The floral displays in Namaqualand can be stunning. Photo: Steve Rooke
In recent years South Africa has become a very popular destination for birdwatchers, and a glance at one of its many excellent field guides soon reveals why. Over 700 bird species occur here, over 100 of which are endemic or near-endemic; thousands of kilometers of shoreline harbor a myriad of migrant and resident birds; and offshore congregate some of the largest concentrations of seabirds in the world.
Early September is the very best time to visit western South Africa. Spring is everywhere, and many of the birds will be in full breeding plumage as they busy themselves with the onset of nesting. If the early rains have been good, we should also be treated to one of the best wildflower displays anywhere in the world. Our journey will take us from the rolling red sand dunes of the Kalahari Desert through the hauntingly beautiful plains of Bushmanland to the Atlantic coast. From there we travel to the vast expanse of the Great Karoo before ending our tour where two oceans meet, at the windswept Cape of Good Hope.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Johannesburg.
Day 2: After collecting the group arriving early this morning from London, we’ll fly to Uppington, gateway to the Kalahari Desert. Uppington sits on the Orange River and our first stop will be along its banks, where our birding begins with White-throated Swallow, White-backed and Red-faced Mousebirds, Hoopoe, Red-eyed Bulbul, Orange River White-eye, the localized Namaqua Warbler, Cape Sparrow, and Black-throated Canary. Later we begin our drive into the Kalahari. As the landscape gradually becomes more arid, the birdlife will also change, and we won’t have gone far before seeing one of the region’s characteristic features, a massive Sociable Weaver nest. Other species that will break our journey could include White-backed Vulture, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Pygmy Falcon, and possibly Double-banded Courser and Short-toed Rock Thrush. Night in a lodge close to the Kalahari Gemsbok Reserve.
Day 3: Sandwiched between Namibia and Botswana, the Kalahari Gemsbok Park is one of Africa’s wildest and least-known National Parks. Our day will begin at a small waterhole where we should be treated to flocks of Burchell’s and Namaqua Sandgrouse coming to drink, along with hordes of other birds such as Namaqua Dove, Pink-billed Lark and Gray-backed Sparrowlark, Red-headed Finch, and of course the ubiquitous Sociable Weaver. The Park is also a great place for raptors, and we can expect to encounter Gabar Goshawk, Lanner and possibly Red-necked Falcons, and Bateleur and Martial Eagle; the massive Verreaux’s Eagle Owl can usually be found with ease.
Among the bright red dunes interspersed with grassy plains and wooded riverbeds we’ll search for a variety of special birds including Kori Bustard, Northern Black and Red-crested Korhaans, Rosy-faced Lovebird, Burchell’s Courser, and Swallow-tailed Bee-eater. Among the smaller birds, we should easily find Chat and Marico Flycatchers, Kalahari Robin Ashy Tit, and Dusky Sunbird. Gemsbok or Namib Oryx are common here, as are Springbok, Red Hartebeeste, Zebra, Blue Wildebeeste, and Greater Kudu. We might also see a pride of the large black-maned Kalahari Lions or a skulking Cheetah.
The grounds of our lodge can be an excellent place for birds, with noisy African Gray and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills, Pearl Spotted Owlet, the striking Crimson-breasted Shrike, and Groundscraper Thrush all possible. Night in a lodge close to the Kalahari Gemsbok Park.
Day 4: Today we’ll retrace our steps to Uppington and then on to Pofadder, calling in at Augrabies National Park along the way. Here the Orange River tumbles into a deep and spectacular gorge before flowing on to form the border with Namibia. We’ll have time to admire the falls and look at some of the plentiful birdlife to be found nearby, including Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Acacia Pied Barbet, Pale-winged Starling, White-throated Canary, and Southern Masked Weaver.
South of the Orange River lie the arid and semi-arid regions of Bushmanland, a hauntingly beautiful landscape where, in the not too distant past, the tiny San people hunted the migrant herds of antelope. Today this area is still sparsely populated, and it is possible to travel through this stark wilderness all day without seeing another person. Driving along the endless dirt roads that service the remote farms we hope to see Great Kestrel, Karoo Korhaan, Ludwig’s Bustard, Tractrac, Sickle-winged and Karoo Chats, Layard’s Tit-babbler, Southern Gray Tit, and Lark-like Bunting, among many other species. Night in Pofadder.
Day 5: This habitat is ideal for larks, and we begin the day with a trip to the breeding grounds of the fabulous Red Lark, an elusive bird restricted to the red dune systems of this region. Others we hope to see here include Sclater’s, Stark’s, Spike-heeled, Thick-billed, and Red-capped Larks, and Black-eared Finchlark.
We’ll then travel west to the town of Springbok, gateway to Namaqualand and the world-famous wildflower region. Close to the town lies the reserve of Goegap, and a visit here will instantly tell us if the rains have been good, as in those years the place is covered in sheets of pastel-colored flowers. Whether the flowers are there or not, there are still birds to see, including Mountain Chat, Bokmakierie, Cinnamon-breasted Warbler, Malachite Sunbird, and Black-headed Canary. Night in Springbok.
