The Guide's Tale Blog. - Lawson's Birding, Wildlife & Custom Safaris

African Safaris: Green Season vs. Dry Season - when to go on a safari.

2025-05-07T00:00:00+02:00

African Safari Seasons:

Let's start by looking at the seasons in the two main safari areas - Southern Africa and East Africa.

Southern Africa comprises South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia.

East Africa comprises Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Southern Africa is straightforward - it has a summer wet season, from about October to early May; and a winter dry season from May to October. Summers are warm to very hot, and can be humid in places, while winters are mild to warm, with low humidity.

East Africa has a more complicated cycle. The 'short rainy season' runs through November and December, and then the 'long rainy season' runs from March to May, roughly. Of course, climatic patterns are becoming ever more unpredictable, so it's hard to be sure exactly what's going to happen weather-wise on any given safari - as with the stock market, past performance is no indication of future performance! Or at least not a solid indication...

Now let's look at the pros and cons of each safari season, and discuss the 'shoulder seasons' (basically Autumn / Fall and Spring). Just remember though, if you are reading this in the Northern Hemisphere, you have to swap things around in your head, as our Fall is your Spring etc!

Dry Season pros:

The number one pro in terms of dry season safaris is the better game viewing. When conditions are dry, surface water is limited and animals are concentrated around watering points, rivers etc. The difference in big cat sightings between wet and dry season can be marked, especially in 'self-drive' national parks such as Kruger, when one is relying on luck and instinct (tracking and a radio network can mitigate this difference to a degree in the private reserves).
The number two pro is that it is, well, dry. Chances of rain are minimal. And we know this sounds good to our British visitors in particular! This doesn't mean that the weather is great, but it does mean that the chances of disruptive rain are low to very low.
Malarial risk is generally lowest in the late dry season.

Dry Season cons:

It's busy! Most people want to visit in the dry season, so parks are as full as they are going to get.
It's more expensive in some destinations. Places like Botswana have higher rates in the dry season, making it that much more expensive.
Parks and reserves aren't looking their best in the height of the dry season. In October, many parks are brown and dusty, sometimes with little grass cover remaining (depending on what the previous rainy season was like), and animals are often not in good condition, at least in the case of the herbivores.

Wet Season pros:

Wet season is far more pleasing on the eye. Most reserves are transformed into green wonderlands; lush and full of life. In some the transformation is remarkable - from barren dust bowls in the dry, to emerald green Gardens of Eden in the wet season. Animals are in their prime, and they almost seem to rejoice in the good conditions.
Wet season has a lot more life - birds, insects, the flora, are all peaking, making the most of the rains. One also sees more young animals in the wet season, particularly in Impalas, Wildebeest and Zebras.
Birding is generally better in the wet season.
Wet season can be a lot quieter in terms of other visitors, and with the decreased demand comes lower prices.

Wet Season cons:

Well, water, in the main. Getting around can become difficult to impossible, depending on the exact park and region (Kruger has a good network of tar roads, so it's only very occasional that one can't drive around at all; while the Masai Mara has rough dirt tracks that become quite treacherous after heavy rain). Accessibility can be such an issue that in some areas, such as Zambia, many parks and lodges are closed during the wet season.
Game viewing can be that much harder, in terms of the predators especially, and other prominent species too - for example, in the dry season in Etosha, Namibia, Elephants are abundant, while in the wet season one will see requests on Facebook groups etc for any info about where one could possibly see an Elephant. In some parks though, such as the Kruger, the difference is less severe, and even in the wet season one should still see a lot of big game, even if cats sightings are not what they are in the height of the dry season.
It can get very humid in the wet season. While in places like Kruger, for example, it can be very hot between September and late April, it's a dry heat between September and November, but then gets pretty humid as well as the wet season kicks in. Can be uncomfortable for those not used to it (though the chalets have AC).
Malarial risk (in applicable areas) is highest in the late wet season.

The 'Shoulder Seasons':

In Southern Africa this refers to the mid-April to mid-June period (Autumn and early Winter) and November (early summer), though discounted rates may not correlate exactly with these months. These are often good months to do a safari (though not so much with April, which has Easter and a number of public holidays, when locals flock to parks and reserves), taking advantage of accommodation specials and 'in between' weather - not too hot, not too cold, not too wet.
In Kenya, January and February and November are shoulder seasons, while in Tanzania, January and November are 'shoulder months' (the wildebeest calving spectacle makes February popular).

In Conclusion:

There's basically no bad time to go on a safari! Though many experts agree that it's best to avoid the long rains in East Africa.

When planning an African safari tour, it's best to consider what your priorities are: big cats, birds, more manageable temperatures etc. Then also consider rates and how that impacts what you can afford, and whether you are put off by parks being busier with other tourists or not. And finally - and probably most importantly - your personal schedule, when you can get time off work or away from family etc. And, for more help on when to do a safari trip to Africa , speak to the safari experts, whom you can contact below with the click of a button!

Tanzania's Northern Circuit Safari

2024-11-22T00:00:00+02:00

Tanzania's Northern Circuit Wildlife Safari Trip Report.

Days 1 & 2: Arusha.
Tour leader Leon Marais met the clients in Arusha, where we stayed at Lake Duluti Lodge, a great base from which to explore Arusha National Park on the slopes of Mount Meru. This is a great introduction to the the country, and the park is quite different to the others on itinerary, with some beautiful gallery forest. This is where the Guereza, or Black-and-White Colobus Monkeys live, and we had some great sightings of several family groups, as well as Olive Baboon and Syke's Monkeys.

Days 3 & 4: Tarangire National Park.
This is an incredible park. It's vast, with some amazing scenery and huge numbers of animals. Large herds of Zebra, Wildebeest and Buffalo congregate around Silale Swamp, the prime source of water in the dry season, accompanied by huge numbers of birds. Indeed, the number of Buffalo in particular was staggering. We did see Lions and Cheetah, though they weren't the best sightings, but that was OK, as there would be plenty more sightings of them and the beauty of the park, the big herds of animals, the Elephants and the birds more than made up for it. This park is not on the itinerary of every visitor to the country, so it's relatively quiet (at this time of year) in terms of other visitors. On our afternoon drives we saw only one or two other vehicles.

