species. We then head inland to the KwaZulu-Natal midlands and the foothills of the spectacular Drakensberg area of the Great Escarpment, where temperate forest and high-altitude grassland birds abound. The rare Cape Parrot is one of the targets (which, interestingly, cannot be found on our Cape birding tour despite its name), as are the beautiful Green Twinspot , two dapper ground thrush species ( Spotted and Orange Ground Thrushes ), the dazzling Narina Trogon , the impressively beautiful Green Twinspot , and, last but not least, the Vulnerable, declining Blue Swallow (what a truly spectacular-looking hirundine!). We then ascend the heights of the Drakensberg into Lesotho via Sani Pass, an amazing road that gives access from the base of the escarpment right up to the high plateau at 10,000 feet (over 3,000 meters), with different endemics appearing as elevation increases – near the base are birds such as Bush Blackcap , then as one ascends Gurney’s Sugarbird , Ground Woodpecker , Sentinel Rock Thrush , and the shining, metallic Malachite Sunbird appear, followed eventually by high-plateau species including Drakensberg Rockjumper , Drakensberg Siskin , and Bearded Vulture (which we often see across the border in the tiny kingdom of Lesotho).

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Zululand, probably the most bird-diverse corner of South Africa, is next on our agenda, and not only does it have a great many species, but there are several very localized ones, basically only occurring here and in southern Mozambique – e.g. Pink-throated Twinspot , Lemon-breasted Canary and Neergaard’s Sunbird . This also is big mammal country and one of the world’s strongholds for Black and White Rhinoceros , is very good for Leopard , and also hosts a variety of mammals not likely to be seen in Kruger – including Samango Monkey , Nyala , the absolutely tiny Suni antelope, etc.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

We then ascend to the legendary (among birders seeking endemics) Wakkerstroom highlands, and eventually we reach the Kruger National Park, one of the world’s greatest game parks, which is not only teaming with African megafauna but also has a brilliant bird list of over 500 species, many of them large and spectacular (e.g. a bunch of stork, raptor and owl species not to mention bustards and Secretarybird ) or brightly-colored (e.g. all the barbets, bee-eaters, rollers, hoopoes and kingfishers): African birding is a feast for the eyes.

Before flying home out of Johannesburg, we sample an area which gives access to some Kalahari-type birds, meaning we usually add a disproportionally large number of species to our already large bird list right at the end of the trip – these include such beauties as the shockingly brightly-colored Crimson-breasted Shrike , the very striking Southern Pied Babbler , Violet-eared Waxbill , Black-cheeked Waxbill , Kalahari Scrub Robin , the amazingly beautiful Long-tailed Paradise Whydah , and a plethora of others.

We have specially crafted this unusually comprehensive birding tour of mega-diverse (from both a bird and mammal point of view) Eastern South Africa, allowing us sufficient time to adequately cover and explore all the key areas, without compromising on rushed visits which lack the time required to both find and enjoy the birds on offer. To further add to the experience, this tour uses open-top safari vehicles for the two full days in the Kruger National Park which ensures guests make the most of their time in the African bush. As always, we also err on the side of superior accommodation, and we therefore call this a “premium” tour yet the overall price is still reasonable mainly because South Africa is arguably the best value country on the entire continent.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Our October subtropical South Africa tour each year can be combined with our preceding Best of Cape Town and Beyond – endemics, seabirds and more  if you want to see a good proportion of South Africa’s birds (the Cape Town area is very different from eastern South Africa and complements it very nicely, with a different suite of endemics and other birds!). This trip can also be combined with our Namibia, Okavango and Victoria Falls Birding Adventure afterwards, which in turn can be combined with our Zimbabwe and Mozambique Birding Tour ; if you combine all these trips you’ll definitely experience a stunning southern African mega tour that will leave you with an impressive bird list (not to mention mammals and other fauna and flora). While this subtropical South Africa trip is one of the best ones for seeing big and small African mammals (although we still markedly focus on birds, of course, but do build in enough time to stop for each mammal species we encounter as well), if you want more time in one of the world’s greatest game parks, then we should also mention an alternative, our Kruger National Park and Escarpment birding (and mammal) tour .

Itinerary (18 days/17 nights)

Day 1. arrival in durban and transfer to pennington on the south coast.

Your international flight (or local flight if you are joining us from our preceding Best of Cape Town and Beyond Birding Tour ) arrives in Durban (King Shaka International Airport), and we transfer out of the city to a small coastal village. We kindly ask for your flight to arrive around midday (or we can book an extra night for you in Durban before the tour starts). For those joining both our Western Cape and Subtropical (Eastern) South Africa birding tours, the Birding Ecotours office will advise/help book you onto the exact domestic flight required to join these tours, so that the group can travel together.

Following your arrival, the group will have lunch locally, before undertaking a short transfer south of the city, to the small coastal village of Pennington. Here we are conveniently based right next door to the excellent Umdoni Park, which will give us a great introduction to the common birds of the area, while also providing us access to excellent coastal forest, where we can begin searching for some sought-after species. We will likely have the afternoon available to explore the trails at Umdoni Park, covering a mix of coastal forest and open woodland. Some of the more conspicuous species we’re likely to find include the gaudy Purple-crested Turaco and the bright Red-capped Robin-Chat , while we’re likely to come across a number of barbets, flycatchers, sunbirds (including the tiny Collared Sunbird ) and weavers.

Overnight: Botha House, Pennington

Day 2. Pennington to Underberg, birding en route

We have the morning available to further explore the stunning subtropical coastal forests of Umdoni Park. As we will likely already have become acquainted with many of the more common species of the area, we can now focus on some of the more sought-after species occurring here, such as Crowned Eagle (Africa’s heaviest and most powerful eagle, which sometimes breeds in the park), the incredibly beautiful South African endemic Knysna Turaco , the equally dazzling Narina Trogon , the personality-filled Green Malkoha , the localized Brown Scrub Robin and the jewel-like Green Twinspot .

We will then spend the remainder of the day gradually heading deeper inland, ultimately arriving at our base in the Underberg district, set in the Drakensberg foothills, in the late afternoon. There are a variety of routes we can take to reach Underberg, however, our first stop will likely be for some forest birding where we target a range of localized specials. We will also be sure to dedicate some time today to finding the stunning Blue Swallow (the swallows have become rare in South Africa, and, depending on their recent whereabouts, we may only be able to try for them on Day 4). The dense temperate evergreen Ingeli or Xumeni Forests will also likely feature as a stop today, and here we will be able to sample our first patch of Afro-montane (mountain) forest. While these forests can be quiet at times, persistence and patience are well rewarded, and we stand excellent chances at finding some top specials, including the likes of Bush Blackcap , Orange Ground Thrush , White-starred Robin , Olive Bushshrike , Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler , Barratt’s Warbler , Swee Waxbill and Forest Canary , all of which are regular here. While Cape Parrots do occur here, they are scarce and best sought on Day 4 of this itinerary. The forest surrounds are not to be excluded, and host further excellent birding, with species such as Grey Crowned Crane , Red-chested Flufftail , African Yellow Warbler , Wailing Cisticola and the spectacular Long-tailed Widowbird all possible. Eventually we will arrive at our comfortable base in the Underberg region, where we will begin preparing for one of the most anticipated, and arguably best days of the trip tomorrow, as we bird the famous Sani Pass!

Overnight: Sani Valley Lodge, Himeville

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 3. Birding day trip up the Sani Pass and into Lesotho

This is one of the most spectacular birding adventures one can embark on. We spend a full day, taking along picnic breakfasts and lunches, ascending the Sani Pass and travelling into Lesotho (passports required), which gives amazing access to most of the Drakensberg endemics within the space of a single day. The “barrier of spears” (as the Drakensberg is known to locals) is impressive, to say the least, and the scenery today is amazing as we gradually ascend from the foothills up to the plateau. The birdlife changes as altitude increases with Red-necked Spurfowl , Brown-backed Honeybird , Drakensberg Prinia , Bush Blackcap (if we missed it the previous day) and Cape Grassbird occurring in the lower thickets (consisting largely of ouhout or “old wood”, a bush species that looks older than it is because of its gnarled bark). Moving into the higher ‘ Protea belt’, these are replaced by Malachite Sunbird and Gurney’s Sugarbird , with a supporting cast of Grey-winged Francolin , Ground Woodpecker , Cape Rock Thrush , Buff-streaked Chat , Yellow Bishop , and if we’re lucky, the scarce Fan-tailed Grassbird (Broad-tailed Warbler) and the enigmatic Short-tailed Pipit (occurring on grassy slopes). As we reach the top of the pass and the high-altitude plateau, these birds are eventually replaced by the stunning and charismatic Drakensberg Rockjumper (arguably the most emblematic bird of the pass), Sentinel Rock Thrush , Mountain and African Rock Pipits and Drakensberg Siskin . At the top of the plateau we cross the border into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, and will briefly explore the plains that run across this rugged landscape, where we will search for Southern Bald Ibis , and some species more typical of the Karoo region further to the west, such as Large-billed Lark , Sickle-winged Chat , Grey Tit , Layard’s Warbler (Tit-babbler), Fairy Flycatcher , Karoo Prinia and Karoo Scrub Robin . Occasionally a pair of Bearded Vulture nest nearby, and we hope to see this glorious bird up on the plateau. After a long day we eventually descend the mountain for a well-deserved dinner (and a toast to all the endemics).

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 4. Birding the Underberg area, and transfer to Eshowe

We have the morning available to bird the greater Underberg region, which will likely see us visiting a variety of grassland, wetland and forest sites. The rare Wattled Crane will be one of our main targets, as they breed locally within the area, but they are nomadic and difficult to find, and we will need some luck to come across this prized bird. Cape Parrot also occur in some of the montane forest patches in the area and will be another key target for the morning. If required, we can also dedicate some time today to finding Blue Swallow . This region is a very birdy area and we’re likely to come across a great many species across the morning ranging from more widespread birds such as Levaillant’s Cisticola , Cape Weaver and Common Waxbill , to more difficult species such as Long-crested Eagle , Denham’s Bustard and Pale-crowned Cisticola . We also have further chances for a similar suite of species to those occurring in the Ingeli or Xumeni Forests (Day 2), should we have missed any of those targets. After a fulfilling morning, we will begin our drive northwards to the small village of Eshowe, where we will likely arrive in the afternoon, with an entire new suite of special birds awaiting us.

Overnight: Birds of Paradise B&B, Eshowe

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 5. Birding Eshowe and surrounds

We have a full day to explore a number of sites within Eshowe, and some lying a bit further afield, which will likely include the Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk, Entumeni Forest, Ongoye Forest, and the coastal town of Mtunzini. Our day will likely start off at the Dlinza Forest, located right in the heart of Eshowe, where the secretive and highly sought-after Spotted Ground Thrush will be one of the main targets. While slowly walking the forest trails, listening for the tell-tale call of the thrushes, we are sure to come across many other birds, and in particular we’ll keep an eye out for Green Malkoha , Lemon and Tambourine Doves , Scaly-throated Honeyguide , Grey Cuckooshrike , Common Square-tailed Drongo , Chorister Robin-Chat , Dark-backed Weaver and the prized Green Twinspot . The forest also features a canopy walkway and tower, and we’ll be sure to spend time up here, as it is a great area to see the rare Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon (although we will need some luck to see this bird), while more regular birds seen above the forest include African Goshawk , Trumpeter Hornbill , Crowned Hornbill , White-eared Barbet and Black-bellied Starling .

Entumeni Forest acts as a wonderful backup to many of these species, while also holding a small population of the highly prized African Broadbill , although as ever, some luck is needed. Ongoye Forest is a bit further afield and preserves the only southern African population of Green Barbet (with the nearest population found roughly ~1000miles/1600kilometres further north in Malawi and northern Mozambique) – this localized population being of particular interest as it’s a separate subspecies, at times split into a full species restricted to a single forest here at Ongoye! A similar suite of forest birds occurs here as in Dlinza Forest, along with the star of the show, Green Barbet.

The coastal town of Mtunzini presents us with a different, coastal, habitat set, and along with it, a different assemblage of bird species. While our core target here will be the vegetarian Palm-nut Vulture , we’re also likely to find a wide array of other species such as Woolly-necked Stork , Black-throated Wattle-eye , Rufous-winged Cisticola , Purple-banded Sunbird and Yellow-throated Longclaw , amongst many others.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 6. Birding around Eshowe and transfer to St Lucia

We have the full morning available to continue birding this area, searching for any of the species we may still need, as mentioned under Day 5 above. We have a short transfer (roughly two hours) to reach our next destination – the lovely coastal village of St Lucia, where we will be based for two nights, and we will likely arrive in the early afternoon. St. Lucia is a wild place, where hippos can still roam the streets at night and Thick-tailed Galagos (Bush Babies) cry from the tree-lined main street at night. This village is completely surrounded by a World Heritage Site, the Isimangaliso Wetland Park, and is a truly phenomenal birding area. Our afternoon will likely see us investigating the estuary and the surrounding coast. Although tidal to some degree, the estuary is largely cut off from direct access to the ocean and as such doesn’t fluctuate heavily. During low-water periods, a number of shorebirds/waders occur here and we’ll be on the lookout for species such as Grey , Common Ringed and White-fronted Plovers , Eurasian Whimbrel , Ruddy Turnstone , Terek , Curlew and Marsh Sandpipers , Common Greenshank and Little Stint . Occasionally rarer species turn up, such as Bar-tailed Godwit , and Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers . There is often a large tern roost present here, and one of our main targets will be the scarce Lesser Crested Tern , while more common species include Greater Crested (Swift), Sandwich , Caspian , Common and Little Terns . The estuary area also supports an array of other waterbirds, and we’re likely to see the impressive Goliath Heron here, with a supporting cast including Grey Heron and Great and Little Egrets , while Yellow-billed Stork is regular along with Pink-backed Pelican . The impressive Saddle-billed Stork can also be seen, but is easier to find in the Kruger National Park later in the tour. Vocal African Fish Eagles are never far away, with a number of pairs breeding in the area. The reedbeds host colonies of the prized Southern Brown-throated and Eastern Golden (Yellow) Weavers . The estuary is also home to Nile Crocodiles , and quite a few pods of Hippopotamuses , some of which call the St Lucia village home, and can even be seen in the evenings walking around the town grazing on lawns!

