Itineraries
South
Africa
14 days
Designed to offer the best of both Cape (Western) and Eastern South Africa,
maximizing the number of bird species and offering charismatic and
localised mammals and exceptional scenery.
The tour starts in Cape Town and ends in Johannesburg or vice versa.
This tour is a combination of the Cape and Eastern endemics tours,
run back-to-back.
As on all our tours, we've carefully
selected guesthouses and lodges to maximise birding time and quality.
This tour covers a possibility of 135 southern
African endemic and near-endemic bird species, with up to 450 bird
species expected.
Cape
Endemics
4 to 10 days
The itinerary is designed with the dedicated birder in mind and
targets the highest proportion possible of the region’s endemics
and characteristic habitats of South Africa's West and its Cape
Floral Kingdom. This tour starts and ends in Cape Town.
We'll explore:
• Darling area: Cape Clapper Lark, Blue
Crane
• West Coast National Park: Southern Black Korhaan,
Black Harrier, Chestnut-banded Plover
• Tanqua Karoo, a semi-desert: Karoo Eremomela,
Namaqua Warbler, Fairy Flycatcher,
Cinnamon-breasted Warbler, Ludwig’s
Bustard, Burchell’s Courser, Black-headed
Canary, Layard’s Tit-Babbler, Rufous-eared
Warbler, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Karoo
Korhaan, Black-eared Sparrowlark
• De Hoop and Agulhas Plains: Cape Vulture,
Blue Crane, Denham's Bustard,
Damara Tern, Knysna Woodpecker,
Agulhas Long-billed Lark, Agulhas Clapper
Lark, Southern Tchagra
• Cape coastal Fynbos and mountains: Cape Rock-jumper,
Victorin's Scrub-Warbler, Cape Sugarbird,
Orange-breasted Sunbird, Cape Siskin,
Ground Woodpecker, Neddicky and
Cape Rock-Thrush
Click here for more practical
tour information and a trip report of short
trip and a longer
trip.
Optional extension: Afromontane forest at Grootvaderschbos or
Wilderness in the Garden Route.
• Grootvaderschbos: Narina Trogon,
Forest Canary, African Crowned Eagle,
Knysna Woodpecker, Knysna Warbler,
Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Olive
Bush-Shrike
• Wilderness National Park, Garden Route: Knysna Turaco,
Narina Trogon, African
Wood Owl, Green-backed Camaroptera, Green
Woodhoopoe, Chorister Robin-Chat
Eastern
Endemics
7 to 14 days
This itinerary is designed to see as many bird species as possible
in the shortest time. It combines subtropical birding with good
mammal watching. We visit coastal forests and bird-rich reserves,
perhaps better known for Rhino conservation, in search of specials
such as the delicate Pink-throated Twinspot and
the mystical Pel's Fishing Owl. This tour starts
in Durban and ends in Johannesburg.
We'll explore:
- the Drakensberg, to look for Blue Swallow, the
endemic Drakensberg Rockjumper, Drakensberg
Siskin, Bearded Vulture, Amur
Falcon, Gurney's Sugarbird;
- Zululand forests,
to search for Orange Ground Thrush, Spotted
Ground Thrush, Livingston's Turaco, Woodward's
Batis, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon;
-Zululand coastal plains, to target Pel's Fishing Owl,
African Broadbill, Neergaard's Sunbird,
Olive-tree Warbler, Green and
Pink-throated Twinspot;
- Wakkerstroom's globally
threatened highland wetlands and grasslands, to find Rudd's
and Botha's Lark, Blue
and Barrow's Korhaan, Southern Bald Ibis,
Yellow-breasted Pipit, four species of bustard and three
cranes.
Click here for practical
tour information and a trip
report.
Optional extension: Kruger Birds and mammals
Kruger
Birds & Mammals
7 to 14 days
This itinerary is designed to complement birds with mammals, in
both Kruger National Park and Afromontane forest. It starts and
ends in Johannnesburg.
It offers birding in the Afro-montane
forests, lowland acacia savanna, grassland, riverine and broadleafed
woodlands, with a total list of over 500 bird species.
This tour also offers excellent mammal encounters, including 'the
Big 5': elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard.
We'll explore:
- the northern escarpment forests at Magoebaskloof - arguably South
Africa's best forest birding site - to look for Bat Hawk,
Cape Parrot, Green Twinspot and
Black-fronted Bush-Shrike;
- the vicinity of the Blyde River Canyon, to spot Taita
Falcon - one of Africa's most endangered raptors.
- Central and Southern Kruger National Park, to search for African
Finfoot, Lilac-breasted Roller, Southern
Ground Hornbill, Saddle-billed Stork,
Secretary Bird, Bateleur and other
large raptors as well as a wealth of mammals.
Click here for practical
tour information and a trip
report.
Namaqualand - budget
tour
8 days
This tour is designed to combine the best of the Cape's birds, wild
flowers and scenic landscapes. This is an excellent-value budget
tour. It starts and ends in Cape Town.
We'll explore:
- the West Coast to visit Rocherpan and Verlorenvlei for an abundance
of waterbirds.
- Elands Bay, Lamberts Bay (Cape Gannet colony), Strandfontein and
Papendorp (Karoo Lark & Cape Clapper Lark).
- Garies and Springbok
- Namaqualand and Goegap Nature Reserve
- Kamieskroon (Damara Canary)
- Tanqua Karoo National Park in the succulent Karoo. (Ludwig's bustard,
Karoo Lark, Burchell's Courser, Karoo Eremomela, Namaqua Warbler
and Dusky Sunbird.)
- Nieuwoudtville (bulb capital of the world!)
- Karoopoort and Ceres (Cinnamon-breasted Warbler, Black-eared Sparrowlark
and Karoo Chat).
Click here
for other Namaqualand tours, tour
information and trip
reports.
Cape
Tours
For day trips, weekends and longer
tours from Cape Town, please click here.
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Southern Double-Collared Sunbird seen on
a Birding Africa tour © Callan Cohen

Knysna Turaco seen on a Birding Africa tour
© Callan Cohen

Knysna Woodpecker seen on a Birding Africa
Tour © Callan Cohen
Lilac-breasted Roller seen on a Birding Africa Tour © Callan
Cohen
 Southern
Bald Ibis seen on a Birding Africa Tour © Callan Cohen

See Cinnamon-breasted Warbler on a Namaqualand,
Cape Endemics, Tanqua
Karoo or Bushmanland
Birding Tour with Birding Africa © Callan Cohen
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