This comparatively short tour is designed both for those who have already visited South Africa and fallen in love with its fabulous birds and wildlife, and for those with a limited amount of time in search of the quintessential African safari.  The grand introduction to our tour, of course, is Kruger National Park.  Kruger provides us with an excellent opportunity to see the African “Big Five:”  Lion, Leopard, African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, and White Rhinoceros.  Hippopotamus and a variety of smaller mammals are also common.  Large and wide-ranging African birds as Ostrich, Bateleur Eagle, Marabou Stork, and Red-billed Hornbill, as well as local specialties like Southern Ground Hornbill, Black Korhaan (a bustard), and Shikra also make a home in the savanna bushveld at Kruger.  Other highly sought-after animals we have a chance of finding include Cheetah, African Wild Dog, and Spotted Hyena.  Mammals really abound and we should have no difficulty in seeing Giraffe, Plain’s Zebra, Rhinoceros, Blue Wildebeest, Greater Kudu, Impala, Klipspringer, Bushbuck, Warthog, Chacma Baboon, Vervet Monkey, and Dwarf Mongoose.  As mentioned, Kruger National Park also provides us with fantastic birding opportunities.  Of special note here are species requiring vast areas of wilderness, such as Kori Bustard, the world’s heaviest flying bird, Martial Eagle, and Saddle-billed Stork.  The “classic” African families such as turacos, mousebirds, bee-eaters, kingfishers, rollers, woodhoopoes, hornbills, barbets, shrikes, starlings, widows, weavers, and sunbirds are all well represented.  We expect to find a variety of examples of each of these families.  Particular bird species that we will search for include Crested, Swainson’s, Coqui and Natal Francolins, Dark Chanting Goshawk, African Finfoot, Black-bellied Bustard, Brown-headed Parrot, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Woodland Kingfisher, Burnt-neck Eremomela, Lazy Cisticola, Mocking Cliff-Chat, the endemic White-throated Robin-Chat, White-crowned and Magpie Shrikes, and Red-billed Oxpecker, which glean ticks from the park’s large herbivores. Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s great cities, Cape Town is a delightful home base for three nights as we explore the surrounding land and seascapes in search of some of Africa’s most restricted species.  Birds we may encounter include the handsome and endemic Cape Rockjumper, spectacular Cape Sugarbird, beautiful Orange-breasted Sunbird, and other lovelies such as Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Hottentot Buttonquail, Cinnamon Dove, Southern Black Korhaan, and Black Harrier, one of Africa’s most striking raptors.  On an all-day visit to the Cape of Good Hope we will visit a huge rookery of Jackass Penguins.  Nor will we neglect the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.  Not only are the plantings superb, but the lush surroundings will allow us wonderful views of both Cape Sugarbird and the Orange-breasted Sunbird.  Set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch may be the single most memorable venue in the whole of the Cape Town region.  Our final two nights will be spent in Ceres, giving us access to the wetlands of West Coast National Park and the vast Karoo, an extension of the Namib Desert and an important center of endemism.  Here we’ll seek such specialties as Fairy Flycatcher, Black-headed Canary, and the very local Cinnamon-breasted Warbler.  Our short stay in the Cape region is sure to leave us with a lifetime of wonderful birding memories.  Altogether over 750 species of birds are recorded from South Africa, and more than 100 of these are endemic or nearly so. Given excellent accommodations, delicious food, internationally famous wines, and its dazzling bird communities, it is easy to understand why South Africa is considered one of the world’s premier birding destinations.      

Leaders: Adam Riley & Chris Sharpe

Photo: Woodland Kingfisher

Photo by: Rick Taylor

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