Days 5 & 6: Ngorongoro Crater.
The next stop on the safari was the famous crater, with a few hours in Lake Manyara National Park on the way. And boy, is the crater amazing! It's probably one of the most exciting days you'll ever have on a safari. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular, and the animal numbers are phenomenal. We spent most of the day visiting the crater, leaving our accommodation in Karatu after an early breakfast, with a box lunch in the park, returning to camp in the late afternoon for tea on the lawns and some casual birding. A real highlight of a day, though the whole safari is one long highlight!

Days 7 - 9: Ndutu.
Ndutu is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, bordering the southern Serengeti. The main features are lake Ndutu and the two marshes - Small Marsh and Big Marsh. The habitat comprises spectacular Acacia Woodland and vast, short-grass plains. The program here is much the same as it is for the rest of the itinerary, with early breakfasts followed by long drives up until about lunch time, followed by lunch and a rest period, and a shorter afternoon drive ending just before dinner time. Cheetahs were the highlight here, with no fewer than 10 individuals seen during out 3 night stay. We also had an unbelievable final morning, with Caracal, two Lionesses, three Cheetah and a Leopard seen in under two hours! The big positives for Ndutu are off-road driving, allowing good views of selected species such as the cats, and low visitor numbers at this time of the year. And the resident Genet family living above the fire place were a real highlight.

Days 10 - 12: the Serengeti.
The famous Serengeti is one of Africa's most beautiful parks, and one of the richest in terms of large mammal biomass. At this time of the year the migrating Wildebeest and Zebra herds were moving into the Seronera area, where we stay, so animal numbers were starting to peak. Predators, and Lions in particular, were 'thick on the ground', relatively speaking, and it wasn't unusual to see several prides of Lions in one morning. During our two full days here, staying at the Kati Kati tented camp at the Makoma 3 site, we spent much of the first day in the Moru Koppies area, searching for the big herds that were gathering on the green grass in the area, and on the second day we traversed the Seronera River and Maasai Koppies area. Sightings were good overall, though some areas were quite busy with other safari vehicles, as to be expected in the Serengeti, even though it's not peak season, and we chose to leave one sighting due to what we deemed was negative behaviour by other guides. But other areas were much quieter, and on our half day down in the Moru Koppies area we saw few other vehicles.

Accommodation Summary: Overall the accommodation is very good. What we like most about it is that none of the lodges are super-fancy. It's all clean and comfortable, but not over the top with unnecessary luxuries that just push the prices up.

Lake Duluti Lodge in Arusha was a great first stop. Lovely rooms, good food, nice gardens for a bit of a birding walk, Suni (a species of dwarf Antelope) in the bushy areas of the gardens, and well situated for a visit to Arusha National Park, it was perfect. And Saiid at the bar looked after us very well indeed!

Kati Kati tented camp in Tarangire was one of the stand out accommodations, partly because we were supposed to stay at another lodge, but had a last minute change, one we were very glad to have. It's a new tented camp, so everything was in great condition, the staff were outstanding (as they are at all accommodations) and the food was wonderful, but one of the main plus points was the situation under a massive Baobab tree, with a circumference of over 20 meters. It bordered on a spiritual experience to be in close proximity to this tree, which was flowering at the time of our visit. The location is also great, close to Silale Swamp, one of the main features of the park. 10 / 10 overall.

Ngorongoro Farm House in Karatu is a great place from which to explore the crater. It's not located on the crater rim, as some of the more luxury lodges are, but is a few minutes' drive from the gate to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. So, a bit of a drive to access the crater, but that's no hassle really. The actual accommodation is very good, with huge rooms, and the lodge itself is just wonderful, with expansive gardens, and incredible flower beds that attract good numbers of Sunbirds and other birds. It's situated on a working coffee farm too...

Ndutu Safari Lodge is a gem. What we like about it is that it's simple but comfortable, with great food and service. The rooms are smallish, but quite adequate. All rooms have nice views into the bush, and at night you can fall asleep to the sound of the Flamingos on Lake Ndutu. Great food too. And, the camp birdbath and the Genet family living in the roof are big attractions.

Kati Kati tented camp in the Serengeti was also good, though it's an older camp, and we were a bit spoiled by the experience in Tarangire. Still it was adequate, the food was good and service top class, and it was good to stay in a camp with a very light footprint - the entire camp could be removed quite easily, with almost no trace left behind. Unlike some other camps in the area... The situation was quite good, hidden behind a ridge to be out of view, and not far from the Seronera River.

Download a copy of the full species checklist here.

Essential Namibia Wildlife Safari.

2024-11-21T00:00:00+02:00

Essential Namibia Wildlife Safari Trip Report:

Days 1 & 2: Windhoek.
The clients on this safari tour came in a day early, so we had a morning at Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Windhoek to start off, getting to grips with some of Namibia's birds and wildlife (the standard itinerary includes only one night in Windhoek, but it's easy to add another night to give time to recover from the journey, and allow for any major flight delays etc).

Days 3 & 4: Sossusvlei.
Then, on the first full day of the safari, we departed Windhoek early on a long but incredibly scenic drive to Sesriem, access point to the Namib Naukluft National Park. On our full day here we had an early breakfast and then took a half day trip down to Deadvlei, one of Namibia's most scenic spots, where ancient dead Camel Thorn trees on a large, clay pan make for some incredible scenery. Animals seen included some of the classic Namibian species, such as Springbok and Gemsbok / Oryx - practically the only two large mammal species capable of living permanently in this harsh environment.

Days 5 & 6: Swakopmund.
After a long but interesting drive through the Namib Desert, we arrived at the coast, spending some time in Walvis Bay to see the huge numbers of both Greater and Lesser Flamingos. On our full day in Swakopmund, we explored the 'Moon Valley' landscape of the Swakop River and the Welwitschia Drive in the morning, and in the afternoon went on a 'Living Desert' excursion to learn about life in the Namib 'dune sea', home to interesting 'herps' such as Namib Sand Gecko, Shovel-snouted Lizard, Peringuey's Adder and Namaqua Chameleon.