Overnight: St Lucia Wetlands Guest House, St Lucia

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 7. Birding the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Isimangaliso Wetland Park

We will spend the day exploring the wonderful Isimangaliso Wetland Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and will likely spend time in both the Eastern and Western Shores section of the park. While primarily consisting of coastal grassland, patches of coastal forest occur as well, and host a fine array of unique and special birds which we’ll spend time trying to find. These include the sought-after Southern Banded Snake Eagle , the glorious Livingstone’s Turaco , Narina Trogon , Woodward’s Batis , the spectacular (but difficult-to-see) Gorgeous Bushshrike , Brown Scrub Robin , Eastern Nicator , localized Rudd’s Apalis and Grey Waxbill , among others. We won’t ignore the more open areas, as they do also host some great birds and birding; some of the species we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for include Black-bellied Bustard , Senegal Lapwing , Collared Pratincole , Croaking Cisticola , Lemon-breasted Canary , and with some luck, Rosy-throated Longclaw . A number of raptors hunt over these open areas, and it’s a great place to see a wide range of these species. These open areas also support good numbers of Swamp Nightjar , and with some birding in strategic areas after dark, we stand a good chance of finding this prized bird.

Not to be forgotten, this park also supports a wide array of mammals, and we may see such charismatic species as African Elephant , African Buffalo and Giraffe , along with antelope such as Waterbuck , Impala and the dainty Red Duiker . This is also a great area to see the scarce Blue (Samango) Monkey , while species such as Leopard and White Rhinoceros will require a bit more luck to find. This is a very birdy park, and we’re sure to rack up a high list of birds for the day.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 8. Birding St Lucia and transfer to Hluhluwe

We have the morning available to bird around the village, and in particular, along the lovely iGwalagwala Trail, which passes through some excellent coastal forest. Although we should have seen many of these specials the previous day, it serves as an excellent backup for species we could have missed, including some very localized birds like Livingstone’s Turaco , Woodward’s Batis , Brown Scrub Robin , Rudd’s Apalis and Grey Waxbil l, while also offering chances for species such as Buff-spotted Flufftail (with some luck and patience), Green Malkoha , Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher , Yellow-bellied Greenbul , Terrestrial Brownbul and others. Strange-looking Crested Guineafowl are a common sight around the village as well and are sure to keep us entertained.

We have another short transfer (also roughly two hours) to get to the Hluhluwe area, where we’ll be based for two days, as we explore the mega-diverse but compact Mkhuze Game Reserve and surrounds. This is arguably one of the finest birding sites in southern Africa and certainly has a legendary status. We’ll likely arrive at our comfortable lodge in the early afternoon, and may explore some of the surrounding open areas, such as Mpempe Pan or the Nibela Peninsula this afternoon still. The birding here can be excellent, and some of the species we’re likely to see include Black-winged and Senegal Lapwings (sometimes offering great comparative views of these similar birds, both of them scarce and local), Collared Pratincole , Grey-rumped Swallow , all three locally occurring Longclaw s ( Cape , Yellow-throated and Rosy-throated ), and the highly range-restricted Lemon-breasted Canary . A wide array of ducks, geese, herons, egrets and other waterbirds can also be seen here.

Our lodge itself also hosts some excellent birding and we’re likely to become acquainted with a number of sand forest specials here (sand forest is a delightful, localized habitat typical of Zululand and southern Mozambique, and contains some top birds). The highly sought-after Pink-throated Twinspot occurs commonly around the lodge and will be one of our main targets here. A number of other sought-after birds, which we may not yet have seen, are possible here as well, including Green Malkoha , Red-fronted Tinkerbird , Rudd’s Apalis , Eastern Nicator , Bearded Scrub Robin , White-throated Robin-Chat and Purple-banded Sunbird . More widespread species found here include a wide array of cuckoos , including African Emerald- , Klaas’s , Red-chested and Black , Striped Kingfisher , Orange-breasted Bushshrike , Black-crowned Tchagra , Black Cuckooshrike , Southern Black Tit , Violet-backed Starling , Pale Flycatcher , Scarlet-chested Sunbird and Golden-breasted Bunting , amongst others. Noisy Thick-tailed Greater Galagos (Bushbaby) wake up in the evenings, and can often be seen around the lodge. We’ll enjoy a good evening meal, in preparation for another excellent day in the heart of Zululand.

Overnight: Umkhumbi Lodge, Hluhluwe

Day 9. Birding Mkhuze Game Reserve and surrounds

We will undertake a day trip into the nearby Mkhuze Game Reserve (armed with picnic breakfast and lunch). This tiny reserve is one of the premier birding sites in the country. One is only allowed out of the van in designated areas (because of the presence of dangerous African megafauna), and so we will focus our birding on the excellent hides (and walkways to them), picnic sites and around the rest camp, where we are free to get out and walk around. This incredible reserve has a wide array of habitats, ranging from bushveld through to sand forest, and open wetlands, and we’ll explore all of these habitats during our day. The sand forest is home to our main targets, which will include the likes of Pink-throated Twinspot (if not seen previously), Neergaard’s Sunbird and Gorgeous Bushshrike , among other prized birds such as Rudd’s Apalis , African Pygmy Kingfisher , Red-fronted Tinkerbird , the diminutive Grey Penduline Tit , Eastern Nicator , the attractive Stierling’s Wren-Warbler and Dusky Indigobird . The large Nsumo Pan also offers excellent birding, supporting a wide array of waterbirds, and depending on the water levels at the time, the pan supports one of the only breeding colonies of Pink-backed Pelicans in South Africa. Other species to be found here include the likes of the sought-after African Pygmy Goose and African Openbill while more regular birds include White-faced Whistling Duck , Black Crake , Water Thick-knee , African Jacana , Whiskered Tern , African Spoonbill , Squacco and Black Herons and Pied Kingfisher . The trees on the edge of the pan support the dazzling Broad-billed Roller , along with an array of woodpeckers, kingfishers, barbets, honeyguides, bushshrikes, flycatchers, robins, sunbirds and weavers. Pel’s Fishing Owl do occur in the area, but are nomadic and very rarely seen, and are more reliable on our tour to the Okavango Delta in Botswana/northern Namibia .

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

The park will also allow us to increase our raptor list, being an excellent area for some of the more iconic bushveld species such as Bateleur and Martial Eagle , while White-backed Vultures are never far away. The bushveld areas are not to be ignored, and are home to species such as Common Scimitarbill , Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill , Lilac-breasted Roller , Chinspot Batis , Brubru , Sabota Lark , Long-billed Crombec , Burnt-necked Eremomela , Red-billed Oxpecker (often catching a ride on large mammals), Kurrichane Thrush , Blue Waxbill and Green-winged Pytilia , among others.

In addition to all these excellent birds, Mkhuze also offers a wide selection of mammals including the full complement of big game species. While mammals such as Lion , Cheetah , African Wild Dog , Leopard , African Elephant and Black and White Rhinoceros occur, they are scarce and we’ll need some luck to find these. More commonly seen species include an array of antelope, including the spectacular Nyala , along with Greater Kudu and the ever-charismatic Plains Zebra . The diminutive Suni antelope can also be seen in the sand forest.

This is sure to be an excellent day, with a high number of birds and mammals seen. We’ll return to our comfortable lodge for a well-deserved dinner later in the afternoon.

Day 10. Birding Hluhluwe and transfer to Wakkerstroom

We have the morning available to bird the excellent grounds of our lodge, or some other nearby areas, such as False Bay Nature Reserve, should any target species still be outstanding – these may include the likes of the difficult African Broadbill and Neergaard’s Sunbird . We’ll then begin the fairly long drive (4 hours+), to get to our next destination, Wakkerstroom, set in the montane grassland belt at high altitude. This is another one of the premier birding destinations in the country, and is a must for any world birder, as it hosts a number of prized endemic birds. Wakkerstroom is a lovely, quaint and charmingly small village located along the Drakensberg escarpment, and as such is fairly high in elevation (only just below 6500ft/2000m). We will likely only arrive in the afternoon and may begin exploring the area slightly lower in elevation located to the east of the town. Here, a number of species not regularly seen in the immediate vicinity of the town can be seen and include the likes of the curious southern African race of White-bellied Bustard (known locally as Barrow’s Korhaan, split by some authorities), and Cloud Cisticola . We’re also sure to get our eye in on some of the other more widespread grassland species occurring in the area, such as Swainson’s Spurfowl , Cape Crow , Spike-heeled and Red-capped Larks , South African Cliff Swallow , Banded Martin , Cape Grassbird , Pied Starling , Ant-eating Chat , Capped Wheatear , Red-collared Widowbird , Cape Longclaw and Cape Canary , amongst others.

Overnight: Forellenhof Guest Farm , Wakkerstroom

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Day 11. Birding the Wakkerstroom area

We will have a full day of birding the upland grasslands and wetlands surrounding Wakkerstroom, and we usually make use of a local guide. Our day will center around the three ‘big’ targets of the Wakkerstroom area – Rudd’s and Botha’s Larks and Yellow-breasted Pipit . These endemic species are all rare and localized, with the grasslands around Wakkerstroom proving one of the few and only reliable locations to find these prized species. The entire area is particularly species-rich with many of the following likely: Red-winged and Grey-winged Francolins , Southern Bald Ibis , Denham’s Bustard , Blue Korhaan , Eastern Long-billed , Pink-billed and Eastern Clapper Larks , Pale-crowned and Wing-snapping Cisticolas , Nicholson’s Pipit and Cape Bunting . The wetlands in the area are home to a number of birds, and amongst others we will search for White-backed and Maccoa Ducks , African Rail , Red-chested Flufftail (with some patience), African Snipe and Little Bittern . Aside from these, many other more widespread grassland species feature here, from Blue and Grey Crowned Cranes , to a variety of raptors, cisticolas, larks, widowbirds, weavers and more. Areas of woodland line some of the ravines and valleys, and these provide us with further species such as Red-throated Wryneck , Bokmakierie , Lazy Cisticola , Drakensberg Prinia , along with Bush Blackcap and Barratt’s Warbler in the wooded areas. We will also be sure to keep our eyes to the sky for raptors such as the tricky Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk , along with Black Sparrowhawk , and African Marsh and Black Harriers . This is also a great area for aerial feeders (swifts, swallows and martins), and we’ll also keep an eye out for the tricky Horus Swift , along with Alpine and African Black Swifts .

While few of Africa’s larger mammals are found here, this area is a great place to find smaller mammal species such as the charming Meerkat as well as Yellow Mongoose and Common Duiker . After dark, we can also try for Marsh Owl , and if we’re lucky, the rare African Grass Owl .

Day 12. Birding Wakkerstroom, and transfer to the Kruger National Park

We have the morning available to try for any highland birds we may still be missing, before having to gather our things and set off to our next destination. We have arguably the longest drive of the trip today (roughly 6 hours), but the reward is that we’ll eventually arrive in one of Africa’s greatest game parks – the Kruger National Park. We will spend three nights in this great park attempting to find as many of the birds and mammals mentioned below as possible, along with enjoying a great safari experience. The mammal and bird diversity here is nothing short of staggering. African Elephant , Hippopotamus , Lion , Leopard , Cheetah , African Wild Dog (now extremely rare but regularly sighted in the park), both White and Black Rhinoceros , Giraffe , and a stack of antelopes and smaller mammals will all be sought. Nile Crocodile is quite common in many of the park’s waterbodies. The park is absolutely full of birds as well, including a mega-diversity of raptors (ranging from the tiny Little Sparrowhawk to the massive Lappet-faced Vulture , and a great many in between), an array of storks, the most admired being Saddle-billed Stork , while on the other end of the spectrum ‘the undertaker’ Marabou Stork , and other large birds such as Southern Ground Hornbill . Indeed, the raptors and other large birds thrive here, as there is such a vast amount of conserved and wild land, allowing them to breed largely away from human disturbance – making this a stronghold for these species in South Africa. A great many other species occur, and include a number of francolins, cuckoos, hornbills, rollers, mousebirds, kingfishers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, bushshrikes, flycatchers, robin-chats, starlings, waxbills, firefinches, canaries and buntings. The diversity of birds and mammals in the park has to be seen to be believed, and we will accumulate a long list of species during our stay in the park.

Overnight: Skukuza Rest Camp or similar, Kruger National Park

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Days 13 – 14. Birding the Kruger National Park

Making use of open-top safari vehicles, ideal for bird and game viewing in Kruger, we have two full days to explore the southern areas of this iconic park. Our exact routes may vary depending on which rest camp(s) we stay at, but we stand good chances at finding most of the above-mentioned (Day 12) species. We will also have the opportunity to undertake optional night drives (at your own cost), which can produce some of the scarcer nocturnal birds, such as Bronze-winged Courser and Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl , and mammals such as African Civet , South African Large-spotted Genet and perhaps even Serval .

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

  Day 15. Birding Kruger, with a transfer to Dullstroom

We have our final morning available to spend within Kruger, before having to exit this wonderful area, and continue onto our next destination, that being Dullstroom, located in the highlands of the northern Drakensberg escarpment. The drive will likely be around 3 hours and should see us arriving with time to spare in the afternoon, where we’ll check into our very comfortable lodge and acquaint ourselves with the area and some of its birds. Dullstroom is a small, charming village which plays host to a number of specials which we’ll be targeting during our time here. Foremost amongst these is the rare Cape Eagle-Owl , which we will attempt to track down this evening.

Overnight: Linger Longer Country Retreat, Dullstroom

Day 16. Birding Dullstroom, and transfer to Rust de Winter

We have the morning available for some final birding around Dullstroom and surrounds. We usually focus our efforts on the nearby Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve, which hosts some of the most pristine montane grassland in the area. While we should have seen many of the species occurring here previously on the trip in the other highland areas (Wakkerstroom and Sani Pass), this stunning area offers us an excellent backup for a number of scarce and prized birds, such as Wattled Crane , Secretarybird , Denham’s Bustard , Red-winged Francolin , Southern Bald Ibis , Black-winged Lapwing , Gurney’s Sugarbird , Eastern Long-billed Lark and Yellow-breasted Pipit .

We will eventually make our way onwards to our final destination, Rust de Winter, and have a relatively lengthy transfer (roughly 4 hours) to get here. We will likely take an ‘off-the-beaten-path’ route to get here, visiting some of the superb mixed broad-leafed woodlands north-east of Pretoria, which support some localized and scarce species. Here we can search for Shelley’s Francolin , Melodious and Fawn-colored Larks , Green-capped Eremomela , Short-toed Rock Thrush , Tinkling Cisticola , Bushveld Pipit and Red-headed Weaver . If conditions are right, we may also be able to find the incredibly difficult White-backed Night Heron and Half-collared Kingfisher . We will eventually arrive at our comfortable lodge located in the Rust de Winter district in the late afternoon.

