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The Following Reports are available from South Africa (Tours) :
Why not send us a report, or an update to one of your current reports?

               
     

 

Birding tours of South Africa (Multi destination) Kwazulu Natal
Western Cape Province (Includes Cape Town) Northern Cape Province
Kruger National Park Mpumalanga Province (Includes Wakkerstroom)
North West Province Advertisers

Namaqualand, Kalahari, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape plus Garden Route Extension December 2013

  • We left a very stormy Cape Town after breakfast and headed for the west coast. It soon became evident that not many birds were going to be missed on the road, and we were soon adding species such as Greater Flamingo, Great white Pelican, Cape, Reed, and White-breasted Cormorants, African Darter, Intermediate Egret, and Black-headed Herons to the list....John Tinkler reports for Birding Ecotours
Meet us in Africa

Meet us in Africa.

  • 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!

Avian Leisure

  • Specialising in tailored trips to Southern Africa for naturalists and birders – both guided and self-drive. Explore the delights of nature in a variety of habitats depending on your interests, time and budget. We pride ourselves on our professional organization, carefully constructed itineraries, attention to cost effective detail and our long established reputation. Our self-catering accommodation is highly acclaimed as the ultimate birding base in the Cape Peninsula.
    Patrick and Marie-Louise Cardwell tel/fax +27 21 786 1414
    enquiries@avianleisure.com
Bokmakarie

South Africa - Kalahari to the Cape September 2006

  • Summer came early to the Cape this year and we enjoyed superb sunny weather for all of our time in Cape Town, apart from the last day.  None more so than on the pelagic when the journey out and back was bathed in sunshine and the sea was the calmest I have ever seen it...Steve Rooke reports for Sunbird

South African Endemics October 23 -November 5, 2011

  • We saw 302 species, including 102 endemics or near-endemics, on this private tour focusing on birds we had not seen on prior trips. We visited several sites in both eastern and western South Africa....Gary and Marlene Babic report.

Zimbabwe, Botswana & South Africa 11-20th Oct 2010

  • We retuned to the hotel and I spent a few hours in the grounds watching a flowering tree which was attracting many Sunbirds.  I was rewarded with 2 Amethyst Sunbirds whilst White-bellied Sunbirds appeared to be the most numerous...Mark Easterbrook reports.  

South Africa 5/10/02-2/11/02

  • When the rain cleared a wander around the hotel and immediate area produced the first lifers of the trip. Levaillants Cisticola, Cape Canary, Spotted Prinia, 7 Spotted Dikkops, Bokmakierie...Simon Harthill reports

South Africa (In German) (34kB .pdf ) Bernhard Herren

Cape, Namibia, Botswana, Kruger, Swaziland and Kwazulu-Natal 22 August – 14 October 2003

  • As always, the goal of this trip was to see as many species and especially (near-)endemics as possible. As it is impossible to cover whole southern Africa in 7,5 weeks, I skipped mid-South-Africa, Zimbabwe & Mozambique from the itinerary. I saw 542 birdspecies (including 461 'lifers' and 117 southern Africa endemics,  and also 72 mammalspecies)...Eduard Sangster reports.

South Africa - The Cape to Mkuzi 20th November – 8th December 2003

  • With 2 weeks to spare at the end of November/early December two of us decided on a stint around South Africa, concentrating on the main reserves to visit for endemic and specialised birds and also for mammals. This time period offers great birding in the southern hemisphere due to it being their late Spring/early Summer....James Eaton reports

Grand tour of Southern Africa October 2001 - March 2003

  • This report is based on the findings of two complementary trips to Southern Africa - a ten-week trip to the west of the sub-continent (Namibia and the Cape Province of South Africa) and a fifteen-week trip to the eastern half of the region (Botswana, the east of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique). A total of 715 species where seen including nearly all the endemics, near endemics and specialities....Jos Stratford reports.

South Africa December 23rd 2002 -January 15th 2003

  • This trip report contains the bird observations made during a three-week holiday trip to South Africa, including a short visit to Lesotho. The main purpose of the trip was to see as many interesting birds and mammals as possible, but also to enjoy the scenery, culture, wine and food of the country....Hans-Åke Gustavsson reports.
Secretary Bird


Birding trip to South Africa 17th Nov -20th Dec 02

  • The trip lasted some 35 days during which we drove almost 10,000 kilometres saw around 500 bird species, 44mammals and 4 reptiles. Birding in South Africa proved to be very relaxed, the birds numerous and highly accessible...Moira and Graeme Wallace report...

Photo: Secretary Bird - Graeme Wallace (More Photos from South Africa)

South Africa birding trip 14 November till 14 December 2002

  • The first target species of the day was Namaqua Warbler at Karoopoort, which responded well to tape and was subsequently seen very well. The resident Cinnamon-breasted Warbler at the picnic site where we camped did not respond at all though. A stop at Eierkop produced Karoo Eremomela, which we saw once more later on along the road to Katbakkies....Wim Heylen reports

North-East South Africa 25 September - 21 October 2002

  • Itinerary and lists for N.E South Africa......Georges Olioso reports

South Africa July 2 – August 3, 2001

  • Between July 2nd and August 3rd, we made a birding trip to South Africa, covering nearly the whole country...The trip proved to be quite succesful, as 473 species were seen, including several spectacular species, such as Black Harrier, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Wattled & Blue Crane, Cape & Orange-breasted Rockjumpers.....Wim Veraghtert reports

South Africa, A birdwatching trip July 7 - 31, 2000

  • Stijn De Win had an extensive tour of South Africa and seeing an impressive360 species.

Birds in South Africa (and a bit of Swaziland) October 1999

  • South Africa is a great place for birding with the family. I did this trip with my wife Madelène and my four-year old son Alex. It was planned as a general interest tour, based mainly on the scenic highlights and the mammals, with birding stops on the way. The only place we were intending to go solely for the birds (Mkuzi) we never got to because of the weather conditions. Even so, the area has such a wealth of birdlife that we managed to see almost 300 different bird species...A report by Stephen Poley

South African Grand tour

  • Southern Africa embraces a tremendous range of habitats, home to one of the greatest bird diversities in the world - over 900 species occur of which 133 are endemic or near-endemic. This three-week itinerary is designed to see all of the Southern African endemics occurring in South Africa while surveying the country's unparalleled and breathtaking scenery....Keith Taylor reports (big! 400K)

 


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Why not send us a report, or an update to one of your current reports?

Some Useful bird books for South Africa :
Do you have a good book for this region that we haven't featured? let us know

     
   

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.





The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals
Jonathan Kingdon: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

  • 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 Sainclair, 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", "Specialities", "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

Travel Guides for South Africa:


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 travellers to plan their visits, while photographs reflect the atmosphere of the country.

 

   
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Why not send us a report, or an update to one of your current reports?