Special Announcement
Birdwatch magazine voted Birding Africa as one of the TOP 5 most recommended bird tour companies in the world. (See www.birdingafrica.com for more survey details.)
Callan and Deirdre are just back from our first Tanzania tour this season. The rains have been good over the last month, so everything is breeding and the birding and mammal sightings have been excellent (as well as butterflies, dragonflies and wildflowers!). Birding highlights have been Dwarf Bitterns, Karamoja Apalis, Golden-winged Sunbirds, Rosy-throated Longclaws, Hartlaub’s and Schalow’s Turacos, African Crowned Eagle on the nest, Bar-tailed Trogon, Beesley’s Lark, point-blank Martial Eagles, squabbles of vultures, and more.The short grass plains west of Ngorongoro crater are awash with wildebeest and their calves, and large numbers of predators, and some intrepid wildebeest are already forming columns and heading north. Our next Tanzania birding and mammal tour starts in a few days…
Golden-winged Sunbird on the Ngorongoro crater rim in Tanzania
Cape Rockjumpers to celebrate Easter
Tertius Gous has just guided a Birding Africa day trip. They searched for some of South Africa’s fynbos endemics such as the Cape Rockjumper. Patience and dedication paid off, as this hard-to-see bird showed so obligingly. What a great way to celebrate Easter!
Cape Rock-jumpers photographed by Tertius Gous, on a Birding Africa day trip from Cape Town.
Last spaces: Tanzania in April and May
Our Tanzania birding trips in April and May are timed to coincide with one of the greatest mammal spectacles on earth: the migration of a million wildebeest through the Serengeti. Birds, big cats, good accommodation and timeless scenery will be your focus for this holiday in April and May. Just a few spaces remain, with departures on 21 April and 7 May.
To enquire, please contact deirdre@birdingafrica.com
This Schalow’s Turaco was photographed from the deck of our hotel on the Ngorongoro Crater rim © Callan Cohen
Herds of wildebeest and plains zebra follow the rains through Serengeti National Park © Deirdre Vrancken.
Usambiro Barbet at Tarangire, Black-bellied Bustard in the Ngorongoro crater, Fisher’s Lovebird at Ndutu and Grey-breasted Spurfowl at Tarangire on a Birding Africa tour © Callan Cohen & Deirdre Vrancken
Lion and leopard at Serengeti and African elephant at Tarangire National Park. All photos © Callan Cohen or Deirdre Vrancken.
Callan is leading an Okavango and Victoria Falls trip that got off to an excellent start two days ago! A very obliging African Finfoot was one of the highlights of our Zambezi River sunset cruise this evening (above Victoria Falls in Zambia). Yesterday, a stunning Schalow’s Turaco was the highlight of our pre-breakfast walk, followed by a drenching visit to the Victoria Falls themselves which are truly impressive with a record amount of water thundering over (enough to create it own moist microclimate). Today, after being woken to the sound of roaring lions around the lodge, we started off watching the roaring lions at dawn from our open-topped vehicle before spending much of our time along the Chobe river. An unusual record was a flock of about 20 Amur Falcons which must be on passage back to China!
Lion at Chobe, Botswana © Callan Cohen
African Finfoot on our Zambezi River cruise above Victoria Falls, Zambia © Callan Cohen
African Finfoot on day one
On a late afternoon boat trip in Livingstone, Zambia, we were treated with these views of African Finfoot, leader Callan Cohen reports. What a start to the Botswana Okavango Tour!
African Finfoot (c) Callan Cohen
Marje Hemp cycles her 30th Cape Argus Cycle Tour
We are so proud of Marje Hemp right now cycling her 30th Cape Argus Cycle Tour! Between so dedicatedly organising Birding Africa trips, she has been training twice a week for over 30 years! She is one of only two women with such a longstanding Argus record – what an achievement!
Marje is now ahead of Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group) and Helen Zille (Premier of the Western Cape and Cape Town’s former mayor), amongst other VIP cyclists who are being tracked.
Read Marje’s interview on the Cape Town Travel Blog here.
Track Marje on the Argus map, see where she is and who’s she’s cycling with. It looks like Sir Richard Branson is very near her back wheels!
Go to: http://www.cycletour.co.za/
Click on: Tracking by tracker
Scroll down to “VIP – MHemp”
Go, Marje, Go!
Marje Hemp (on the right), with Hele Zille (second from the left), Janet Moss (on the left) and two more energetic cyclists, on the slopes of Table Mountain and ready to tackle the race! Today, Marje and Janet are cycling their 30th Cape Argus Cycle Tour – a ladies’ record!
Madagascar: new trip report!
Our latest Madagascar trip report is now online!
“On the main tour we were just one bird away from seeing 100% of the gettable endemics, and on the Masoala extension we added one of the country’s best birds, Helmet Vanga, and one of the rarest, Bernier’s Vanga, to our tally.” Michael Mills, tour leader. See the full report here
” Excellent tour value, excellent guides and well thought out itineraries. The tour met my high expectations. Birding Africa was easy to deal with, the website was helpful and it was easy to book. Plus Michael is the best guide I have ever used.” Gerry Richards, Birding Africa tour participant.
Join Michael Mills this year from 18 November to 9 December 2013. Book one of the 4 last spaces!
See the tour details, email info@birdingafrica.com or phone +27 21 531 9148.
Collared Nightjar, photpgarphed on a Biridng Africa Madagascar tour (c) Andy Sims