Days 7 & 8: Damaraland.
From the coast we trekked inland to Uis and then on to Camp Kipwe in the spectacular Damaraland region - remote, incredibly scenic, and home to desert-adapted Elephants. We had two nights here, with a full morning drive to see the remarkable desert-adapted Elephants in the Huab River valley. Angolan Giraffes also frequent the river, feeding on the leaves of the giant Winterthorn trees that grow here where subterranean water is available. An amazing experience overall!

Days 9 & 10: Etosha: Okaukeujo and Namutoni.
The start of the 'safari' component! In terms of wildlife, Etosha is undoubtedly the highlight of this safari. Animal numbers can be impressive, especially around water holes during the dry season (June to early November). Game viewing was good, as usual, with highlights including numerous Black Rhinos at the camp water holes after dark, several encounters with a pair of Cheetah brothers near Namutoni, and a fantastic Honey Badger sighting.

Day 11: Erongo Conservancy.
After our Etosha safari we made our way back towards Windhoek, with a last night at Ondudu Safari Lodge in the Erongo Conservancy. This is a beautiful spot, the camp set in among giant boulders and, on a birding note, a great place to see the near-endemic Hartlaub's Spurfowl. We were on the hunt for the Black Mongoose, but unfortunately didn't have any luck, despite a long early morning vigil. But a pleasant stay nevertheless, and the Porcupines visiting the small, flood-lit waterhole during dinner were a highlight.

Accommodation summary:
Overall the accommodation on this safari tour was very good.

Arrebusch Travel Lodge in Windhoek obviously caters for 'in and out' travellers, but is well situated and serves the purpose adequately.

Taleni Desert Camp at Sesriem is very nice overall. Fairly simple rooms, but clean and comfortable, and having the meals at the main lodge down the road works well, as their meal times are geared towards early departures for Deadvlei, and the dinner spread is just amazing in quality and variety.

Swakopmund Guest House is our digs of choice in Swakopmund, very clean and comfortable and well-situated for the various activities, and easy walking distance of the sea front and a number of good restaurants.

Camp Kipwe is superb, with unique 'bee-hive' type chalets, wonderful food and service. A great base from which to explore the petroglyphs of Twyfelfontein, and to see the Elephants and other game species in the area. A real tour highlight! Note the camp of choice is Mowani Mountain Lodge, but Camp Kipwe is a good alternative.

Etosha, Okaukeujo and Namutoni. In a nutshell, you don't visit Etosha for the food or accommodation! Sure, it's passable but, like many Govt-run parks and camps, upkeep is not what it should be, and staff attitudes aren't always what they should be (though to be honest, the latter has improved markedly over the last few years). So, keep expectations realistic, and appreciate the nature side of Etosha, that's the way to do it.

Ondudu Safari Lodge is wonderful, with an incredible setting, great food and service. Layout and topography can be a bit challenging for those who aren't very mobile, as there's a lot of up and down, given the setting in among rocky hills. But the views are outstanding, and the 'bird table' will keep birders occupied for hours!

Please note that exact accommodation may vary, depending on availability.

Safari Tour Summary:
If you want to see some of the best of Namibia and its wildlife and birds, this is a great safari. It's not too long, but covers most of the main destinations and, as mentioned, incorporates plenty of diversity, and some truly awesome landscapes. There are some outstanding wildlife and landscape photo opportunities too. In terms of tour focus, the main focus of course in on the mammal component, but there are still plenty of birds to be seen 'on the side', including a number of the sought-after near-endemics.

Top mammals seen:
African Elephant, Cheetah, Lion, African Wild Cat, Honey Badger, Spotted Hyena, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Angolan Giraffe, Black Rhino, Damara Dik-dik, Klipspringer, Rock Hyrax, South African Ground Squirrel, Slender, Banded and Yellow Mongooses (and a number of 'plains game' species).

Top birds seen:
Freckled Nightjar, Ludwig's Bustard, Ruppell's Korhaan, Verreaux's Eagle, Augur Buzzard, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Double-banded Courser, Violet Wood Hoopoe, Damara Red-billed and Montiero's Hornbills, Pygmy Falcon, White-tailed Shrike, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Carp's Tit, Gray's Lark, Rockrunner, Bare-cheeked Babbler, Herero Chat and Sociable Weaver, among others.

Owls of the Kruger National Park

2024-04-23T00:00:00+02:00

African Wood Owl.

This is a species of forest and well-wooded areas, and in Kruger is more common in camps such as Skukuza, with the well-developed riparian forest along the Sabie River. It’s very vocal after dark and has what must be one of the coolest of our Owl calls – a lively duet by male and female pairs, and the best way to see it is to track down calling birds after dark. Occasionally seen on day roosts in large trees.

African Marsh Owl.

This is a less common species in the Kruger, occurring in tall, damp grasslands, such as along the vlei that runs north of Lower Sabie. Possibly only present in Kruger during wetter cycles. By day they roost down in the grass, so are not easy to see at all, and the best way to see it is on a night drive, when they may come out onto roads to hunt. We used to see them quite regularly on night drives from Savanna Tented Camp in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, where there are large areas of tall, wet grassland, but I personally haven’t seen one in the Kruger in a long time (but then again, I haven’t done a night drive in a long time either!). Bush encroachment of the plains may be something to be concerned about with this species. Photo taken in Wakkerstroom.

Southern White-faced Owl.

Friend and fellow guide (and ace owl finder!) Nic Squires and I have an informal Owl monitoring project that’s been on the go for a good number of years. Pre-2020 we used to record Southern White-faced Owls regularly in all parts of the park, from the Pafuri Gate Road down to south of Skukuza. We’d find them roosting by day in Knob Thorn, Delagoa Thorn, Leadwood, Sickle-bush, Magic Guarry and Russet Bushwillow trees, sometimes in good numbers – I once saw six of them on the short road to Nkaya Pan. However, since two or three years ago, the recording rate has dropped markedly, to almost zero today. There’s no hard data here, it’s all ‘pers obs’, but it may perhaps point to reduced numbers, with no good explanation as to why. Food availability may be a factor, or possibly the current wet cycle in play since about 2019 has been unfavourable for them. Once again, I stress that this is purely ‘pers obs’, though I do have dozens of trip lists that could at least indicate seen / not seen (I just need to collate the records). Nic does report a few seen in the Timbavati Game Reserve currently (though he ‘can’t even buy one’ in Kruger).