Overnight: Golden Impalas Bush Resort , Dinokeng Game Reserve

Day 17. Birding Zaagkuilsdrift, Kgomo-Kgomo and Rust de Winter

We will spend the last full day of the tour birding the rich “acacia”-dominated savannas and other habitats of the area. We usually focus our efforts on the superb Zaagkuilsdrift Road, which offers a great transect through this habitat, and puts us in an excellent position to find some of the many more typical Kalahari edge type species that occur here. The road continues on for a while through bird-rich savannah before arriving at a floodplain, which also hosts some excellent species, but birding here is very much dependent on the conditions (usually dry on our October tours). This is another of the country’s premier birding sites, with a huge diversity of birds, and we’re sure to build up an extensive list of species. Some of the Kalahari-type birds we’ll try for include Northern Black Korhaan , Crimson-breasted Shrike , Southern Pied Babbler , Kalahari Scrub Robin , Barred Wren-Warbler , Chestnut-vented Warbler (Tit-babbler), Cape Penduline Tit , Burnt-necked Eremomela , Marico Flycatcher , Violet-eared and Black-faced Waxbills , Great Sparrow , Cut-throat Finch , Scaly-feathered Weaver (Finch), White-browed Sparrow-Weaver , Shaft-tailed Whydah and Yellow Canary . These are just a few of the many birds occurring in the thornveld, and the usually dry (at this time of the year) and open lands around the floodplain can support interesting birds such as Temminck’s Courser and Caspian Plover .

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

The nearby Rust de Winter area supports a similar suite of birds to those mentioned above. This is also a great area to get to grips with owls, and some dedicated nocturnal searching may produce the likes of Western Barn , Southern White-faced and African Scops Owls , while the larger Spotted and Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls do occur in the area as well. The dainty and partly diurnal Pearl-spotted Owlet is ever-present too, sometimes surrounded by a host of passerines mobbing it (which is useful to us as it means we can accumulate a lot of bird species fast!). We’ll eventually settle in for our last dinner together, reminiscing about all the excellent birds we’ve experienced over the course of this tour.

Day 18. Transfer to Johannesburg and departure

We have the morning available to bird and explore the surrounds at our leisure, and being no more than 2 hours away from the main Johannesburg Airport (OR Tambo International Airport), we do not have very far to travel today. The tour will conclude at the airport later in the day.

We kindly ask that you book your international flight to depart after 3 p.m. today.

Please note that the itinerary cannot be guaranteed as it is only a rough guide and can be changed (usually slightly) due to factors such as availability of accommodation, updated information on the state of accommodation, roads, or birding sites, the discretion of the guides and other factors. In addition, we sometimes have to use a different international guide from the one advertised due to tour scheduling.

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Drakensberg Rockjumper

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Pink-throated Twinspot

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Narina Trogon

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Wattled Crane

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Gurney's Sugarbird

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Mountain Pipit

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Southern Ground Hornbill

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Saddle-billed Stork

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

White Rhinoceros

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Botha's Lark

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Neergaard's Sunbird

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Rudd's Apalis

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Yellow-breasted Pipit

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Southern Banded Snake Eagle

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Spotted Ground Thrush

Subtropical South Africa birding tours

Bush Blackcap

Map of birding tour in Subtropical South Africa Birding Tour: Comprehensive Eastern South Africa November 2024/October 2024/2025

Subtropical South Africa Trip Report

14 – 31 october 2023, by  dylan vasapolli.

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Subtropical South Africa trip report

A quintessential sight in the African bushveld – this  Leopard  lazing about in the final hours of the day, was one of the standout group sightings on this eastern South Africa tour.

South Africa has for a long while been arguably the best and most accessible African country to visit – due to its superb infrastructure, high diversity, and incredible value-for-money. This subtropical South Africa set departure tour is focused on an 18-day route taking in almost all of eastern South Africa’s premier birding (and wildlife) reserves and sites.

Starting in the coastal town of Durban, we headed to the fabulous  Drakensberg Mountains  and took a trip up the birdy Sani Pass into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, before venturing through  the myriad of coastal forests and Zululand bushveld nature reserves and sites . Meccas we stopped at included  the world-famous Isimangaliso Wetland Park , and  Mkhuze Game Reserve , amongst others. We then headed inland, and made a trip to  the highlands of Wakkerstroom , where we focused on the many grassland endemics of South Africa, before calling in at  the excellent Kruger National Park , where we enjoyed some of Africa’s megafauna, along with its supreme birding. The tour then ended in the diverse mixed acacia thornveld north of Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

This tour yielded a high number of birds, including many localized specials, and many endemics and near-endemics. This localized  Rudd’s Apalis  showed well during our time in Zululand.

We had challenging weather during our 2023 set departure tour, with rain and other adverse weather conditions affecting most days of this trip. Remarkably, despite all the inclement weather, this tour was still supremely successful, with a high count of species (more than 450 recorded, and just under this total being seen), and virtually all of the possible specials  and endemics  being seen (and generally seen very well)! There were too many highlights to list them all, but our day up a cold, windy, rainy and snowy Sani Pass was superb as, despite everything the weather gods threw down on us, the birds carried on obliging. A somewhat similar day at Mkhuze Game Reserve was equally superb due to the excellent birds we found, despite the atrocious conditions. Our Kruger drives were well enjoyed, with some superb birds intermingled with far too many  Leopards  (amongst other great wildlife, like  African Wild Dog ), while our trend continued with a cold, wet and generally miserable day on the Zaagkuilsdrift Road being wonderfully productive, netting us virtually every special possible at this time of the year.

A detailed daily account can be read below, and the full bird and mammal lists are located at the end of the report.

Detailed Report

Day 1, 14 th  october 2023. arrival in durban, local birding and transfer to pennington.

Our eastern South Africa subtropical tour began in a comfortable Durban guesthouse with several of the group having arrived early the previous day. With more guests arriving only later in the day, we spent the morning birding a few local sites in the wider Durban north area, including the KwaDukuza Wetlands near Stanger. Water birds formed the center stage during the morning birding, and we acquainted ourselves with the more widespread species like  Egyptian Goose ,  Little Grebe ,  African Swamphen ,  Black Crake ,  Three-banded Plover ,  Blacksmith Lapwing ,  African Jacana ,  African Darter ,  Reed Cormorant ,  Grey Heron ,  Malachite  and  Pied Kingfishers ,  Lesser Swamp Warbler  and a plethora of weavers including  Thick-billed ,  Village  and  Eastern Golden  (Yellow)  Weavers  and  Southern Red Bishops . Our hoped for Red-headed Queleas were nowhere to be seen, but we did well to find a pair of  Grey Crowned Cranes  along with shy  Black  and  Purple Herons . Our acquaintances continued with the likes of  Lesser Striped Swallow ,  Black Saw-wing ,  Red-winged Starling ,  Pin-tailed Whydah ,  African Pied Wagtail  and  Yellow-fronted Canary .

We headed to the airport, where we met up with a few more guests who had just arrived from our  Best of Cape Town & Beyond Tour , before settling in for lunch and transferring down the south coast to the sleepy village of Pennington. Here we met our final guests (who had been staying for a few days prior to the tour beginning) and checked into our comfortable and luxurious seaside accommodations. The wind had picked up to an extraordinarily high level and our afternoon walk around  the fabulous Umdoni Park  was extremely quiet, with little moving about in the gale-force winds. A fruiting tree proved our saving grace and here we enjoyed the likes of  African Green Pigeon ,  White-eared Barbet  and  Violet-backed  and  Black-bellied Starlings , all cavorting around the tree. Nearby we enjoyed a small group of  Little Bee-eaters , dainty  Southern Black Flycatchers  and we eked out an  Olive Sunbirds  in the forest. We settled in for the evening and enjoyed a lovely meal together.

Day 2, 15 th  October 2023. Birding Umdoni Park, and transfer to Underberg, via Weza Forest

Our early morning coffee and rusks kickstarted our day, and we headed off into the neighboring Umdoni Park where we would spend the morning birding the various forest trails running through it. With the wind having died down substantially, the birds were out and about and we had a superb morning. A pair of confiding  Cape Batis’  gave us good looks, before being replaced by a  Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird , then a  Black-backed Puffback  and lastly a  Square-tailed Drongo . A calling  Narina Trogon  gave us only the briefest of glimpses, while a bright  Tambourine Dove  gave us better views. We also did well to find a foraging  Brown Scrub Robin , one of the main specials for the area (well spotted, Ohad!). We then struck gold and found a party of  Knysna Turacos  which came out into an open tree and put on a fine show for us! After having had our fill, we continued onwards and were drawn to a vocal  Gorgeous Bushshrike . Rather unlike this usually extremely elusive bird, we had excellent views almost immediately, and enjoyed this brightly colored species calling from the top of a tree at length. Displaying  African Goshawks  were seen, along with  Golden-tailed Woodpecker ,  Black-headed Oriole ,  Southern Boubou , nesting  Southern Black Tits ,  Green-backed Camaroptera ,  Ashy Flycatcher  and  Grey Sunbird . We headed back for breakfast after a few hours out walking, finding a  Purple-crested Turaco  en route. We kept getting repeatedly distracted during breakfast with the beautiful gardens bringing in excellent birds, like the scarce  Southern Tchagra ,  Brown-hooded Kingfisher ,  Crested Barbet ,  Spectacled Weaver  and  Red-backed Mannikin .

After eventually getting through breakfast, we gathered up our things and hit the road. We were ultimately bound for Underberg, but would take the bulk of the day getting there with various planned stops along the way. Our first stop at  Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve  was good, albeit brief. Here we tried hard in a known Knysna Woodpecker territory, but came up empty handed. A vocal  Black Cuckoo  gave us a few good flyby views, and we also added an excellent  Olive Woodpecker  and dainty  Bar-throated Apalis .  Narina Trogon  finally relented and we found a showy male that refused to budge, giving us all excellent views (thanks again, Ohad!). With inclement and colder weather brewing, our lunch stop at Ingeli was much welcomed, and allowed us to have some coffee and tea to warm up, along with a fine Sunday roast.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

We had sublime views of a male  Narina Trogon  whilst at Oribi Gorge.

The gardens here held the likes of  Amethyst  and  Greater Double-collared Sunbirds ,  Cape Weaver ,  Cape Robin-Chat  and  Greater Striped Swallow . After having suitably warmed up again, we ventured off birding to the nearby Weza Forest. A  Red-chested Cuckoo  showed well on the forest edge, and almost as soon as we stepped out the car, we found a  Bush Blackcap  – one of the targets here. The bird kept slightly distant, but showed well.  Olive Woodpecker  and  Cape Batis  kept us entertained before we found a lively  Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler . Our first try for the shy  White-starred Robin  produced the goods, and we then refocused on finding  Orange Ground Thrush . We heard several birds calling as we went along, but try as we might, we simply couldn’t see any of them, despite the birds being extremely close at times. An  Olive Bushshrike  put in an appearance right at the end, before we headed down to a vlei. Here, we enjoyed excellent looks at several confiding  Barratt’s Warblers  that were working the rank vegetation along the edges, along with a vocal  African Yellow Warbler . A fine  Long-crested Eagle  was seen on our way out. We spent the remaining part of the now rainy afternoon driving to Underberg, where we checked into our stunning lodge in the early evening.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Drakensberg Rockjumper  is one the main specials of the Sani Pass – here a young bird.

Day 3, 16 th  October 2023. Endemic birding on Sani Pass, and into Lesotho

We awoke to the same continuous rain as had been ongoing from the previous day, and braced for a cool day as we transited up  the famous Sani Pass , and  into Lesotho . We made use of several 4×4 vehicles to traverse the rugged road up the mighty Drakensberg Mountains. After meeting our drivers and ace local guide, Stuart, we climbed into the cars and set off. Early stops still in our lodge grounds produced  a fine male  Buff-streaked Chat , along with  Wailing Cisticola  and  Nicholson’s Pipit . A calling  Red-winged Francolin  took some careful watching to locate, but we enjoyed good scope views of this secretive species. The large dam on the lodge grounds also held nesting  Hamerkop , distant  Grey Crowned Cranes , flyby  Black-crowned Night Herons  and a  Giant Kingfisher  for a lucky few. The lower reaches of the pass were extremely wet and pretty miserable, but we somehow managed to better our views of  Bush Blackcap , enjoyed several showy  Drakensberg Prinias  and found numerous  Malachite Sunbirds  and a single  Gurney’s Sugarbird  on some of the flowering plants. While having breakfast in a short gap in the weather, we also eked out a few new birds like  Bokmakierie ,  African Dusky Flycatcher  and  Cape Canary , while  Half-collared Kingfisher  frustratingly only showed itself to a lucky few. Once we were past the South African border post, we managed to get our first  Ground Woodpeckers , along with  Cape Buntings  and  Cape Rock Thrushes , while the surprise of the day went to a  Levaillant’s Cuckoo  – a rare bird in the province. The higher reaches of the pass were blanketed in thick mist, and a quick stop at the Sani Top area, once we crossed into Lesotho, gave us a confiding  Drakensberg Rockjumper  and  numerous  Drakensberg Siskins .

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Mountain Pipit  is a highly localized breeding endemic, only really possible within the high Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho.

The mist cleared and rain stopped as we went deeper into Lesotho, but it miraculously started snowing and was bitterly cold (unusual for this time of year). Despite conditions, the birding was excellent and we roped in all of our targets. One of the first  Mountain Pipits  of the season showed well to us, while we also netted  Grey Tit ,  Fairy Flycatcher ,  Karoo Prinia ,  Sentinel Rock Thrush ,  Sickle-winged Chat  and both  Large-billed   and  Red-capped Larks . Comical parties of  Ground Woodpeckers  were seen at several places and we also did well to find a covey of  Grey-winged Francolins  feeding in the open. We eventually arrived at our  Bearded Vulture  nest site, and enjoyed good views of the adults on the nest and changing, along with seeing the now large chick on the nest, albeit distantly. We enjoyed much more satisfactory views of them flying overhead. Numerous  Cape Vultures  were also present, along with a few  Southern Bald Ibis , and a  Black Stork  was a lucky sighting. Birding some of the surrounding areas here gave us our few missing Karoo species like  Layard’s Warbler  and  Karoo Scrub Robin , while we also added a large party of  Yellow Canaries .  African Rock Pipit  took a herculean effort to find, after spending much of our time in Lesotho listening to various birds calling, and we did well to add a  Mountain Wheatear . We enjoyed repeat views of  Drakensberg Rockjumpers  here, along with some of the other Karoo species seen earlier in the day, like  Fairy Flycatcher  and  Grey Tit .

Content and satisfied, and with all our target birds under our belt despite the most inclement of weather conditions, we made our way down the pass and into the Underberg farmlands. Here, heavy rain resumed and we made the most of our search for cranes. A large flock of  Grey Crowned Cranes  were seen in the farmlands, while a pair of  Blue Cranes  were sighted close to the road, and eventually we arrived at an active  Wattled Crane  nest. Here, the adults were seen on and around the nest respectively, and we counted ourselves lucky to see this locally rare and Critically Endangered (in South Africa) species. Opportunistic stops in the farmlands also gave us  Cape Crow ,  South African Cliff Swallows ,  Pied Starlings ,  Long-tailed Widowbirds  and our first  Cape Longclaws . We retired for the remainder of the day, and warmed ourselves up in front of our fires.

