Meet us in Africa.

• For the 50+ age group. Personally led Nature-based guided trips with a mix of culture, conservation issues in South Africa and a focus whilst travelling on wild flowers, birds, butterflies and wild game animals in different habitats. On some of our trips there are wild orchids, alpine species and plenty of grassland flowers. Dragonflies, frogs and all insect life is explored. The 'birding' and the 'botanising' accomodates everyone and encourages beginners- it is excellent, as are the guides!
  Tel/Fax +27(0)33 239 4607 tours@meetusinafrica.co.za

Lawsons Birdwatching tours

• We are South Africa's most established specialist birdwatching tour company, having been in operation for thirteen years. Our destinations include South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and further north to Malawi and Zambia. Tours concentrate on quality sightings of birds, but all our guides are naturalists and each tour becomes an education in the natural history of the area. Peter Lawson and Warren McCleland are the senior guides, supplemented by a network of other guides throughout the country. Email: info@lawsons-africa.co.za

The Larger Illustrated Sasol Guide to Birds of Southern Africa
Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This new edition of "Sasol Birds" is larger in both size and extent; a new section deals with the identification of "problem species", or those which are difficult to tell apart. Intended for use in the field, the text is pitched at a level to appeal to beginners, although the detail suggests it may also be of interest to more serious and professional birdwatchers. Distribution information is shown by means of a colour map, and the whole book is colour-coded according to the different bird groups. Probably the best of the current guides.

Souther African Birdfinder
Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode et al: Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• Absolutely essential and a wonderful addition to South African birding.

Southern African Wildlife
Mike Unwin: Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• The ideal companion for the wildlife visitor to Southern Africa with good coverage of all the main animal and bird groups and excellent photography throughout. The chapter "Making the most of it" gives invaluable practical advice for the first time visitor with hints on travel, health, accommodation and where to go.

• Superb, concise and compact enough to use in the field. All the mammals you are ever likely to encounter on a trip to africa. For anyone with an interest in African mammals, there really is no substitute. More than 700 illustrations by the authoritive and acclaimed Jonathon Kingdon.

Birds of Africa South of the Sahara: A Comprehensive Illustrated Field Guide
Ian Sinclair, Peter Ryan: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This book is the first time ever that a field guide is aiming for the whole region - from 20 deg N up to 200 nautical miles off the continent shores (including Socotra but not Madagascar, Seychelles and other Indian and Atlantic Ocean Islands).

Lonely Planet Watching Wildlife : Southern Africa
Luke Hunter, Susan Rhind: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This guide covers more than 100 top bird and wildlife-watching destinations, in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia, from capital city day trips to dozens of national parks. Each destination has a map to the best sites and detailed itineraries. The 100 page wildlife gallery (mainly birds and mammals) is a delight to read and for each group of species there is a "hotspots" caption picking out the key sites...recommended, especially as a pre-trip planner.
  

Sasol Birding Map of Southern Africa
Ian Sinclair, Trevor Hardaker: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• Featuring over 200 of the top birding sites, this easy-to-use, illustrated map acts as a guide to watching birds in southern Africa. Details of each birding site are featured, including descriptions of habitat, and the type of bird to be found there.

Field Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa
Ian Sinclair: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This text uses colour photographs to identify more than 900 species of birds known to occur from Antarctica to the Zambezi River. The book is divided into more than 150 plates, each grouping similar birds which are often difficult to distinguish in the field. Comparative descriptions are given, drawing attention to those diagnostic or distinctive characters that make field identification easy. For each species the scientific and English and Africaans common names, length, habitat and call is given. Relative abundance within the region is indicated and whether the species is endemic or not, while maps show where the birds are likely to be found.

Where to Watch Birds in Africa
Nigel Wheatley: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• One of a series of guides devoted to birdwatching, this book contains site accounts, plans, maps, lists of birds in the regions and advice on planning bird-watching trips. It deals with over 200 sites in detail, and mentions many others. Each country is covered alphabetically, including archipelagos and isolated islands off the African mainland, for example, the Azores. Bird lists are included under the headings "Endemics", "Specialties", "Others" and also "Other Wildlife", if relevant. Access details are given, often with detailed site maps. The emphasis of the book is "bird finding", that is, where to go for the "best" species

Birds of Africa
Chris Stuart, Tilde Stuart: Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

• A comprehensive account of the birds of Africa. The text covers all the avifaunal families that occur in Africa, discusses the species that occur within each family, and provides representative examples of each family in depth. Also included is a general introduction to the major avifaunal regions of Africa.

Birds and Beasts - Africa
Bryan Hanlon (Illustrator): Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• A gallery of African wildlife, studied, sketched and painted by Hanlon in their natural settings. Each of his major paintings is reproduced in colour with the initial working sketches alongside

Lonely Planet: South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland
Simon Richmond, et al: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• A stunningly fact filled book about South Africa. Whilst primarily a tourist guide, bird watching opportunities and details of National Parks and reserves are well featured. (Over a hundred reserves are covered in varying detail.) The Kruger has a chapter to itself, there are details of how to see South Africa's only Penguin colonies, Ndumo sounds like a magical experience for the birder.....read it!

Lonely Planet : Cape Town
Jon Murray: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• No fewer than sixteen National Parks, Nature reserves and Forest Parks are described in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town. Add that to a two page section on where to go birding near Cape Town and we have a truly useful travel guide for the visiting birder. Culture, history, fine walks and the wine trail, its all in here. A must for the visitor spending any time in the Cape.

Globetrotter Travel Atlas of South Africa: 1998
Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• Catering for the needs of tourists and visitors, this travel atlas covers places of interest, scenic routes, national parks and key sites in South Africa. The town and city plans of the major centres pinpoint key buildings and places of interest as well as where to stay. Distance and climate charts enable travelers to plan their visits, while photographs reflect the atmosphere of the country.