African Barred Owlet.

This cool little Owl is a creature of thickets, generally occurring in more well-wooded habitats than the other Glaucidium species in the area, the Pearl-spotted Owlet. Barred is bigger, with fine white barring on the head, a barred breast and lacks the false eyes on the back of the head. It can sometimes be seen on day roosts in thickets, often perching much lower down than one would expect, otherwise is best located by call, often being vocal during the day. Best camps to see it in my experience are Letaba and Berg-en-Dal. Can often also be located by mobbing parties of small birds.

Pearl-spotted Owlet.

The ‘Pearly’ is one of the more commonly encountered Owls in Kruger, and also one of the smallest (second only to the Scops). But its size belies its appetite – it’s a ferocious predator, taking birds its own size or even bigger. It’s quite active during the day, and as such often causes great alarm among the small Passerine population – a mobbing party often gives away the presence of a Pearly. A curious feature of the bird is the false eyes on the back of the head, a classic deceptive marking to put off potential predators. This species is found throughout the park and is often located by said mobbing party or by call – the ascending whistle is easy to identify, but it often calls only with a quieter ‘peep’ sound, especially around the breeding season in Spring.

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl.

The big boy of the park’s night hunters! By size (the only other owl comparable in size is the much rarer Pel’s Fishing Owl) and plain grey colouration it’s hard to mistake, and the pink eyelids are another neat feature. It’s a ferocious predator, with recorded prey items including young monkeys, Warthog piglets, hares, genets, hyraxes and even birds such as Secretarybird, Cranes and Pel’s Fishing Owl, believe it or not. In my experience this is the most often seen of the park’s owls, and for me the best area to see it is Satara. With isolated big trees (and increasingly isolated due to Elephants), roosting spots are relatively few and far between, so looking into big trees will usually produce this species sooner or later. Likewise, it can be found in any big tree along rivers such as the Sabie and the Shingwedzi. I’ve also seen them roosting low to the ground in relatively small shrubs on very windy days, presumably to stay out of the wind a bit. Makes a far-carrying grunting call that can be heard well into the daylight hours.

Pel’s Fishing Owl.

The ‘Holy Grail’ of Southern African Owls, and indeed, one of the region’s most sought-after birds. Found in very low densities along Africa’s tropical rivers, it’s a gold star on anyone’s tick list. In Kruger they are very rare (‘perhaps less than 30 pairs’ according to the Robert’s Bird Guide to the Greater Kruger NP), and occur on a number of the major rivers, most notably the Olifants near Olifants Rest Camp, and the Levuvhu in the far north, where night access is only possible when staying at one of the lodges in the Makuleke Concession (or perhaps by joining one of the Honorary Rangers birding events). But even being in the ‘right’ place is no guarantee. Water levels play a big role, and when they are high the birds disperse and are even harder to find – and they’re never easy at the best of times! Low water levels are ideal, when they are forced to hunt at a limited number of permanent pools. Can be seen on a morning walk from Olifants Camp (though last I heard, they had stopped the dedicated owl walks due to possible disturbance of the birds) or on a night drive in the Makuleke. But it’s a hard bird to see. Otherwise, Rukiya, a lodge outside the park in the Hoedspruit area, offers good chances of seeing this special bird (as well as other great species such as African Finfoot and Half-collared Kingfisher).

African Scops Owl.

This is the smallest of our owls, at only 18 cm and 60 – 80 grams. Most Kruger visitors with an interest in birds will be familiar with the ‘prrrpt’ call of the Scops. Curiously, Scops owls are widespread across the Old World (Africa and Asia) – the genus Otus contains 59 species, including 3 extinct species - all looking very similar but sounding very different, their calls comprising myriad variations of peeps, pops and poops, screeches and more. Now Satara used to be the best place to see this bird. I’m sure we all remember the days when a pair used to roost neat the reception / shop entrance, enduring scrutiny by all and sundry, seemingly oblivious to the human presence. For many years African Scops was a guarantee on our Kruger birding trips. Then they started to become less regular, and now it’s very hard to see one in the camp. I’m open to explanations…

Barn Owl.

The Barn Owl is widespread across the globe, occurring on all continents except Antarctica (at least not yet…). It’s the consummate rodent hunter, and as such is extremely vulnerable to rodenticides. It’s usually associated with old buildings but will roost in any kind of dark cavity. Most big trees in the Kruger have hollow trunks, and looking into holes as you drive along will occasionally produce a white face looking back at you, which quickly disappears once you stop. Also occasionally seen roosting by day in dense trees, such as the Knob thorn thickets along the Duke road near Lower Sabie and the Delagoa Thorn thickets just west of Nsemani Dam along the H7, though those thickets are no longer there, thanks to the Elephants. Pretoriuskop Rest Camp is a good place to see it after dark, usually revealing itself with a banshee screech as it flies around and perches on roof tops.

Spotted Eagle Owl.

The ‘Spotty’ is one of our more commonly recorded owl species in general, present in a wide variety of habitats, including savanna, but also well adapted to semi-urban environments (and again very vulnerable to secondary poisoning by rodent baits). Like the previous species, it’s often found in old buildings, but also roosts on rock faces, big trees and even on the ground sometimes. Not easy to see in the Kruger by day, and in my experience the best area for this one is Pretoriuskop, with the dense Marula savanna providing good roosting spots – check every tree carefully, especially where there are bowls and hollows between the branches, and you may get lucky… Often nests in a bowl between main branches on a tree, and you may spot an ear tuft sticking up. Sometimes seen roosting in trees around the granite outcrops south of Skukuza.

African Grass Owl.

This is generally a very hard species to see anywhere, and I have never seen one in the Kruger. So, for the status of the African Grass Owl in the park, I’ll have to refer to the Robert’s Bird Guide to the Greater Kruger National Park (McKenzie, Chittenden & Whyte): Rare, and possibly only a seasonal breeder. Probably occurs throughout GKNP in suitable habitat, especially on the eastern basaltic grasslands. Grass Owl looks very similar to the Barn Owl, but is generally darker on the upper parts buff underneath, and is another member of the Tytonidae Family, as opposed to the Strigidae. In habits, it is very different to the Barn Owl, as it roosts by day in thick grass cover, much like the Marsh Owl. No photo unfortunately.