Day 4, 17 th  October 2023. Blue Swallows and transfer to Mtunzini

We had an early start, as we checked out of our lodge and began the long journey to the coastal village of Mtunzini, where we would spend the night. As most of our travel days go, we would make several birding stops along the route, the first of which was at the Marutswa Forest in Bulwer. This is a usually reliable stakeout for Cape Parrot, but the weather gods were still angry with us, as we had much rain and inclement weather to deal with. As we waited it out, the likes of  Black-headed Oriole ,  Southern Boubou ,  White-necked Raven ,  Drakenberg Prinia ,  African Dusky Flycatcher ,  Southern Double-collared Sunbird  and  Red-collared Widowbird  kept us company. Some hard work paid off and we enjoyed a fine  Orange Ground Thrush  that remained perched, for all to admire, on the forest edge, while  Narina Trogon  offered some brief views and a vocal  White-starred Robin  offered no views. The rhythmic booming of  Southern Ground Hornbills  was heard out over the valley and  Black-winged Lapwings  were seen in flight above the forest. The parrots were unfortunately a no show, and we eventually had to throw in the towel and move on.

Our next stop was the Roselands Farm near Richmond, where we had a date with the sought-after  Blue Swallow . Our journey took us through some farmlands, where some opportunistic birding stops in between bouts of rain produced some fine birds, such as  Jackal Buzzard ,  Cape Grassbird ,  Levaillant’s Cisticola ,  African Yellow Warbler ,  Fan-tailed Widowbird ,  Common Waxbill  and  Brimstone Canary . We also had to navigate our way down and up the Hela Hela Pass, and more opportunistic birding here gave us  Southern Tchagra ,  Black Cuckooshrike ,  Lazy Cisticola  and  Greater Double-collared Sunbird . We also picked up  Cape Vultures  overhead, along with a mixed flock of  Alpine  and  African Black Swifts . Lower down the pass, we added  Emerald-spotted Wood Dove  and  Natal Spurfowl  before rain intervened once more and forced us onwards. We had done well and were nearly up the pass when a nasty churned up piece of mud ground us to a halt. Here we reassessed, thankful for a brief interlude from the rain and actioned a plan that got us through the mud patch with minimal hassle (though we must thank the local villagers for helping us carry bags up the hill through the mud).

We were on the road soon enough and found ourselves at Roselands Farm in no time. Here we met up with local guide, Craig, and he took us off to a nearby patch of remnant grasslands for our date with this rare bird. We almost immediately got our first, distant, views of the pair of  Blue Swallows  that come to this patch annually to nest, but it took a short wait before we were treated to our second views, which were much better and closer! We reveled in our amazing sighting of these rare birds, as they flitted about us and even perched for a short while.  Forest Canaries  were also obvious in the area. Thankfully the rain abated for the duration of our time with the swallows. After having had our fill, and with the skies darkening and looking ever more ominous, we retreated to the main farm where we settled in for a cup of coffee and our lunch, after a successful outing. The rest of our afternoon was mostly filled with driving, as we made our way back to Durban and up the north coast to Mtunzini. We briefly called in at the Umdloti area to try for  Buff-spotted Flufftail  at a local stakeout outside my parents’ house. Despite the continuous drizzle and inclement weather, a lovely male  Buff-spotted Flufftail  came in to view repeatedly, sadly, the dark and gloomy understory it frequented meant that not everyone in the group was able to see the bird. We also bid farewell to Ohad, who had only joined for the first few days of the trip and was departing from the Durban airport, before resuming our journey up to Mtunzini. Here, we would spend the next two nights, and we settled in for a lovely evening meal following a good and exciting day in the field.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A male  Blue Swallow  drifts over its mistbelt grasslands – now a rare species in South Africa, with a tiny, fragmented population.

Day 5, 18 th  October 2023. Birding Ongoye and Dlinza Forests

After having our religious early coffee and rusks to kick start our first sunny day, we met up with local guide Sakhamuzi and immediately set off on our morning birding. We started our day off in the Ongoye Forest, where the highly localized endemic population of  Green Barbet  occurs, and this would be our main target. The barbets were fairly vocal and we heard several birds calling regularly throughout the morning, but they proved difficult to find and we were frustrated for some time. While we went about our search, we picked up a slew of other birds, including the likes of  Striped Pipit  and  Yellow-throated Longclaw  on the grassy edges to the forest, and the likes of  Trumpeter Hornbill ,  Grey Cuckooshrike ,  Southern Boubou ,  Yellow-streaked Greenbul ,  Ashy Flycatcher ,  Collared Sunbird ,  Dark-backed Weaver  and  Red-backed Mannikin  in the forest interior. At our last scanning point, after a hike through the steep forest, atop a grassy hill looking over the forest, we finally found a fruiting tree and right on cue, picked up a feeding  Green Barbet . We enjoyed some excellent scope views before the bird melted back into the forest. We enjoyed our breakfast after our efforts, and were aptly rewarded with a stunning male  African Emerald Cuckoo  that showed well.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A close-up  Grey Cuckooshrike  watching over us in Ongoye Forest.

We then transferred to the Dlinza Forest, in Eshowe , where we would spend a few hours seeking out other species. We made our way up to the canopy tower, but as it was late morning now, bird activity was a bit slow and Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeons were conspicuous only by their absence. We got wind of a  Spotted Ground Thrush  nest, and duly headed off towards this, finding a lovely  Chorister Robin-Chat  en route. We soon found the nest, and as if right on cue, an adult flew in and sat on the nest. It took a while for everyone in the group to see the bird, and we had to be content with partially-obstructed views as the bird sat hunkered down on its nest. A calling  Scaly-throated Honeyguide  showed well, and we also picked up our first  African Woolly-necked Stork , amongst other more common species of birds seen. We picked up a few pizzas in Mtunzini and headed off to the Umlalazi Nature Reserve to eat them for lunch, and try for a few more birds. A lovely  Green Malkoha  showed right on cue, and gave us all incredible views – unusual for this normally ultra-shy bird. We also enjoyed a plethora of kingfishers here, with  Malachite ,  Giant  and  African Pygmy Kingfishers   all showing well. A late-staying  Mangrove Kingfisher  also played hide and seek, needing a few attempts to find, but we all finally got onto the bird and enjoyed good looks at this scarce species. The resident  Palm-nut Vultures  also found their way onto our list. Following lunch, and our quick-fire birding here, we retreated to our lodge, where we had an afternoon break. A late evening walk around the grounds of the lodge rewarded us with  Purple-banded Sunbird  along with showy  White-eared Barbets  and  Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds .

Day 6, 19 th  October 2023. Transfer to St Lucia, and estuarine birding

An unfortunate windy, drizzly and generally gloomy morning greeted us, as we set off to spend the morning in the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. Predictably, things were slow and we had to work hard to eke out new birds. Multiple feeding  Purple-crested Turacos  were an early highlight, as was a large flock of  White-faced Whistling Ducks  flying along the river. Here, we also added a hulking  Goliath Heron , along with  Purple Heron ,  African Spoonbill ,  Little Egret  and several  African Woolly-necked Storks . A pair of  Rufous-winged Cisticolas  were found flitting about in a reedbed, as were  Lesser Swamp  and  Common Reed Warblers . Wooded patches held  Cardinal Woodpecker ,  Southern Black Flycatcher  and a bright  Yellow-bellied Greenbul . We also tried our luck with  Red-chested Flufftail  and, while we got close with a bird calling from only a few feet away, we had to be content with only hearing this species.  Natal Red Duikers  were numerous.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A male  Southern Brown-throated Weaver  busily constructing its intricate nest.

We had a short drive up the coast further to St Lucia , where we would spend another two nights. We paused at the iMfolozi River bridge, where we fortuitously had a short break in the rain. We easily picked up the resident  Southern Brown-throated Weavers  here, and enjoyed the antics of the displaying males, along with the bustling colony of  Eastern Golden  (Yellow)  Weavers . With the rain coming down again, we retreated to our comfortable guesthouse for lunch and a short break. The stars aligned for our planned afternoon walk on the beach, down to the river estuary for some coastal birds, with the weather clearing up. We had a good birding walk, with high numbers of waders and terns present. Comical  White-fronted Plovers  ran around on the beach, while the estuarine area held the likes of  Grey Plover ,  Eurasian Whimbrel ,  Bar-tailed Godwit ,  Common Greenshank ,  Ruddy Turnstone ,  Curlew Sandpiper  and  Sanderling . Some careful scanning also revealed a few of the sought-after  Terek Sandpipers , and a small flock of  African Oystercatchers  flew in as well. A small tern roost was also present here, and consisted of large numbers of  Common  and  Greater Crested Terns , with smaller numbers of  Caspian  and  Little Terns . A vagrant Saunders’s Tern had been seen on and off recently, and we scanned carefully in the hope of picking it up, but alas, it was not present in the roost during our time here. Remarkably, we also found a flock of  Yellow-billed Storks  congregated on the beach, and it was a strange sight, seeing this normally freshwater species standing in the surf! Returning back to our guesthouse, we picked up a fine male  Klaas’s Cuckoo ,  Little Bee-eaters  and a few  Southern Crested Guineafowls  around the town. We headed out to try for some nightjars and owls around the town, but things were remarkably quiet and only several calling  Buff-spotted Flufftails  and the resident  Hippopotamuses  were about.

Day 7, 20 th  October 2023. Birding the Eastern Shores of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park

Armed with packed breakfasts and lunches, we set off into  the Eastern Shores section of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site . We would spend the bulk of the day birding and exploring the park, going as far up as Cape Vidal. A spot of birding at the gate gave us a few new birds like  Golden-tailed Woodpecker ,  Red-capped Robin-Chat  and a gorgeous  Scarlet-chested Sunbird , along with favorites like  Purple-crested Turaco ,  Trumpeter Hornbill  and  African Green Pigeon . We started off at some wetlands, which were absolutely packed with birds. A small flock of  White-backed Ducks  showed well early on, followed by two pairs of  African Pygmy Goose , before we struck gold and found several of the rare  Rufous-bellied Herons . The continuing high water in the park had resulted in several of these (normally rare South African birds) to come down from Mozambique, where they are more numerous. We did incredibly well, finding five separate individuals, and enjoyed superb looks at several birds.  African Jacanas  were commonly seen and we picked up on a long-staying  Lesser Moorhen  in addition. A range of more widespread ducks, herons and waterbirds were seen as well. Some of the open grassy regions gave us the likes of  Brown Snake-Eagle ,  Collared Pratincole ,  Little Bee-eater ,  Rufous-naped Lark ,  Grey-rumped  and  Red-breasted Swallows ,  African Pipit  and  Yellow-throated Longclaw . Here, we also picked up the first large mammals in the park, with several  White Rhinos  and  African Buffalos  slowly striding through the coastal grasslands, with  Red-billed Oxpeckers  in tow. We called in at the Mission Rocks picnic site, where we had our well-deserved breakfast. The picnic site is situated in a spot of excellent coastal dune forest, and we did well to find several of the specials of the park here, with  Livingstone’s Turaco  and  Rudd’s Apalis  both showing well.  Woodward’s Batis  showed to only some in the group, while many other birds were out and about and included  African Harrier-Hawk ,  Striped Kingfisher ,  Broad-billed Roller ,  Yellow-breasted Apalis ,  Terrestrial Brownbul ,  Grey  and  Purple-banded Sunbirds  and  Spectacled  and  Dark-backed Weavers .

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Rufous-bellied Heron  is a rare bird in South Africa – to find five in one area was almost unbelievable!

We gradually made our way up to Cape Vidal, where we took a walk around the expansive grounds looking for two special birds –  Green Twinspot  and  Grey Waxbill . We found both fairly quickly, but our views of  Grey Waxbill  left us wanting more. It took lots of effort and patience, but we were well rewarded with  excellent views of the prized  Green Twinspot .  Brown Scrub Robins  were evident as well. With the wind having picked up dramatically, we opted to make our way back out the park, calling in at Mission Rocks picnic site again for lunch. A fine  Southern Banded Snake Eagle  that we found quietly perched next to the road was much welcomed, while we had some back and forth with a boisterous male  African Elephant . Eventually, we found our way through, and enjoyed an afternoon break. Some of the other mammals we found in the park included  Plains Zebra ,  Common Warthog ,  Hippopotamus ,  Waterbuck ,  Southern Reedbuck ,  Greater Kudu  and  Blue  (Samango)  Monkey .

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Day 8, 21 st  October 2023. Birding St Lucia and the Nibela floodplains

Our morning began by exploring the excellent iGwalagwala Trail running through the coastal forest around the town. With the heavy winds continuing from the previous day, the birding was difficult, but we had a remarkable morning nonetheless. Comical  Southern Crested Guineafowls  greeted us at the trail head, and we also enjoyed excellent views of  Rudd’s Apalis  once more. A productive alley gave us fidgety  Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher , along with a cooperative pair of  Woodward’s Batis  that showed well to all.  Buff-spotted Flufftails  were heard in several places, and eventually we were rewarded with brief views as a male popped into the open right in front of us. We had repeat views of other specials like  Livingstone’s Turaco , while also adding the scarce  Black-throated Wattle-eye  and  Crowned Hornbill  to our growing list. After a good breakfast, we gathered our things and made the short transfer to our next lodge in the Hluhluwe district.

We arrived in good time, had our lunch and a short midday break, before resuming in the afternoon. The wind had begun to die down, and despite the high temperatures, the birds were out and about and we struggled to even get into the car. Firstly, a pair of bright  Southern Yellow White-eyes  entertained us, before delightful  Grey Waxbills  joined the party and gave us all excellent views! Things weren’t done yet, when a  Red-fronted Tinkerbird  popped into view and showed itself off. We were eventually able to tear ourselves away and get going, bound for the vast Nibela floodplains region. We tried to access the first pan, but the high water levels effectively thwarted our access to get further into good habitat for the likes of Rosy-throated Longclaw. We made do with birding the edges, which were dripping with birds themselves. Vast flocks of both  Fulvous  and  White-faced Whistling Ducks  lined the shallows, numbering into the thousands, and we also picked up both  Blue-billed  and  Red-billed Teals  as well. Many other waterbirds were present, and we enjoyed numbers of  Yellow-billed Storks , along with multiple  Squacco Herons  and other herons, egrets and ibises. Various shorebirds, consisting mainly of  Wood Sandpipers  and  Little Stints , were present, and there were also several  Collared Pratincoles .  Whiskered Terns  and  Pied Kingfishers  were seen dancing about above the water. The wooded edges produced a fine pair of  Crested Francolins , along with more excellent views of  Red-breasted Swallows  and  Violet-backed Starlings . Mpempe Pan followed, and here we spent a while working the dry grasslands on the edges for waders and were aptly rewarded with two of the rare  Caspian Plovers . We enjoyed some superb views of this scarce species, along with the similar  Kittlitz’s Plovers , but some of the other usual suspects like Black-winged and Senegal Lapwings were completely absent. The pan itself held another family of  African Pygmy Goose , along with  Goliath  and  Black Herons  and  Knob-billed Duck , amongst many others. We spent a long while searching for  Lemon-breasted Canary  in the palm-dotted edges, and while we had several birds fly over us at break-neck speed, we couldn’t find any individuals perched nicely and had to make do without them.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

The delightful  African Pygmy Goose  was always a highlight when we saw it.