Day 6: We take the main road south today, but soon turn off to follow a maze of dirt tracks that head inland through a mosaic of hills and agricultural land, where again we can find whole fields cloaked in wildflowers. Dragging ourselves away from this botanical extravaganza will not be easy, but an ornithological one awaits us further south at the thriving fishing port of Lambert’s Bay. Here we’ll visit the famous Cape Gannet colony, which will be teeming with tens of thousands of birds well into their breeding season. The sight, sound, and, it must be said, smell of all these birds packed together is unforgettable. In the throng of Cape Gannets we should also find Cape and Crowned Cormorants jostling for space, and we’ll watch Cape Fur Seals basking on the rocks. Night at Lambert’s Bay.
Day 7: From Lambert’s Bay we’ll drive through extensive coastal scrub looking for Karoo, Cape Clapper and Cape Long-billed Larks, Karoo Robin, Gray-backed Cisticola, Cape Penduline Tit, and Bar-throated Apalis, before calling in at Veldriff at the mouth of the Berg River. Swift Terns will be much in evidence on the salt pans, along with Caspian Terns, Kelp and Hartlaub’s Gulls, and a variety of shorebirds including Chestnut-banded and White-fronted Plovers. We’ll move on to Saldana, where we can get close views of Bank Cormorants and where we’ll have our first encounter with African Black Oystercatchers before ending the day at Langebaan. Night in Langebaan.
Day 8: Langebaan lies at the head of an enormous inlet that forms the spectacular West Coast Nature Reserve. We’ll visit the Reserve to search for striking Black Harriers quartering the flower-strewn coastal fynbos, and spend time searching through the flocks of shorebirds that make this huge natural lagoon their winter home. Around the edge of small pools we’ll find nesting Cape Weavers and vivid Southern Red Bishops, while Southern Black Korhaans and Cape Francolins can frequently be found along the roadside. As the day draws to a close we’ll travel inland to the Cedarberg Mountains and the town of Ceres. Night in Ceres.
Day 9: Ceres is surrounded by truly spectacular mountain scenery. The higher-altitude habitats here are in marked contrast to those we’ll have seen so far, and around the outskirts of the town we should see Gray-winged Francolin, Victorin’s Warbler, Spotted Prinia, Orange-throated Longclaw, Orange-breasted Sunbird, and Protea Canary. Venturing out into the Great Karoo, an endless stony plain covered in the most beautiful array of small euphorbias and succulent scrub, we’ll look for many of the small birds that live here, such as the tiny Fairy Flycatcher, Pririt Batis, Rufous-eared Warbler, and Karoo Eremomela. Our hotel is situated right next to a small river that regularly holds African Black Duck and Giant Kingfisher. Night in Ceres.
Day 10: We’ll leave Ceres and drive to a high rocky pass where we have an excellent chance of finding the bizarre Cape Rock Jumper, as well as Cape Rock Thrush. As we head east we’ll see flocks of Pied Starlings along the roadside and Fiscal Flycatchers on roadside wires before we reach the delightful small town of Swellendam. Night in Swellendam.
Day 11: Close to the town lies a reserve established to protect that beautifully marked antelope the Bontebok, and where we could also see Stanley’s Bustard, Knysna Woodpecker, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Agulhas Clapper and Agulhas Long-billed Larks, and Southern Tchagra. Later we’ll head south, driving through undulating arable fields where we should find large groups of non-breeding Blue Cranes. We’ll call in at Potberg, a towering hill that is one of the last strongholds of Cape Vulture, before turning west and driving into Cape Town. Night in Cape Town.
Days 12-15: We’ll have four days in which to sample the delights that birding around the tip of Africa has to offer. The weather here is notoriously fickle, but if conditions permit we’ll venture out one day into the South Atlantic in search of seabirds. Our objective is to find a deep-sea trawler that appears to have a thick dark cloud of smoke trailing for several kilometers behind it. Astonishingly, this “smoke” will be a throng of thousands of seabirds, mostly albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters, following the ship in search of offal being dumped overboard. As we cruise among this mass of birds, binoculars will hardly be necessary: many of the birds will be almost too close to focus on. We should see Shy, Black-browed, and Yellow-nosed Albatrosses; Southern Giant, Pintado and White-chinned Petrels; Sooty and Great Shearwaters; Sub-antarctic Skua; and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel. Less common possibilities include Wandering and Gray-headed Albatrosses, Soft-plumaged Petrel, and Black-bellied Storm-Petrel.
Back on dry land, we’ll explore the Cape’s verdant mountains, passes, and valleys looking for Ground Woodpecker, Knysna Warbler, Grassbird, Orange-breasted Sunbirds, and Cape Siskin. We’ll take time to visit the world-famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the shadow of Table Mountain. These gardens are not just a wonderful place for plants—there are plenty of birds to be seen as well. A resident Spotted Eagle Owl roosts in an avenue of camphor trees, Forest Canaries feed among the undergrowth, and Cape Sugarbirds, Cape White Eyes, and Lesser Double-collared Sunbirds buzz around the masses of flowers, while Sombre Greenbuls call loudly from the undergrowth. Black Sawwings skim overhead, and there is a good chance at seeing a majestic Black Eagle soaring around the summit of Table Mountain. We’ll visit the Simonstown Jackass Penguin colony and a roost site for Antarctic Tern, and, of course, we’ll fit in a visit to the Cape of Good Hope. Nights in Cape Town.
Day 16: Tour concludes this morning in Cape Town.
Updated: 06 February 2008
Prices
- 2008 price about $4,990
- Single Occupancy Supplement $370
Notes
This tour is limited to seven participants with one leader; 14 with two leaders.
This tour is organized by our English company, Sunbird.