Eastern South Africa Endemics birding safari 2023 trip report.

2024-02-09T00:00:00+02:00

Eastern South Africa Endemics Safari Trip Report.

Above: Ground Woodpecker, Sani Pass.

This birding safari tour is focused on the endemics and near-endemics of the eastern half of South Africa and, when coupled with Western SA Endemics, gives participants a shot at seeing most of the country's substantial number of endemics and near-endemics.

Access the PDF trip report and species list here - Eastern SA Endemics 11-2023.

Here's a breakdown of the main species seen at each of the destinations:

1. Underberg and Sani Pass:

The Sani Pass day trip was a highlight as usual, delivering a number of important birds such as Drakensberg Rockjumper, Drakensberg Siskin, Bush Blackcap, Barratt's Warbler, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Lammergeier, Southern Bald Ibis, Cape Vulture, Bokmakierie, Mountain Wheatear, Large-billed Lark, Karoo Scrub Robin, Sickle-winged Chat, Grey Tit, Layard’s Warbler, Fairy Flycatcher, Mountain Pipit, Yellow Canary, Ground Woodpecker, Sentinel and Cape Rock Thrushes, and plenty more! Oh, and we saw Blue Swallow on day 1, on the way to Underberg.

2. Eshowe and Dlinza Forest:

We 'cleaned up' here with Spotted Ground Thrush, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon and Lemon Dove, as well as Green Barbet and Palm-nut Vulture, all of the main target species for the area, plus many more such as the exquisite Narina Trogon.

3. St Lucia and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park:

This superb birding and wildlife venue delivered a number of great birds, such as Southern Crested Guineafowl, Livingstone’s Turaco, White-eared Barbet, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Black-bellied Starling, Purple-banded Sunbird, Woodwards’ Batis, Green Malkoha, Pink-throated Twinspot, Rudd’s Apalis, African Pygmy Goose, White-backed Duck and plenty more.

4. Tembe Elephant Park:

Moving on, we had a wonderful stay at Tembe, seeing some great birds such as Bateleur, Purple-banded Sunbird, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Neergard’s Sunbird, Narina Trogon, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, African Broadbill, Bearded Scrub Robin, Martial Eagle, Gorgeous Bushshrike and many others, plus of course numerous encounters with Elephant, Lion etc.

5. Wakkerstroom:

With the assistance of local bird guide David Nkosi we did pretty well in this endemics hot-spot. Notable birds seen included Blue Korhaan, Eastern Long-billed Lark, Yellow-breasted Pipit, Red-winged and Grey-winged Francolins, Cape Longclaw, Horus Swift, Ant-eating and Buff-streaked Chats, Mountain Wheatear, Grey Crowned and Blue Cranes, Black-winged Lapwing, Southern Bald Ibis, Secretarybird, Lanner Falcon, Pink-billed Lark, Eastern Clapper Lark, Spike-heeled Lark, South African Cliff Swallow, Pale-crowned, Cloud, Zitting and Wing-snapping Cisticolas, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Long-tailed Widowbird and many others.

6. Kruger National Park:

We stayed for four nights at three different camps, namely Berg-en-Dal and Skukuza in the south-west, and Satara in the south-central region. As is standard for the park, we saw plenty of birds and also had some great game viewing as an added bonus. Birds seen included Eastern Nicator, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Grey Go-away Bird, Red-crested Korhaan, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, Goliath Heron, Hamerkop, Tawny and Lesser-spotted Eagles, Southern Ground Hornbill, Striped and Woodland Kingfishers, Brubru, White-crested Helmet-Shrike, Red-faced Cisticola, Steirling’s Wren Warbler, Burchell’s Starling, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, White-browed Robin Chat, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Bushveld Pipit, Knob-billed Duck, Burchell’s Coucal, African Cuckoo, Spotted Eagle Owl (on a nest with young), Green Wood Hoopoe, Southern Yellow-billed and African Grey Hornbills, Giant Kingfisher, Magpie Shrike, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Common Ostrich, Kori Bustard, Double-banded Sandgrouse, Marabou Stork, Secretarybird, Lappet-faced Vulture, Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, Red-faced Mousebird, Lesser Kestrel, Flappet Lark, Desert Cisticola, Lark-like Bunting and many more. Wildlife highlights included a great Leopard sighting and a Cheetah with a fresh kill.

7. Magoebaskloof:

The penultimate stop was Magoebaskloof in the escarpment to the east of Kruger. Target birds seen here included Magpie Mannikin (en-route from Kruger), Cape Parrot, Knysna Turaco, Chorister Robin Chat, Olive Bush Shrike, Yellow-streaked Greenbul and a number of others.

8. Polokwane:

Our final stop was at Polokwane. Unfortunately we missed the main target, Short-clawed Lark (heard but not seen!), but we put a number of 'arid thornveld' species on the list to take us over the 400 species mark. New birds seen included Crimson-breasted Shrike, Black-chested Prinia, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Marico Flycatcher, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Ashy Tit, Violet-eared Waxbill, Scaly-feathered Weaver, Cape Penduline Tit, Black Cuckoo and others, with a few new ones on the last morning in Johannesburg to take us to 403 species seen (by the guide and at least one of the participants).

Tanzania's Southern Circuit Safari

2023-11-10T00:00:00+02:00

Safari Trip Report: Tanzania's Southern Circuit.

Nyerere National Park.

Park overview.

Nyerere is a new National Park, carved out of the former Selous Game Reserve, which at 50 000 square kilometers was one of Africa's biggest protected areas, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2019 Selous was split in two, the north, west and south becoming Nyerere, at roughly 30 000 sq km, and the east remaining as Selous, at roughly 20 000 sq km. Most of the accommodation in Nyerere is in the north, close to the Rufiji River, Tanzania's biggest, and the associated shallow lakes such as Mzizima, Siwandu and Nzerakera. Nyerere is situated on the coastal plain, between the Indian Ocean and the Undzungwa Mountains, and as such is distinctly lush and tropical. Habitats include Acacia savanna (now referred to as 'Vachelia savanna'), Miombo woodland, grassland, swamp and riverine forest.