Day 9, 22 nd  October 2023. Birding Muzi Pan and Mkhuze Game Reserve

This is always hotly anticipated as one of the best days of the trip, with not only a high species list possible, but lots of quality species possible as well. Unfortunately, the gloomy weather from earlier on the trip had rejoined us again, and we had to contend with inclement (and cold) weather throughout the day. We started off at the large Muzi Pan, just outside Mkhuze, and spent a while birding the wetland edges and the surrounding fever tree forest. It was amazingly productive and we quickly raced up to 80 species in the space of 30 minutes. A wide range of waterbirds were present here, though only the likes of  Common Ringed Plover  and  Great Egret  were new to our list, but many other ducks, herons, egrets and shorebirds were evident. The forested edges gave us a wonderfully cooperative  Grey Penduline Tit , along with a showy  Diderick Cuckoo ,  Burchell’s Coucal ,  Lesser Honeyguide ,  Golden-tailed Woodpecker ,  Yellow-breasted Apalis ,  Kurrichane Thrush ,  Pale Flycatcher ,  Lesser Masked Weaver  and a pair of bright  White-browed Robin-Chats . We eventually tore ourselves away and pressed on into Mkhuze Game Reserve proper, where we headed straight for Kumasinga Hide.

The inclement weather finally had its say (as we had done remarkably well on the tour, despite the adverse weather on many previous days), and we battled for birds here. Rain was on and off, and bird activity generally low.  Pink-throated Twinspot  took a herculean effort, but we were finally rewarded with a stunning male that showed beautifully to all. Several  Acacia Pied Barbets  were picked up and we also found the likes of  Common Scimitarbill ,  Black-headed Oriole ,  Black Cuckooshrike ,  Chinspot Batis ,  Southern Black Tit ,  White-browed Scrub Robin ,  White-bellied Sunbird  and  Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow , amongst others. Brief interludes in the rain also gave us some raptors such as  White-backed Vulture ,  Bateleur ,  Martial  and  Wahlberg’s Eagles  and the regionally rare  Dark Chanting Goshawk . We explored the reserve a bit, adding birds here and there slowly, with the likes of  African Openbill ,  European Bee-eater ,  Peregrine Falcon ,  White-crested Helmetshrike  and  White-throated Robin-Chat . Eventually though, the cold and rain had worn through and we called it a day in the early afternoon, and headed back to our comfortable (and warm) lodge, where we had the rest of the afternoon at leisure. Despite the inclement weather on the day, we still managed to record over 130 species!

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Neergaard’s Sunbird  is a Zululand special, occurring only marginally in the Hluhluwe/Mkuze areas we get to on this tour – it took some searching, but we eventually enjoyed some good views.

Day 10, 23 rd  October 2023. Birding Hluhluwe and transfer to Wakkerstroom

We had the morning available for birding the small private reserve our lodge was based on, searching for some of our outstanding species. A pair of delightful  Bearded Scrub Robins  showed well early on, and we enjoyed repeat views of the localized  Rudd’s Apalis . A  Broad-billed Roller  showed well, perched atop some dead trees, and we added a few more birds like  Brown-crowned Tchagra ,  Orange-breasted Bushshrike ,  Willow Warbler ,  Grey Tit-flycatcher  and  Bronze Mannikin .  Pink-throated Twinspot  and  Gorgeous Bushshrikes  were ultra secretive today, and both remained as heard only. It also took a few attempts, but we finally managed to get some good and prolonged views of an  Eastern Nicator , and just as we were enjoying this species, we heard the tell-tale call of  Neergaard’s Sunbird . In but a few moments we had the bird in view, and spent the next little while soaking up our views of this scarce and localized species. It was a fine male, and put on a wonderful show for us.

Following our good walk, we made our way back for breakfast, before gathering our things and beginning the drive to our next destination, the birding mecca of Wakkerstroom. It is a fair drive to get to Wakkerstoom, so we settled in for the scenic drive, before taking a backroad into the charming village, allowing us to do some afternoon birding before we arrived. Our first target was  White-bellied Bustard , and we did well to find an extremely showy pair of these birds without much hassle. The surrounds also gave us a close-up flock of  Southern Bald Ibis , along with others like  White-fronted Bee-eater ,  Lanner Falcon ,  Ant-eating Chat  and  Long-tailed Widowbird . Wakkerstroom is famed for its grassland and LBJ (little brown job) birding, and we started off well by getting  Spike-heeled Lark  (amongst other species we had seen already), and the crowd favorite  Cape Longclaw . Numerous  Banded Martins  and  South African Cliff Swallows  were also evident over the grasslands. We checked into our comfortable guesthouse in the late afternoon, before settling in for the evening.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

We enjoyed watching this pair of  White-bellied Bustards  go about their business.

Day 11, 24 th  October 2023. Endemic birding around Wakkerstroom

We had a full day at our disposal for birding around Wakkerstroom, and were to make use of local guide, David, for the day. We started off the morning looking for  Blue Korhaan  near Wakkerstroom, and got off to a great start, finding a pair of  Blue Korhaans  feeding in the open. We enjoyed them for a time, also getting onto some  Quailfinches  in the surrounding area. We then moved on to the Groenvlei district where we would be trying for two big specials of the area,  Rudd’s Lark  and  Yellow-breasted Pipit . We paused along the way when we picked up an  Eastern Long-billed Lark  right next to the road, and then marveled as we found it had a nest right on the road edge. A  Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk  gave us a flyby as well, before we carried on. We eventually arrived at the  Rudd’s Lark  site, and set off on our walk up the hill. A small bird that flushed up out of the grass was our target,  Rudd’s Lark , and soon we were enjoying good scope views of this prized endemic. We watched it for a while as it went about feeding in the grass, constantly moving about, before leaving the bird in peace. Yellow-breasted Pipit proved much more difficult to find, and eluded us at this first stop. We did well, though, to get excellent looks at both  Wing-snapping  and  Pale-crowned Cisticolas . We arrived at our second site for the  Yellow-breasted Pipit , and while it took some searching to find, we eventually hit the jackpot and found a lovely male  Yellow-breasted Pipit  which showed off very well to everyone. Content with the good progress from the morning, we broke for breakfast at our guesthouse, before resuming in the late morning.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Watching an  Eastern Long-billed Lark  next to the road was superb, but watching as it walked over to its nest nearby was an even better surprise!

Unfortunately, the wind had been picking up throughout the day and it was now at high levels, which would make the rest of the day challenging. Botha’s Lark is the other major grassland endemic that is traditionally looked for in the Wakkerstroom district. This species, however, had largely disappeared from the area and there had been no sightings during the preceding 18 months, incredibly worrying to say the least. We still headed out to the ‘former’ sites where this species occurred and tried our hand at finding them – requiring much walking through short grassland. While no Botha’s Larks were found, we did pick up a small flock of the similar-looking  Pink-billed Larks , which showed well in the gale-force winds. Nearby, we got extremely lucky when we flushed up a  Black-rumped Buttonquail  out of the field in front of us.  Black-winged Lapwing  required a dedicated trip to a specific site, and we made this trip without any hassles, this side trip also rewarded us with a  close-up  Secretarybird . Remarkably, we found  Cloud Cisticola  despite the intense winds, and enjoyed other birds like  Swainson’s Spurfowl , a huge flock of  Blue Cranes ,  African Snipe ,  African Marsh Harrier ,  Jackal Buzzard ,  Cape Crow ,  Mountain Wheatear ,  Red-billed Quelea , delightful parties of  Orange-breasted Waxbills  and  Black-throated Canary , amongst others. By early afternoon, we called it a day and sought refuge from the winds, and settled in for a more relaxed afternoon, in preparation for a busy few days to come once we got up to the Kruger National Park.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Wakkerstroom is LBJ (little brown job) heaven – herewith a confiding  Pale-crowned Cisticola .

Day 12, 25 th  October 2023. Birding Wakkerstroom wetland, and transfer to the Kruger National Park

A cold morning greeted us as we had a quick walk around the guesthouse. Here we picked up several  Malachite Sunbirds , along with the hoped-for  Red-throated Wryneck  and  African Paradise Flycatchers . We then made our way down to the Wakkerstroom wetland, where we spent a few hours birding. Things were slow to begin with, and we focused on the ducks, where we added the likes of  South African Shelduck ,  Cape Shoveler  and  Southern Pochard , amongst the many other species present which we were already familiar with. Numbers of  Red-knobbed Coots ,  African Swamphens  and  Common Moorhens  were present, and we spent a while focusing on some of the other rallids.  Black Crakes   showed nicely without much effort, while  Red-chested Flufftail  took a considerable amount of effort to track down. We eventually found just the right bird, and were aptly rewarded with excellent views as a male wandered out into the open.  African Rail  proved even more elusive with scattered and extremely rapid views – until we arrived back at the car ready to call it, when we found a bird walking around in the open and could study it at length!  African Snipes  put on a good show, while  Little Bittern  left us wanting a bit more.  Black-crowned Night Heron  and  Squacco Heron  showed remarkably well, as did  Purple Heron , while numerous  African Spoonbills  were also present patrolling the edges. A bright  Malachite Kingfisher  frequented the reedy edges, as did a vocal  African Yellow Warbler . A few  Spotted-necked Otters  were also seen swimming about (well spotted, Mark!). We made a quick trip into a nearby patch of grassland where we enjoyed the multiple  Long-tailed Widowbirds , along with other crowd favorites like  Cape Longclaw ,  Pin-tailed Whydah  and a very showy  Pale-crowned Cisticola .

Subtropical South Africa trip report

Elation as we finally lay eyes on the elusive  Red-chested   Flufftail .

We returned in time for breakfast, following which we loaded up all our things and settled in for the long drive to Kruger, where we would be arriving in the late afternoon. Our wonderful lunch stop in a scenic valley gave us an excellent  Greater Double-collared Sunbird , amongst other species, and was a good break from the car. Another stop saw us visiting a known  Bat Hawk  nest, where one of the adults was present and perched nicely in the open for all of us to enjoy! Here we also opportunistically found a  Groundscraper Thrush , and enjoyed our familiar  Purple-crested Turaco  once more.  We eventually arrived at the gate into the world-renowned Kruger National Park, where we checked in, and headed to our camp, Skukuza, where we would be based for our entire three-night stay in the park . We picked up a few new birds on the drive to camp, but things were mostly on the quiet side. A noisy  Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill  showed well, and we also added a  Purple Roller  and several  Burchell’s Starlings . We also had repeat views of  Crested Francolin  and  Natal Spurfowl , along with others like  Klaas’s  and  Levaillant’s Cuckoos  and  Striped Kingfisher . A  Spotted Hyaena  crossing the road right next to us was our first real moment of excitement and was followed soon after by another sighting of several young  Spotted Hyaenas  outside their den next to the road. After having had our fill, we pressed on, though didn’t make it too far before we picked up a  Leopard  lying down next to the road. Even though it was in incredibly dense bush, we had a good view as it walked through, and melted back into the undergrowth. We checked into our accommodations in the camp, and settled in for the evening.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

We enjoyed a pair of  Bat Hawks  along the route.

Days 13 – 14, 26 th  – 27 th  October 2023. Birding the famed Kruger National Park

Our two full days in  the magical Kruger National Park  blurred together with a similar suite of birds seen throughout each of the days. Both of the days are discussed below as one. We made use of an open safari vehicle for the duration of our full days within Kruger, as this enhances the views and experience of the park, because we are not allowed out of our vehicles except in designated areas (like camps and picnic sites).

Setting off in the cool of the early morning, activity was generally high on our drives and we enjoyed a wider range of sought after birds and mammals. We focused a fair bit of our time on the Sabie River and surrounds, and naturally waterbirds were a primary feature. Carefully scanning the river banks we picked up the localized  White-crowned Lapwing  and a pair of vagrant  African Skimmers  (well spotted, Maria!) as two notable standout species. Various smaller dams adjoining the main river were always bustling with birds, and here vast numbers of waterbirds entertained. While flocks of  Yellow-billed Storks  and  African Spoonbills  sunbathed on the edges,  Hamerkops  rode on the backs of  Hippopotamuses  and  Wire-tailed Swallows  flitted about over the water. Numbers of  African Woolly-necked Storks  were also present, and we eked out a few  African Openbills  and  Marabou Storks , and eventually the prized  Saddle-billed Stork .  Black Crakes  were commonly seen, as were  African Jacanas  and shorebirds like  Common  and  Wood Sandpipers , while the inland race of  White-fronted Plover  was a good record.  Red-faced Cisticolas  were a common sight in the reeds along the river, and some of the quieter pools held the likes of  Striated Heron  and, on a night drive, the rare  White-backed Night Heron  – the latter of which sadly didn’t hang around for very long. A number of mammals were also seen, with the best sighting going to a large pack of  African Wild Dogs  found loafing about in the sand. We spent a while watching these special animals as they went about their business, as typical dogs do. Numerous herds of  African Elephants  were seen, as were the likes of  African Buffalo  and some antelope like  Waterbuck ,  Impala ,  Bushbuck  and  Nyala .

Subtropical South Africa trip report

We spent some time watching a pack of  African Wild Dogs  lazing about in the dry river.

The immediate river surrounds were also highly productive; noisy  Purple-crested Turacos  jumped and jostled about in fruiting trees, while cuckoos were well represented with  Jacobin ,  Levaillant’s ,  Diderick  and  Red-chested Cuckoos  all being seen regularly.  Burchell’s Coucals  showed well in the rank growth, and were often joined by various other species which included  Black-crowned Tchagra ,  Long-billed Crombec ,  Yellow-breasted Apalis ,  Sombre Greenbul ,  Arrow-marked Babbler ,  White-browed Scrub Robin ,  White-browed Robin-Chat ,  White-throated Robin-Chat ,  Lesser Masked Weaver  and the delightful  Blue Waxbill .  White-fronted Bee-eaters  were found nesting opportunistically on some of the exposed sand banks, with  Broad-billed Rollers  watching over their patches of water from the treetops. A pair of  Bearded Woodpeckers  drummed from a bare tree and  Golden-breasted Buntings  called from the treetops. A particularly large herd of  African Buffalo  was scrutinized carefully and revealed a few of the scarce (this far south in the Kruger)  Yellow-billed Oxpeckers , amongst the more numerous  Red-billed Oxpeckers . We also did well to find several  Mosque Swallows , another scarce species this far south in the Kruger. Bright  Greater Blue-eared Starlings  entertained at the picnic sites while flowering plants brought in numbers of  Scarlet-chested Sunbirds . As the days began warming up, raptors also became particularly obvious, and  White-backed Vultures  were frequently encountered, as were  Tawny Eagles  and  Bateleurs . We picked up several pairs of  African Hawk Eagles , always quietly perched in the trees, and found  Walhberg’s Eagles  on several occasions.  African Fish Eagles  were conspicuous around any bits of water, but we struggled to find any large flocks of vultures. After careful scanning, we finally picked up a  White-headed Vulture , and also added a lone  Brown Snake Eagle  and several  Black-winged Kites  and  Yellow-billed Kites , but generally raptor numbers were down massively from their ‘usual’ numbers.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A  Mosque Swallow  calling – a scarce species in southern Kruger.

The wide range of mixed woodland and mixed savannah habitats in the Kruger was also explored, and added yet more species to our tally. Here we did well to pick up shy  Red-crested Korhaans  in the more open sections of grass, with these areas also patrolled by the likes of  Southern Red-billed  and  African Grey Hornbills ,  Magpie Shrikes  and  Lilac-breasted Rollers . Roving bird parties were usually led by noisy  Southern Black Tits , but we also added other species like  Green Wood Hoopoe ,  Brubru ,  Orange-breasted Bushshrike , a bright male  Red-headed Weaver  and  Village Indigobird , amongst others. We also took a trip farther north, which delivered a  Spotted Eagle Owl  on its nest next to the road, along with the localized  Mourning Collared Dove , while drier areas gave up  Namaqua Dove ,  Sabota Lark ,  Red-billed Buffalo Weaver  and the locally rare  White-browed Sparrow Weaver , amongst others. Some night birding around the camp gave us a fine  African Wood Owl , along with several vocal  Fiery-necked Nightjars  that frustratingly remained as heard only.

These bushveld regions also rewarded us with many more excellent mammal sightings. We encountered numerous prides of  Lions , and enjoyed some up close and personal views of these big cats.  Leopards  were also extremely kind to us on this tour, and we had  Leopard  sightings on every day, with several cats found up in the trees and a glorious male  Leopard  on our night drive, that we were also privileged enough to have roaring in front of us! Our night drive also gave us a few nocturnal mammals, like  Southern Lesser Galago  and  White-tailed Mongoose , along with a  Spotted Bush Snake  and several  Flap-necked Chameleons . All the expected plains game was seen, with the bizarre  Giraffes  also being a favorite.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

An enormous male  Lion  kept an eye on us during one of our Kruger safaris.

Day 15, 28 th  October 2023. Birding Skukuza and transfer to Dullstroom, birding en route

Our final morning in Kruger saw us undertaking a birding walk around the Skukuza camp – normally a very birdy affair. This morning was no different, and progress was slow with birds coming in thick and fast. We spent a while enjoying various fruiting trees, which held numerous  Purple-crested Turacos ,  African Green Pigeons ,  Red-faced Mousebirds ,  Black-collared Barbets  and a plethora of  Wattled ,  Greater Blue-eared  and  Violet-backed Starlings . Some of the thickets in the camp gave us  Bearded Scrub Robin  and  Terrestrial Brownbul , while the many larger trees yielded the likes of  Golden-tailed  and  Cardinal Woodpeckers ,  Klaas’s  and  Red-chested Cuckoos  and, after much back and forth,  Brown-headed Parrots . The parrots had proved elusive, with only brief flyby views repeatedly throughout the morning, before we finally tracked down where they had settled down. The cut lawns gave us a good opportunity to connect with the likes of dainty  Bronze Mannikins ,  Blue Waxbills ,  Red-billed Firefinches  and  Yellow-fronted Canaries . The first  Spotted Flycatcher  of the season also cropped up on our walk, while some flowering bushes held a plethora of sunbirds, with  Collared ,  Scarlet-chested ,  Marico ,  White-bellied  and  Purple-banded Sunbirds  all showing well. A small party of  African Black Ducks  frolicked in the river in front of camp as we drew our walk to an end and settled down for breakfast.

We eventually had to bid this incredible wilderness area farewell, and we slowly made our way out the park, enjoying some of the regularly occurring suspects, including various hornbills, bee-eaters, rollers, shrikes and starlings. Our most exciting moments, however, came with two separate  Leopard  sightings on our way out, leaving all of us stunned and ecstatic with how many sightings of these elusive cats we’d seen. Once out the park, we made our way to Dullstroom, where we would be spending the night, but first  via Mount Sheba . We broke at Mount Sheba for lunch and a spot of forest birding, but with the sun beating down, activity was virtually nonexistent. We eked out the likes of  Familiar Chat  and some species we were acquainted with, like  Southern Boubou  and  Cape Robin-Chat , before we finally found a few  Swee Waxbills , though the views left us wanting a bit more. A party of  Western  (Common)  House Martins  were seen flitting by, and we also did well to find a  Black Stork  riding the thermals, before calling it and moving to Dullstroom.

We arrived at our comfortable guesthouse, scenically set out in the hills, before heading to the local Dullstroom Nature Reserve where we would spend the evening. Our primary goal here was to stakeout  Cape Eagle-Owl . While we waited, we enjoyed the antics of  Banded Martins  flitting above the grasses, along with numerous  Long-tailed Widowbirds . The likes of  Yellow Bishop  and  Streaky-headed Seedeater  found their way onto our lists, before we finally picked up on the owl calling, just as it started to get dark. Rather frustratingly, light ran out before we could find the bird, and we had to be content with listening to the deep hoots of this species ringing out over the valley. We retired to dinner in town, and being a weekend combined with the Rugby World Cup Final match taking place later in the evening (in which South Africa was playing against New Zealand), dinner was a busy (and animated) affair in the town. Whilst making our way back to our accommodation, the most incredible thunderstorm rolled in and put paid to our attempts to try for a few nocturnal birds in the area.

Day 16, 29 th  October 2023. Birding Dullstroom, and transfer to Dinokeng, birding along the route.

Thick mist and ice-cold conditions greeted us in the morning, and we soldiered on and gave some morning birding in the normally excellent  Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve  a shot. We had a momentary break in the mist, which gave us some hope for the morning but alas when the thick mist rolled in a few minutes later, we admitted defeat with only a handful of birds seen and barely able to see but a meter or two in front of us, and headed for breakfast in town, and greener pastures (and no mist) elsewhere.

Our next destination was  the Dinokeng and Rust de Winter region , lying in the rich bushveld north of Pretoria, and we took the adventurous route getting there, via Verena. We started off on some quiet backroads, which access superb tracts of grassland and rocky broad-leaved woodland. One of our major targets here,  Melodious Lark , was easily seen with many birds all in full display singing from fence posts and from up in the air. We soaked up our views of this scarce near-endemic, before some careful scanning gave us a fine male  Denham’s Bustard  in full display. Though the bird was a bit distant, we enjoyed some good scope views. While here, we also picked up on the distinct whistles of an  Eastern Clapper Lark  – a species we had missed earlier around Wakkerstroom. We had good looks at several birds that were actively displaying in the grasslands, before we turned our attention to the numerous  Desert  and  Cloud Cisticolas  that were also present – both of which showed superbly to us! A pair of  Capped Wheatears  sat on some termite mounds in a burnt patch of grasslands, while a pair of  White-bellied Bustards  flew by calling away. We soon moved into a tract of broad-leaved woodland, and very soon had a covey of the scarce  Shelley’s Francolin  calling from a patch of dense grass. Unfortunately, all our efforts to see these birds went by unrewarded, as I was the only one to see them scuttling by and we had to make do with them being heard only. During our time trying to see the francolins, a lovely  Flappet Lark  gave us superb views, and we also picked up on  Brown-backed Honeybird  feeding in the surrounding vegetation, and a flyby  Black-chested Snake Eagle  entertained. Immensely dark clouds rolled in, thunder and lightning began and, with some trepidation, we headed over to the nearby Mabusa Nature Reserve. Unfortunately, we were only given a few minutes of birding here before the storm hit us and forced an early retreat. We only added a pair of charming  Yellow-fronted Tinkerbirds  during our short time here. We completed the journey to our comfortable lodge, arriving in the afternoon, with the rain not relenting the entire afternoon.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

We enjoyed a  Melodious Lark  in full song in the Verena area.

Day 17, 30 th  October 2023. Birding the Zaagkuilsdrift Road and Kgomo-Kgomo

Another of the more famous birding routes in South Africa is the superb Zaagkuilsdrift and the Kgomo-Kgomo floodplains. This public gravel road traverses mixed thornveld and offers a host of sought-after specials, and while the floodplains around Kgomo-Kgomo are dry at this time of year, the dry thornveld here is always worthwhile for several species. We started the day in frigid conditions with rain about, but the rain fortunately abated, leaving us with productive overcast weather, though the temperature remained cold. Our biggest challenge was getting through the numerous (and deep) mud pools that had formed after the heavy rain the previous day and night, and we fortunately managed to get through without hassles.

Birding was extremely slow to start off with, almost certainly due to the cold temperatures, and our first sessions hardly produced any birds except vocal  Rattling Cisticolas  and chattering  Chestnut-vented Warblers . A flash of color ground us to a halt, and we all piled out the car to enjoy a pair of  Crimson-breasted Shrikes . The birds were shy, but gave us all good looks in the end. A noisy and confiding group of  Southern Pied Babblers  were also evident here, and we got our first looks at the fidgety  Burnt-necked Eremomelas  as well. Things were finally beginning to come out, and we also enjoyed a good flyby view of a  Great Spotted Cuckoo . As we carried on, we enjoyed old friends like  Magpie Shrike ,  Lilac-breasted Roller ,  Burchell’s Starling  and  White-browed Sparrow-Weavers . We spent a while with a mixed feeding flock of small seedeaters which were mostly made up of  Blue Waxbills  and  Red-billed Firefinches . Careful scrutiny of the flock also gave us several  Jameson’s Firefinches , along with several pairs of  Green-winged Pytilias , while a  Grey-backed Camaroptera  also came to investigate the feeding birds.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A confiding group of  Southern Pied Babblers  put on a fine display.

We pressed on to the drier Kgomo-Kgomo floodplains, and the new birds came rolling in. A fine party of  Cape Penduline Tits  kicked things off with a bang, and we quickly found the likes of  Black-chested Prinia  and  Marico Flycatcher  as other dry acacia specials. Small groups of the comical  Scaly-feathered Weavers  roved about, while dainty  Kalahari Scrub Robins  ran about between thickets. We found a female  Great Sparrow  huddled up in a tree, and some patience allowed us to track down the male, and their nest, which they appeared to be freshening up in preparation for the upcoming breeding season. Large numbers of  Red-billed Queleas  were feeding on the dry ground of the floodplains, and were interspersed with the likes of  White-winged Widowbird . We also did well to find both  Violet-eared Waxbill  and  Shaft-tailed Whydah  feeding on the ground nearby, while our views of  Black-faced Waxbill  left us wanting a bit more. The flats also had several  Kittlitz’s Plovers  walking around them, while the remaining pools of water from the past rainy season had only a few common and widespread waterbirds in attendance. The wind began to pick up, and made it bitingly cold outside the vehicle, and we sought some shelter in the trees. We did well to pick up on a  Barred Wren-Warbler  and enjoyed superb views of this shy bird at point-blank range. Further along in denser areas, we finally managed to locate a  Pearl-spotted Owlet , which showed well to all, while a  Lesser Honeyguide  also made an appearance. With the rain starting up again, we called it a day and made our way back to our lodge. Here we settled in for the afternoon, enjoyed some downtime and got our things sorted in preparation for our departure the following day. Following dinner, we opportunistically decided to make the most of the short break in the rain, and headed out for a night drive. Things were slow and quiet throughout, with the inclement weather hanging around no doubt affecting things, but just as the drizzle started up, we found a superb  Southern White-faced Owl  that gave us all excellent and prolonged views.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A lovely  Southern White-faced Owl  in the drizzle rounded off a superb day of birding.

Day 18, 31 st  October 2023. Birding urban Gauteng, and departure from Johannesburg

The final day of the tour had come much too quickly, and our hopes of a morning walk around the lodge were put to paid as the rain continued. Following breakfast, we gathered our things one last time, and departed this area, bound for some urban Pretoria and Johannesburg sites, where we would spend the remainder of the day, before departing in segments from the Johannesburg airport.

Our first stop near Pretoria was unfortunately a washout, and the heavy rains meant the access gate was not functioning. We reverted to  t h e nearby Rietvlei Nature Reserve , where we could stay in our car and negate some of the rainy weather. This proved a good move, and we enjoyed a drive around the grassland-dominated reserve adding a few new species, and finding several photogenic birds not wishing to move from the road edge.  Common Ostriches  seemed unhappy with life, and despite the rain bucketing down, we somehow pulled out a vocal  Northern Black Korhaan  and a pair of  Spotted Thick-knees  out in the open. We took a coffee break at the restaurant and picnic site, and wandered around in the drizzle, adding the likes of  Fiscal Flycatcher , and enjoyed our last  Fork-tailed Drongos ,  Green Wood Hoopoes  and  African Hoopoes . We also finally enjoyed some top  Long-tailed Widowbird  views, and also found the  Cape Longclaws  to be quite obliging, walking next to the road.

Our time had come to leave the reserve, and head to the airport for our first round of departures, where we bid farewell to some in the group. Those that were remaining only departed later in the day, and we headed off to some nearby pans where we would spend the remainder of our time birding. We had a bit of a gap in the rain here, and enjoyed the likes of  Maccoa Ducks  and  Blue-billed Teals  at Bullfrog Pan, and  African Olive Pigeons  and  Karoo Thrushes  in the surrounding suburbia. Korsmans Bird Sanctuary held a large flock of  Lesser Flamingos , and some careful scanning revealed a few  Greater Flamingos  scattered in between them. We also found a lone  Pied Avocet  wandering the shoreline with a few  Common Ringed Plovers , while a monstrous  Goliath Heron  attempted to eat a large fish further along the shoreline. A few  Rose-ringed Parakeets  seeking shelter from the now falling rain was our last sighting, before heading back to the airport, and dropping off the remaining guests in time for their departures.

Subtropical South Africa trip report

A content group and happy guide, after our  Blue Swallow  success!

I would like to thank the group for always keeping their heads up, despite the challenging weather and conditions we had on this tour. It was this, and the fantastic group camaraderie, that made the tour the success it was. Despite the inclement weather on many days, there were not many species missed and we did remarkably well to still find virtually all of the major targets on this route. We ended the tour off having recorded just over 450 species of birds, with marginally under that total being seen.

Bird List  –  Following IOC 13.2

Birds ‘heard only’ are marked with (H) after the common name, all other species were seen.

The following notation after species names is used to show conservation status following the IUCN Red List: CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable.

Mammal List

The following notation after species names is used to show conservation status following the IUCN Red List: EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable.

Reptile List

This is a sample trip report. Please email us  ( [email protected] ) for more trip reports from this destination.

SOUTH AFRICA: GENERAL INFORMATION

Our south african birding tours.