Access.

It's easy to get to Nyerere, with daily light aircraft flights from Dar es Salaam, usually via Zanzibar; or from Ruaha. Road transfers are also possible, as it's only about 3 hours from Dar.

Accommodation and food:

We spent three nights at Foxes Safari Camps' Rufiji River Lodge. Accommodation comprises 'suites' which are large enough to accommodate families, with views over the river; and standard safari tents, looking over a channel in the river. The accommodation is just right - not too fancy (no carved granite bath tubs, wharehouse-sized bathrooms, 'his and hers' everything) but very comfortable. The main areas are pleasant, with great views over the river, and also not 'over the top', but more practical and functional.

The food was very good overall, as our waistlines will attest to! We had a combination of sit-down breakfasts and lunches and packed breakfasts and lunches for extended safari activities. The food was wholesome and not too fancy, in line with the general standard of the lodge (mid range).

Birds and Wildlife:

The wildlife was quite good, though we only had one Lion sighting, and it wasn't a good one. Elephants are evidently not too common, though we did have a wonderful encounter from the boat on a PM boat cruise, which was fantastic. With lots of thick bush around, plains game wasn't too plentiful either, generally, but we did see a lot of Maasai Giraffe, and some Plains Zebras. Hippo's were plentiful, as were Nile Crocodiles, and in fact we had one of the most amazing Croc sightings, with at least 100 feeding on a dead Elephant. The Angolan Black-and-white Colobus that hung out in the lodge grounds were amazing to see, and other primates included Vervet Monkey (raiding the biscuit tray), Syke's / Mitis Monkey and Yellow Baboon. Bushpig was another highlight.

The birding was excellent. Highlights included massive numbers of assorted water-associated birds such as Pelicans, Storks, Herons, Egrets, Ibises, Spoonbills etc feeding on fish in the shallow lakes, and one 'session' at Lake Mzizima was just incredible. The boat excursions also provided some fantastic birding and photo opportunities, allowing close up viewing of Bee-eaters, Kingfishers, Weavers etc. Some cracking photos were taken! Other bird highlights included Racket-tailed and Broad-billed Rollers, Bohm's Bee-eater, Palm-nut Vulture, African Crowned Eagle, African Pygmy and Grey-headed Kingfishers, African Skimmer, Brown-breasted Barbet, Pale-billed Hornbill, Northern Carmine Bee-eater and many others. Overall very rewarding, and our guide Maresu was very good.

Ruaha National Park:

Park Overview:

Ruaha is Tanzania's second largest park, at over 20 000 sq km. It's located west of Nyerere NP, over the Undzungwa Moutains, in south-central Tanzania. The Undzungwas create a 'rain shadow' to the west, and thus Ruaha is much drier overall, though in the wet season it may be anything but dry. The Great Ruaha River is the main waterway in the park, a raging torrent at times in the wet season, but a series of standing pools in the dry season (Ruaha has two wet seasons, as with Serengeti etc - 'short' rains between October and November, and 'long' rains between March and May). Ruaha is part of a collection of protected areas that add up to some 50 000 sq km, making it pretty vast indeed. 'Epic' and 'immense' are two great adjectives for Ruaha! It certainly coveys a feeling of vastness. Baobab trees are a main feature of the park, many quite badly damaged by Elephants though, and other habitats include arid savanna, rocky hills, floodplains and swamps in some areas.

Access:

Once again access is easy, with companies such as Safari Airlink offering regular flights in and out. And it's easy to tie in with visits to Nyerere and Katavi, and even directly to Serengeti.

Accommodation and food:

Ruaha River Camp also belongs to Foxes Safari Camps, so the standard was similar to that at Rufiji River Lodge - mid-range, comfortable but not 'over the top'. Accommodation comprises stone 'bandas', or huts, each with a view over the river bed. We were in one 'wing' of the camp, and the down side of being there was that it was quite a walk to get to the restaurant. One needs to be escorted by a local Masai 'askari' or guard', or driven in a vehicle by the guide, so it's not easy to just head over for a cup of tea or to check messages via WiFi. But in future we'll reserve rooms closer to the main restaurant (they have two restaurants, one closer to our rooms, but it was only used for lunches at the time of our visit).

Birds and Wildlife:

Now to the important stuff! Luck was with us as there was a pack of 25 Wild Dogs close to the lodge for the duration of our stay, which were the highlight of our game viewing experience. We had two Lion sightings, one pretty good and the other very bad! But that was it in terms of large predators, no Leopard, Cheetah or Spotted Hyenas, though they are definitely around. As always, luck plays a big role in the game viewing experience (and we were lucky to have the Wild Dog pack camped out close to the lodge). Elephants were plentiful, as were Buffalo (several big herds seen) and general 'plains game', though we were disappointed to not see Lesser Kudu, which do occur in the reserve (though possibly not in the areas we covered). Overall the game viewing was good, but in a large part due to the Wild Dogs being close to camp - if they hadn't featured so prominently, the game viewing would have been a bit disappointing (though if you are doing a Northern Circuit safari there will be no shortage of cats to come!). But the birding and epic scenery sure made up for that, and we had an amazing time overall.

Overall the birding was very good, with loads of colorful 'bush birds' to see, including the classic East African arid-region species such as Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Ashy Starling (endemic to Tanzania), Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, Von der Decken's Hornbill, D'arnaud's Barbet, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Grey Kestrel, Fischer's Sparrowlark and many others. Very rewarding overall.

This safari can be combined with our Tanzania's Northern Circuit Wildlife Safari and / or some time in Zanzibar.

10 Best Birds to see in South Africa

2023-10-04T00:00:00+02:00

10 Best Birds to see in South Africa:

1. Cape Rockjumper Chaetops frenatus

Rockjumpers belong to the Family Chaetopidae, and there are two species in the Family. Rockjumpers are unique to South Africa (including Lesotho), and as such are very special birds. The Cape Rockjumper is confined to the Fynbos biome of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, inhabiting boulder-strewn slopes in Fynbos habitat, and is generally uncommon. Best Tours: Western Cape Highlights; Western SA Endemics.

2. Drakensberg Rockjumper Chaetops aurantius

The other species in the Chaetopidae Family, the Drakensberg Rockjumper, occurs at high altitude along the Drakensberg range through parts of eastern South Africa and Lesotho, where pairs and small groups are seen hopping across rocks in high-altitude grasslands. Best tour: Eastern South Africa Endemics.

3. Ground Woodpecker Geocolaptes olivaceus

Another South African endemic, this Woodpecker has evolved to live where there are no – or at least very few – large trees. Found in high-altitude grassland, Karoo and Fynbos Biomes. Instead of making holes in dead trunks, they bore into soft earth, usually on undercut banks or road verges. Feeds almost exclusively on ants. Best tour: Western SA Endemics; Eastern SA Endemics.

4. Cape Sugarbird Promerops cafer

Sugarbirds are like large, dull Sunbirds, belonging to the Family Promeropidae. As with the Rockjumpers, there are only two species in the family, and they are pretty much confined to South Africa, though Gurney’s Sugarbird does occur in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. The Cape Sugarbird male is spectacular, despite lacking anything like the colors of the Sunbirds, with a long, flowing tail. Cape Sugarbird is another ‘Fynbos endemic’, but much more common than the Cape Rockjumpers, easily seen wherever there are Proteas and Leucospermums in flower. Best tours: Western Cape Highlights; Western Cape Endemics.

5. Blue Korhaan Eupodotis caerulescens

Another wonderful South African endemic, the Blue Korhaan occurs in the grasslands of central and eastern South Africa. Korhaans are basically small Bustards, in the Family Otididae. And the Blue Korhaan is perhaps the most colorful of the bunch, males sporting blue necks and bellies, with an intricate black and white face pattern. A pity it’s so hard to get close to them! They can be very shy, sinking down into the grass when you are still hundreds of meters away, but generally not too hard to find. Best tours: Eastern South Africa Endemics.

6. Blue Crane Anthropoides paradisea

It’s South Africa’s national bird. And what a good choice! It’s endemic to South Africa, apart from a small breeding population in Etosha, Namibia (and it’s not quite clear how those birds got there!). The Blue Crane is powder blue in color, with a white cap on the head. It appears to have a long, drooping tail when on the ground, but the ‘tail’ is actually made up of elongated secondaries and tertials, so is part of the wing. Their strong-hold is the Western Cape, where they can be quite common, even in agricultural lands, and the range extends up through the Karoo and into the higher grasslands of the eastern part of South Africa. Best tours: Eastern South Africa Highlights; Western Cape Highlights; Western / Eastern SA Endemics.

7. Black Harrier Circus maurus

An endemic raptor! The exquisite Black Harrier is endemic to South Africa, though it can range as far as southern Namibia. It is generally found in the Fynbos, Karoo and Grassland Biomes of South Africa, hunting rodents in typical Harrier fashion – quartering low over the vegetation, stooping suddenly to catch a rat or mouse. Although it ranges as far north as the grasslands of southern Mpumalanga, the Western Cape offers the best chances for this species, and De Hoop Nature Reserve and West Coast National Park are two of the best spots for this species. Best tours: Western Cape Highlights; Western SA Endemics.

8. African Penguin Spheniscus demersus

An endemic Penguin! And everyone loves Penguins… The endearing African Penguin is endemic to South Africa and Namibia, found along the coast from Walvis Bay area in the north to Port Elizabeth in the south-east. Major colonies are found at Boulder’s Beach near Cape Town and Stony Point near Betty’s Bay. The latter in particular is a great place to view Penguins as well as all four marine Cormorants (Crowned, Cape, Bank and White-breasted) and a range of other bird species, as well as numerous Rock Hyraxes. Unfortunately African Penguin numbers are declining due to various factors such as over-fishing and a shift in the distribution of their primary food fish species. Best tours: Western Cape Highlights; Western SA Endemics.

9. Knysna Turaco Tauraco corythaix

Turacos are terrific birds. They are endemic to Africa and, apart from the Go-Away Birds and Plantain-eaters, are all strikingly colourful. South Africa is fortunate enough to have its own endemic Turaco, the Knysna Turaco, a bird of South African forests. It’s found along the south-eastern coastal belt and the escarpment forests in the north-east. It’s usually not too hard to find, in the right habitat, and like all members of the Family is usually quite vocal. But it's not always easy to see, usually sticking to the canopy, where it blends in rather well. But a bit of effort will normally give one an opportunity to see the exquisite facial pattern, which resembles a performer all made up for a big show. Best tours: Eastern South Africa Highlights; Eastern South Africa Endemics.

10. Southern Bald Ibis Geronticus calvus

Another endemic to South Africa! Even though it’s an Ibis, this is not your average ‘bin chicken’. It occurs in the grasslands of eastern South Africa, as well as Lesotho and far eastern eSwatini. It’s actually a striking bird, with dark blue glossy feathers and a distinct red and white head. They breed on cliffs, usually in large colonies. By day they can be found foraging in open grasslands, where they feed on insects, snails, frogs etc. It is in the same Genus as the highly endangered Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita). Best tours: Eastern SA Highlights; Eastern SA Endemics.

11. Bonus bird - Long-tailed Widowbird Euplectes progne

This is not a rare or endemic bird, but is the classic summer bird of South Africa's interior grasslands. The males are spectacular, with their long tails, and a typical summer scene in places such as Wakkerstroom or Rietvlei Nature Reserve always includes several males doing their phantom-like displays, flying low and slow over the grass, with tails in the 'down and flared' position, hoping to attract the attention of a female or two. Best tours: Eastern South Africa Highlights.

There's a lot more to see besides these birds on a South African Birding Safari! We offer a range of small-group safaris and custom safaris in South Africa, giving you a chance to see a huge number and variety of birds, as well as some amazing animals. Contact us to find out more about what we offer, or check out our small-group safaris page.