We currently (at the time of updating this general information document, i.e. 16 March 2022) have six exciting set departure South African birding tours. These cover all of the country’s important birding regions, provide opportunities for you to see most of the country’s many endemics and specials, plus lots of mammals, spectacular scenery, and more. Our South African birding tours are as follows:

  • Best of Cape Town and Beyond
  • Subtropical South Africa
  • Western South Africa: Cape Endemics, Namaqualand Wildflowers and the Kalahari
  • Premium Kruger and Escarpment Birding and Wildlife Safari
  • The Kalahari – Mammals and Birding
  • Photo Tour: Western Cape to Kruger National Park

We also offer a number of South African birding day tours , if you only have a day or two to spare around one of the major cities, such as Johannesburg or Cape Town.

PASSPORT AND VISA

Your passport must be valid for a period of at least six months after the date of your arrival in South Africa. Please make sure that there is at least one full empty page available in your passport. Please make sure that you also bring a photocopy of your passport, to be kept in a different location from your passport, in case of loss. Visas are generally not required but please check for your nationality.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

We require (see Birding Tours Terms and Conditions – Birding Ecotours ) that you purchase trip cancellation insurance in case you have to cancel due to illness just prior to the tour departure date, to protect yourself against accidents, medical, illness, loss of valuables, luggage etc. and travel interruptions or delays of all kinds. Allianz Travel and Generali Global Assistance are two options to consider.

HEALTH/MALARIA

Please carefully read the Center for Disease Control (CDC) information for travelers to South Africa (or your government’s equivalent health travel advice for South Africa). Below we have mentioned a couple of specific items but first and foremost kindly be advised by the updated information at the above link.

No vaccinations are required for South Africa however it is recommended that you are up to date with Hepatitis A and B, tetanus and polio. Please keep in mind that if you have not had any of these, one should make sure that you have been inoculated at least 6 weeks prior to your trip to take full effect

We strongly recommend anti-malaria drugs for the Zululand and Kruger National Park portions of the subtropical South Africa tour and some other eastern South Africa tours of ours – when we’ll be in malaria areas. Any one of the following three drugs are highly affective (albeit not 100 %, due to resistant strains of malaria) as malaria preventative measures:

MalaroneÒ (atovaquone/proguanil),

Doxycyxline, and

LariumÒ (mefloquine).

Mosquito repellant, long trousers/jeans and long-sleeved shirts, particularly at night when malaria ( Anopheles ) mosquitos bite, are advised, in addition to the drugs.

In the unlikely event that one still contracts malaria after taking anti-malaria drugs and other precautions, the disease can still be easily treated if diagnosed soon after symptoms develop: suspect malaria if flu-like symptoms develop within a few months of visiting South Africa. If it is malaria, it can be treated with an alternative to the prophylactic that you chose.

There is no malaria in the Western or Northern Cape Provinces so our Cape trips do not pose a malaria issue.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Please make sure that you are covered with medical insurance in case of an emergency while on these trips. Without insurance the cost of medical care can be extremely high. Please notify us at the time of registering for the tour of any medical conditions you think we should know about (including allergies, heart conditions, epilepsy, etc.). This will greatly help us to cater to your needs.

WATER / FOOD

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa where it is safe to drink the water in the major cities, eat unpeeled fresh vegetables and salads. However, we provide unlimited bottled water in the tour vehicles, and you are welcome to take water from the vehicle for evenings when not provided in the hotel rooms. More expensive bottled water at restaurants is excluded from the tour cost and is for your account, but (again) you can take water from our tour vehicle whenever you want.

CURRENCY AND MONEY

South Africa uses rands (ZAR or simply R) with notes representing R200, R100, R50, R20 and R10 and coins representing R5, R2, R1, 50 cents, 20 cents and 10 cents.

Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted and to a lesser extent American Express, including for drawing cash from ATMs. Note: US and Canadian dollars, pound sterling and euros cannot be used for purchases. We will be able to exchange or draw money at the airport upon our arrival, and regularly during the tours.

PELAGIC TRIP PREPARATION

This applies to our Cape Town pelagic trips. Please note that by request we also arrange one-day pelagic trips in Mozambique, Namibia, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, etc., and these notes generally apply for those as well.  A pelagic trip is run over the course of one day (or sometimes a half day) and involves heading out into the open ocean in search of various species only occurring out at sea. While this is a truly spectacular adventure, one must remember that we are always at the mercy of the ever-changing sea conditions.

The vessel will depart from the specified port around sunrise and venture out into the ocean for usually a maximum distance of 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) from land. Off southern Africa this is usually the ‘drop zone’, where deep water is present and many fishing vessels operate. On a pelagic trip we strive to try and find a fishing vessel, whether it be a trawler or a longliner, as they attract huge masses of birds. We spend quite a large part of the day out at sea (depending on weather and sea conditions) and return to our port of departure in the afternoon (usually any time between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.). We provide a light lunch on board with various snacks, eats, and drinks, although if you should want anything specific, we recommend that you bring it yourself.

A pelagic trip is booked over two consecutive days (usually a weekend). The first day is used as the primary day, but should the previous day’s weather forecast indicate that sea and/or weather conditions will prove more adverse on the first day, yet better on the second day, the pelagic trip will go ahead on the second day. However, it is possible that the trip may not go ahead at all due to adverse conditions over the entire two-day period. This is, unfortunately, not something we can predict and reliably confirm far in advance, and we are at the mercy of the weather/sea conditions and the word from our very experienced skippers, who ultimately give the final approval. Your safety on board the vessel is of paramount importance to us, and should the conditions of the sea prove to be too dangerous, the vessel will not go out. The pelagic trip is confirmed by the skipper, either way, a few days before it is due to depart. We will keep you informed about the decision.

What you will require:

  • Most important is a waterproof layer of clothing. There is often wind out at sea, and it blowing off the swells creates some spray. It is very easy to get wet on board, especially while heading out to the trawling grounds and returning back to port.
  • Layered and warm clothing. No matter the conditions predicted, whether it be sun or cloud, it can get cold out at sea, and bringing warm clothing is advised. It is also recommended to bring layered clothing, so that you can remove/add on as the conditions change. Sometimes it gets hot, so one needs to be prepared for this too (hence the need for layers).
  • Applying sun lotion or anti-sunburn cream is recommended, no matter the conditions. It is very easy to get badly burnt out at sea, whether it be a sunny or cloudy day. Sunglasses are also vital.
  • It is recommended to bring a hat that can be fastened to your head to prevent it from being blown away. Sunglasses are also recommended, as the glare from the ocean can be very bad at times, but note that it is very easy to lose a pair of sunglasses, and they will invariably pick up some spray from the ocean.
  • Due to the nature of the pelagic trip, water/spray invariably gets on board the vessel, and it is very easy to get your feet completely wet. Either waterproof hiking boots, or sturdy Teva-type sandals that can be fastened to your feet are recommended.
  • Anti-seasickness medication. Not everyone is affected by seasickness, but it is a very unpleasant experience should you get seasick. Various tablets, such as Stugeron, are recommended. Should you be prone to seasickness, it might be worth consulting your local pharmacist for stronger medication. Some seasickness pills make one very drowsy, so do consult a doctor and ask her/him as many questions as possible, before deciding.
  • Binoculars and cameras are recommended (as in any birding excursion), but again please note that they can very easily get wet and could get damaged as a result. A covering over your camera is advised.

Further information on pelagic birding can be found here .

South Africa is a land of great physical contrasts, from mountains and forests to grasslands and semi-deserts. October, when many of our tours run, is spring so we can get elements of winter or summer weather – with luck the weather will be mild throughout!  It is usually mild to warm or even hot at this time of the year and maximum temperatures can vary from about 68–86 o F (20–30 o C). Nights should be mild but there is a very small chance of temperatures slightly below freezing (32 o F) especially while at elevation in the Drakensberg (e.g. Dullstroom and Lesotho) – snow is even possible. So please be prepared for ALL weather possibilities, from a little below freezing to quite hot. Spring is unpredictable.

The Cape has winter rain – so we should miss rain there as we will be there in spring however rain can sometimes continue into spring too! Subtropical South Africa has summer thunderstorms, so we may experience these but often the rains only start in November or December – October is the end of the dry season over most of South Africa, except the Cape! But please be prepared for rain, even though there is not likely to be much.

The Cape pelagic trip can be cold and wet, or warm and very sunny, so be prepared with layers of clothing, waterproofing, as well as sunglasses and sunblock/sunscreen (reflection off the sea can burn eyes and skin severely).

Please note that on our 2018 tour we had at least one Canadian person finding it colder than expected in the Cape (in October, so spring) – there was late “winter-type” weather this year. Accommodations are often not heated like they are in North America, Europe, etc. Kindly be prepared for all kinds of weather, from cold to hot.

ELECTRICITY

The standard voltage in South Africa is 220–240 V. If you intend to recharge video batteries etc. in your hotel room you will need an international adapter (South Africa mostly uses Type D – 3 round prongs in a triangular pattern, but also uses Types M and N, see here for further details and photos). Lighting tends to be low wattage, so you might like to bring a good quality torch/flashlight if you like reading in bed! A good torch will also be useful if you fancy joining us for a night walk or drive. If you intend to do any trips, you’d be advised to bring at least one good torch preferably with a good beam.  All the places we will stay at will have electrical outlets for chargers and laptops.

Note: Please check all equipment that you plan on charging to see if it is 110/120 to 220/240 V compatible. If that is the case, you only need an adaptor to plug US plugs into. If your equipment is only listed as 110-120 V then you will need a converter to convert the electric current to 220–240 V.

LENGTH OF DRIVES

There are a couple of days in which there are long drives – say 5 hours, without stops, however most days involve far less traveling. In the Kruger National Park, it is illegal to alight from one’s vehicle because of the presence of large, dangerous animals such as lions and elephants, so we are restricted to the vehicle except at picnic areas and rest camps. In the Kruger National Park and Mkhuze Game Reserve, we do thus spend most of the day in the vehicle, but we also spend time doing birding walks around the rest camps (and picnic areas).

Some roads can be dusty so please consider bringing a scarf or other measures in case you’re birding along an unpaved road and a car goes past putting up dust. Dust is a particular issue on our Cape Town and Beyond birding tour, when birding in the Tankwa Karoo.

WHAT TO BRING

Casual and informal dress is fine in the hotels. Loose lightweight field clothing works best, with a warm fleece or jacket for cooler weather. Shorts and T-shirts are fine – it’s what the locals wear! You will also need to bring some warmer clothing, certainly a minimum of a warm fleece and a rain jacket. Rain is always a possibility, so an umbrella and or rain gear is always useful to have. Early mornings can feel a bit chilly in some areas so come prepared, especially in the Drakensberg/Lesotho/Dullstroom which is at relatively high altitudes.

Sunglasses, sunhat and sunscreen (rated SPF 30 or higher) are essential. A pair of trousers or a long skirt, and a long-sleeved shirt should be included to help protect against forest vegetation and the sun. Swimwear can be brought as there are swimming pools at some of the lodges.

We would recommend lightweight walking boots for when out on foot. You might like to consider sandals/tevas for use in the safari vehicles and for walking between your room and restaurant in the hotels and lodges.

Do not forget – BINOCULARS, prescription drugs (also bring the generic names for these drugs), toiletries, prescription glasses (and a spare pair), insect repellant, camera, flashlight, batteries (for electronic equipment and chargers for the re-chargeable batteries), converter plug set, if needed (the electricity supply is 220 V, 50 Hz) and plug adaptors, alarm clock, mosquito repellant, money pouch, field guide(s),  soft-sided duffle style luggage is recommended (hard-sided luggage is not always ideal), daypack/backpack, and your favorite road snacks!

Key documents and cash – Passports, your travel or health insurance cards (you can send us copies to file in case of emergency), credit cards – Visa and Mastercard are best in South Africa – see above, US dollars, euro or pounds can be exchanged into rands if you prefer not to simply draw from ATMs, cash for drinks, gifts, tips , items of a personal nature etc.

Due to restricted space in the vehicles, please pack as lightly as possible. A medium-sized, soft-sided duffle bag (not the hard-sided cases) works best for packing in the vehicles. This allows us to better fit the bags. Please bring a daypack to keep items that you wish to use or need on a daily basis.

Download South African General Information

This was an eventful tour, with a rapid pace. It covered a diverse array of habitats across eastern South Africa, and therefore we saw a lot of species. We were lucky enough to see leopards and wild dogs in Kruger National Park, a variety of larks and other grassland birds, two flufftail species, and many others. I had never been to Africa before, and this tour provided me with a great overview of the eastern half of the country, its environments, and its birds.

For birders wishing to explore a wide variety of habitats, from Kruger National Park to a range of wetlands and ascent to Lesotho via the Sani Pass, this tour offers a wonderful birding experience with some 400+ species to be encountered. The itinerary has been very well thought-out and gives participants maximum opportunity to see a great range of species in a relatively short time.

I would highly recommend the South Africa Comprehensive Eastern Tour. The entire trip was wonderful – seeing an amazing number of fantastic birds, seeing up close some of the great mammals of the world, and meeting some really wonderful people. The lodging and food were top-notch, and where it was more rustic it was always clean and unique.

The Subtropical South Africa tour was an action-packed trip full of amazing birds and mammals. The accommodation was great and left us wishing we could spend more time at these wonderful places.

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South africa.

South Africa is a great birding destination, it offers not only great birding but also special wildlife viewing, excellent infrastructure and value for money. This makes birding tours in South Africa a popular choice among birders across the world. South Africa has the most regionally endemic bird species of any African country and large numbers of other African birds and wildlife.

South Africa is a cultural melting pot full of interesting stories and friendly people, amazing history and fine food and wines. South Africa is a brilliant travel and birding destination that you don’t want to miss out on.

Herman’s birding tours offers an 11 day Western Cape endemics birding tours , this Western Cape birding tour has scheduled departure dates  but we also offer this tours on a private tour basis.

Western Cape Endemic birding tour

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Birding Africa Tours

- the africa specialists.

Please enjoy exploring our brand new website, which we are still improving – let us know if you spot any missing info that we can amend to make it easier for you and others. We’d be grateful for any comments!

The African birding experts for the last 24 years, and the only company specialising in Africa-wide birding tours. Voted as one of the Top 5 Most Recommended tour companies in the world (Birdwatch 2010).

Birding Africa is a specialist birding tour company customising tours for both world listers and more relaxed holiday birders. We combine interests in mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, botany and other natural history aspects and will guide you to Africa’s and Madagascar’s most diverse birding destinations. Our guides’ knowledge of African birds and birding areas is our greatest strength and together we have rediscovered species, shared exciting observations with the birding community and had a fun time exploring our home continent. We’ve even written two acclaimed book guides on where to find Southern Africa’s and Madagascar’s best birds – Essential Birding: Western South Africa – Key Routes from Cape Town to the Kalahari and the Southern African Birdfinder.

Birding is more than our passion, it’s our lifestyle, and we are dedicated to making professional, best value trips filled with endemic species and unique wildlife experiences. Since 1997, we’ve run bird watching tours in South Africa and further into Africa for individual birders, small birding groups and top international tour companies. We’ve run Conservation Tours in association with the African Bird Club and work with and consult for a number of other top international tour companies and the BBC Natural History Unit.

https://www.facebook.com/BirdingAfricaTours/

Guaranteed Tours with space available

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Socotra Island: Endemics (BA2416)

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Tanzania: Serengeti Birding & Wildebeest (BA2443)

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Rwanda: Albertine Rift Endemics (BA2449)

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Uganda (BA2449)

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São Tomé & Príncipe: Endemics (BA2408)

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Namibia and Okavango (BA2459)

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Angola: Comprehensive with Pitta (BA2479)

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South Africa: Cape to Kruger (BA2461)

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Ultimate Zambia: Main Tour (BA2468)

Socotra island: endemics (ba2616), popular countries.

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Missy Elliott to Embark on First Headlining Tour Ever, With Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Timbaland as Support

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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ciara missy elliott busta rhymes tour

Missy Elliott , whose career has provided the very definition of “leave ’em wanting more,” has long resisted touring, but that’s changing in 2024. Along with some high-profile support acts, the hip-hop icon will embark on a tour of arenas in 24 cities this year — shockingly, the first time she’s toured as a headliner in her entire career, which began with a bang in the 1990s.

Supporting her along the way will be a trio of figures that are also instantly recognizable to anyone who knows Elliott’s career: Busta Rhymes , Ciara and Timbaland .

Scott-Young credits a key historic milestone for spurring Elliott into action. The call that she was read came “probably after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. I think that was a seismic moment for her as well, where she realized that this was a goal and a dream that she had been working so hard to attain. And now that she felt that she had achieved that pinnacle, she wanted to really do this thing that she put off for so long, which was go out on the road. It certainly wasn’t for lack of opportunity or offers. I think it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of it.”

The tour — dubbed “Out of This World: The Missy Elliott Experience Tour” — begins July 4 in Vancouver and wraps up Aug. 22 in Rosemont, Illinois. Key stops along the way include shows July 11 at L.A,’s Crypto Arena, Aug. 9 at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center and Aug. 12 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The outing will also take her to cities including Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Oakland, Seattle, Austin, Houston, Tampa, Baltimore, Montreal and Toronto.

“This is an incredible time in my life as I am experiencing so many milestone ‘firsts,'” Elliott said in a statement. “Being the FIRST female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and now going out on my FIRST headline tour,. Fans have been asking me to tour forever but I wanted to wait until I felt the time was right because I knew if I was ever going to do it, I had to do it big, and I had to do it with family!”

The tour is being produced by Live Nation in association with Scott-Young, CEO of Monami Entertainment.

In recent years, Elliott has performed at some isolated festival dates, where she has bowled crowds over, along with a gig last year at Southern California’s Yamavaa Casino, which Variety reviewed , openly wondering why this show was not on the road. (The show was also ranked by Variety as one of the best concerts of the year at the end of 2023.)

Says Scott-Young, “I mean, look, she’s always been ahead of her time and as much as we’ve heard, ‘Well, so why did you wait so long?,’ she was just like, ‘It wasn’t that I was waiting — it’s just the timing is now.’ And Missy is very absolute about knowing exactly when she feels it is time to do something. So yeah, when we did the Yamavaa Casino, we all had the same reaction you did. Like, oh my God, this is fantastic, and we should be taking this around the country, around the world.”

The full lineup was a key part of why Elliott was willing to do this now, says the manager-producer.

“For Missy it was very important that when she embarked on this journey, she did it with what she’s calling her family,” Scott-Young says. “Busta and Missy have been twins for so long; people have compared them in terms of their unique ability to really think outside of the box, in terms of their personas, in terms of their music. So people have always wanted to see them do something together. And for me, that’s kind of a personal milestone, because I’ve managed them both for many years, and now still to this day am intricately involved with both of their careers and their lives. So to see them together on that stage is going to be a personal moment for me. And of course, Ciara has worked with her and they’ve become friends, and she looks to Missy as a mentor. She has such a dynamic stage show herself and is a pop star in her own right. And of course, Timbaland, who I call her partner in rhyme; those two have a long history.

“So from beginning to end, I will say this, it will be a seamless experience,” Scott-Young says, while declining to say exactly what format individual or collective sets might take. “I think everyone is aware they all have songs that they’ve collaborated on together. So of course we want the show to feel like a family affair.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Missy Elliott (@missymisdemeanorelliott)

Scott-Young says she’s met with disbelief when she reminds industry supporters that there has never been a proper Elliott tour, despite her rise to fame in the ’90s, even as she participated in group road shows like Lilith Fair back in the day.

“Everybody that I tell this is her first headline, they go, ‘Oh, no, no, no.’ Then they’re like, ‘Oh crap, you’re right.’ Because her presence is so powerful and we felt her throughout music for the last three decades. But the idea that she has never done great stages across the country is a little mind-boggling when you think of that, because she’s always felt so omnipresent.”

Is that just-as-elusive-a-thing — a full new album, which would be her first since 2005, if it were to come to be — also possible? “I mean, I would always say with Missy, you can never say never,” Scott-Young says. “And you can also never predict. I think we all thought this moment would never come, that we would see her headlining a tour, and here we are. So I would never say no. That’s all I will say about Missy Elliott.”

Scott-Young already had a big year ahead with a tour that will bring together XSCAPE and SWV along with Mya, Total and 702. “2024 is the year of intention for me. Everything that I’ve set my mind to and become determined to see come to life is coming to fruition. To put up these two tours within weeks of each other is unprecedented week and they were both very, very important to me personally for different reasons.”

The XSCAPE/SWV/et al. concept “came about as a result of the show that I did on Bravo, ‘The Queens of R&B,’ where the goal was to take the ladies out on a tour,” before a contretemps got in the way of that. Then, “we were able to come back together and realize that, collectively, they were stronger, leaning into just the women empowerment and supporting each other. These ladies put their differences aside to give the fans what they want. … This show is gonna be a women’s anthem from start to finish. It’s just a symbol of the resilience of women overcoming adversity, coming up on the other side, triumphant and celebrating their talents and gifts and sharing it with the world.”

As for Elliott and company, “Don’t take the tour itself for granted, the manager is urging: “All I’ll say is this: we never know when this will happen again,” Scott-Young says. “So this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I know what we’re getting ready to deliver on that stage.”

The itinerary:

Thursday, July 4 — Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena

Saturday, July 6 — Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena

Tuesday, July 9 — Oakland, CA — Oakland Arena

Thursday, July 11 — Los Angeles, CA —  Crypto.com  Arena

Saturday, July 13 — Las Vegas, NV — T-Mobile Arena

Tuesday, July 16 — Denver, CO — Ball Arena

Thursday, July 18 — Austin, TX — Moody Center

Saturday, July 20 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center

Wednesday, July 24 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena

Thursday, July 25 — Sunrise, FL — Amerant Bank Arena

Saturday, July 27 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena

Thursday, August 1 — Baltimore, MD — CFG Bank Arena

Friday, August 2 — Hampton, VA — Hampton Coliseum

Saturday, August 3 — Belmont Park, NY — UBS Arena

Monday, August 5 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center

Thursday, August 8 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena

Friday, August 9 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center

Saturday, August 10 — Boston, MA — TD Garden

Monday, August 12 — Brooklyn, NY — Barclays Center

Thursday, August 15 — Detroit, MI — Little Caesars Arena

Saturday, August 17 — Montreal, QC — Bell Centre

Monday, August 19 — Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena

Thursday, August 22 — Rosemont, IL — Allstate Arena

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Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were stranded on a small African island after missing a deadline to re-embark

  • A couple says they were stranded on an island after missing their cruise ship's boarding time.
  • They were on a tour of São Tomé and Príncipe with six others, per US local media. It overran.
  • The stranded group flew to Gambia on Sunday, hoping to catch the ship at another port.

Insider Today

A couple says they were stranded on a small African island after they missed a cruise ship 's boarding deadline, according to local media.

Jay and Jill Campbell, from Garden City, South Carolina, described their ordeal with a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in an interview with WPDE, their local ABC affiliate.

Norwegian confirmed to Business Insider that they were denied boarding, saying it was their responsibility to be on time.

The Campbells said they were frequent cruisers, embarking on Norwegian Dawn on March 20 for their third voyage with the cruise line in a year.

However, an excursion last Wednesday with six other people to São Tomé and Príncipe , an island nation of some 220,000 people off West Africa, took an unfortunate turn.

The couple says the tour overran, and its operator informed the captain that eight passengers were running late.

They were refused entry to the ship upon their return, according to WPDE, even though they could still see the ship from the shore.

The ship was anchored, Jay Campbell said, but the captain refused to let them board despite repeated calls and emails by the passengers to the ship and the cruise line's emergency hotline.

The São Tomé and Príncipe Coast Guard even took the passengers to the ship, but they weren't able to get on and had to turn back, WPDE reported.

In total, WPDE said that nine passengers were not allowed to reenter the ship, including four elderly people and one person who is a paraplegic.

The Campbells told the news outlet that the ninth passenger was late for another reason — an 80-year-old woman who got a concussion on the island and was hospitalized there.

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Most of the stranded passengers didn't have their medication or working credit cards, WPDE said.

The Campbells, who had a working card, said they covered $5,000 worth of expenses for the group in food, toiletries, and hotel bills.

"We have never had an experience like this before," Jill Campbell told WPDE.

The Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement provided to BI by email that eight guests on the tour missed the last tender back to the vessel.

The cruise line said the passengers missed the "all aboard time of 3 p.m. local time." It said it was a "very unfortunate situation" but that passengers were responsible for being on time.

It added that the deadline to return was "communicated broadly" over the ship's intercom, in printed communications, and on posts shown at the exits of the ship.

The elderly passenger who was concussed was returned to the US, where she has made a "safe return," a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line said.

According to WPDE, the group flew to Gambia on Sunday, hoping to rejoin the ship at another port.

A spokesperson for the cruise line said that the ship could not safely dock in Gambia due to adverse weather conditions, adding that efforts are being made for the guests to rejoin the ship in Senegal on Tuesday.

Though cruise ships need to stay punctual, ruined-vacation stories like this are a reputational risk and might put people off.

For instance, two MSC Splendida passengers were stranded last summer at an Italian port after arriving too late for departure.

A TikTok video showed the couple waving and begging the crew to wait for them, even though the gangway appeared to have already been removed.

Other passengers may face the stress of becoming stranded in remote locations through no fault of their own. Last September, more than 200 people got stuck in a remote part of Greenland after their cruise ship ran aground.

And last November, passengers were stranded at a Brisbane port after a Royal Caribbean ship was overbooked.

Watch: Stowaways survive 14 days at sea clinging to a ship rudder

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BREAKING: Norfolk Southern reaches a $600 million to settle class action claims after a trail derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

Eight passengers stranded on African island after Norwegian cruise ship left without them

A dream cruise vacation has turned into a nightmare for eight passengers left stranded on the African island of São Tomé and Príncipe after their ship left without them because they were late to return from a private tour.

The tourists — six from the U.S. and two from Australia — were aboard the Norwegian Dawn, a Norwegian cruise line ship , which departed from Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day voyage up the coast of Africa set to end in Barcelona, Spain, on April 10.

But on Wednesday, the group of eight tourists was late to return to the ship by more than an hour for the all-aboard time of 3 p.m. from a private excursion on the island, which was not organized by the cruise line.

Jay and Jill Campbell of South Carolina were part of the group that was left behind.

They said that their tour’s operator notified the cruise captain that they were going to be late to rejoin the ship and that the local Coast Guard tried to get them on the vessel but that they weren’t allowed to board.

As a result, the couple and the rest of the group have been stranded for days on the island off Nigeria, grappling with language, currency issues and complicated travel to catch up with the ship.

“The lovely people of São Tomé were very gracious, very hospitable. They had reached out as much as they could to help us find hotels,” Jay Campbell said on NBC's "TODAY" show Tuesday morning.

“We were able to get to a tour agency there to arrange flights to the next port of call. ... Very difficult process — you’re dealing with multiple languages, language barriers, you’re dealing with different currencies ... finding someone that even has dollars ... trying to get an agent to understand where we need to get to.

"It’s one of those ‘You can’t get there from here,’" he added.

A Norwegian spokesperson called the incident a “very unfortunate situation” and said, “Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time.”

The cruise line said that after the guests failed to return, their passports were delivered to local port agents, in line with protocol. The company said it was working with local authorities to understand “the requirements and visas needed for the guests to reboard the ship at the next available port of call.”

On Monday, the guests had made arrangements to rejoin the ship in Banjul, Gambia, but the ship was unable to safely dock there because of “adverse weather conditions” and “tidal restrictions,” Norwegian said. The guests were then contacted and provided with information to rejoin the ship at Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday. 

Jill Campbell said they traveled through seven countries in 48 hours to arrive in Senegal on Monday night.

But the couple was reconsidering whether they even wanted to return to the cruise.

"We are considering whether or not we are going to board the ship. It is in dock here in Senegal," she said. "We believe there was a basic duty of care that they had forgotten about, so it does concern us."

"After what we witnessed, we truly believe that although there’s a set of rules or policies that the ship may have followed, they followed those rules too rigidly. I believe that they really forgot that they are people working in the hospitality industry and really the safety and well-being of the customers should be their first priority," she added.

Ultimately, the eight passengers did rejoin the cruise before 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal, Norwegian told NBC News in an e-mail Tuesday evening, after this story originally published.

Norwegian said the passengers were responsible for making their own travel arrangements to rejoin the ship.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal," a cruise line spokesperson said in a statement. "We remain in communication with the guests and are providing additional information as it becomes available."

A silver lining of the catastrophe was that the Campbells were able to connect with another Norwegian Dawn passenger — Julia Lenkoff, 80 — who was also left on the island, but for a medical reason.

Lenkoff was on a different day tour Wednesday. She had "medically disembarked" from the cruise to seek local treatment on that day, Norwegian said.

Norwegian said that its care team tried to call Lenkoff several times and was unable to reach her and that it worked with its port agent in São Tomé and Príncipe for updates on her health.

The Campbells met Lenkoff and were able to put her in contact with her family in California, who flew her home — a move Lenkoff's daughter said "saved her life."

"She's a world traveler. She travels all the time. So this was going to be one of her bucket list trips, because she's been to 120 countries so far, and she wanted to get to 130," her daughter, Lana Lenkoff Geis, said in an interview that aired Tuesday on "TODAY."

Norwegian said Lenkoff was escorted on a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, then put in the care of airport staff members to continue her journey back to the U.S., where she has safely returned.

Breaking News Reporter

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