Kenya Safari Photo Trip Report, May 2023

2023-06-01T00:00:00+02:00

Kenya Safari Trip Report:

1. Samburu National Reserve:

A highlight of the safari! Samburu was outstanding in all respects. It was green and lush after good rains, with many areas covered in white flowers. The weather was great, and overall we felt like we'd landed in the Garden of Eden. Samburu is one of Kenya's top birding destinations, and it sure didn't disappoint. The Golden-breasted Starling (above) was one of the highlights. Other highlights included Vulturine Guineafowl, Somali Ostrich, White-throated Bee-eater, Fischer's Starling, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Von der Decken's Hornbill, Red-and-Yellow Barbet, African Orange-bellied Parrot (also referred to as Red-bellied Parrot), Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Parrot-billed Sparrow and many others. On the mammal side we saw the 'Samburu specials' - reticulated Giraffe (wow!), Gerenuk (we dubbed them 'pin-heads'), Grevy's Zebra, Desert Warthog and Beisa Oryx, all species of the arid parts of East Africa. Other highlights included two wonderful encounters with a trio of Cheetahs, as well as a sighting of a pair of African Wild Dogs, which was highly unusual.

Accommodation review:
In terms of accommodation, we stayed at Samburu Intrepids, which wasn't our first choice (Elephant Bedroom was undergoing renovations) but it worked out well. We were practically the only guests there, and they looked after us in splendid fashion. The camp is set on the bank of the Nwaso Ngiro river, which was flowing well. The other side of the river is community land, so every day there were herders and their stock down at the river, which doesn't happen at Elephant Bedroom, as it is opposite Buffalo Springs National Reserve. But, herders and donkeys aside, our stay was just wonderful.

2. Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

After Samburu we had a one night stop at Sweetwaters Tented Camp in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Unfortunately we weren't blessed with good weather during our time here, and it wasn't looking its best under grey skies. It is a fantastic conservancy, covering some 95 000 hectares, with Mount Kenya as a prominent backdrop to the east. We did manage to see quite a few birds though, despite the weather (our morning wasn't too bad), including Malachite Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Eastern Grey Woodpecker, Black-lored babbler, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Grey Crowned Crane (common throughout our safari) and others, while mammal highlights included a large clan of Spotted Hyenas co-habiting with Common Warthogs in a communal den, the world's last two remaining Northern White Rhinos (within a secure enclosure, and differentiated from Southern White Rhino by the hairy ear fringes), as well as Eastern Tree Hyrax (pictured above), feeding in a Fever Tree in front of reception.

Accommodation review:
Accommodation was fine - Sweetwaters Tented Camp is quite big, and perhaps a bit 'commercial' (especially after Samburu!), but well run and perfectly adequate for a one night stay. The tents are clean and well-appointed, with views over a waterhole. The food was good, buffet-style with plenty on offer.

3. Lake Nakuru National Park.

All of us were blown away by Lake Nakuru National Park. Between the birds - especially the abundant water-associated species feeding on the lake margins - the mammals (lots of White Rhino - pictured above - Black Rhino, Rothschild's Giraffe) and the scenery (under perfect weather conditions), and our morning drive was just exquisite. Large numbers of Pelicans, Flamingos, Storks, Herons etc were feeding in the shallows, while away from the water the 'bush birds' were very active. We had a glorious picnic breakfast stop at Makalia Falls, birding while we ate, and keeping an eye on the Olive Baboons that had gathered around us.

Accommodation review:
In terms of accommodation, we stayed at Sarova Lion Hill, which was very nice - lots of rooms but quiet again, given the time of year - with nice grounds where one can easily see an afternoon out with some casual birding. Great food too! One will be hard pressed to even just sample every dish from the buffet...

4. Lake Baringo.

Moving on, our next stop was Lake Baringo - a large freshwater lake in the Rift Valley, the second-most northern lake after Lake Turkana. Unlike the more southerly lakes, Baringo is quite wild, and by night there's very few lights visible along the vast shoreline. In terms of the birding, we did a boat trip on the lake with local guide Titus, seeing a wide variety of water associated birds, Golden-backed and Northern Masked Weavers, Northern Red Bishop, Olive Bee-eater, Bristle-crowned and Magpie Starlings, Fish Eagle, had great flyovers by Grey Crowned Cranes, Jackson's Hornbill (also at the feeder at the lodge) and many others. We then had breakfast at the lodge, after which we joined Titus again, who showed us some of the special birds on his 'patch' - Northern White-faced Owl, Spotted and Greyish Eagle Owls, Slender-tailed Nightjar and Three-banded Courser, among others.

Accommodation review:
We stayed for two nights at Tumbili Cliff Lodge, and again we were the only guests there. The lodge was great, with wonderful rooms affording splendid views over the lake. The rooms were very large, with almost a hybrid chalet / tent style - solid walls and roof but large openings facing the lake that had canvas screens and mesh screens that can be closed up. The food was more basic that what we had at some of the other establishments, but very good nonetheless, especially considering the remote location.

5. Kakamega Forest.

Kakamega Forest - one of the destinations we'd all been awaiting with great anticipation. Forest birding is exciting stuff - the sounds, great birds - some very colourful, the challenge of getting views in the dense foliage... As it's such a 'big name' in Kenyan birding, we scheduled three nights here. It's a rain forest after all, and you want to give yourself enough time so that an afternoon of rain is not catastrophic. As it turned out, we had plenty of time, though we did have one afternoon of rain that was strong enough to confine us to the cabins. With the assistance of local guide Patrick, we saw some incredible birds, including Great Blue (above), Ross's and Black-billed Turacos, Yellow-billed, Grey-chested and Yellow-spotted Barbets, African Crowned Eagle (a pair nest in the gardens, and the newly-fledged youngster was hanging about, begging to be fed, though we never saw the adults), Turner's Eremomela, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Snowy-crowned and Blue-shouldered Robin Chats, Jameson's and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eyes, African Blue Flycatcher, Red-tailed Bristlebill and many more. On the mammal side we saw the spectacular Black-and-White Colobus monkeys a number of times, as well as Blue Monkey and Red-tailed Monkey. All in all it was a wonderful experience, and some of the best moments included the 'lawn birding' when we would sit out on the lawn with tea and cake and just watch the birds in the gardens and surrounding forest. All in all a tour highlight.

Accommodation review:
The accommodation at Rondo Retreat was fantastic - it's situated right in the forest, so you don't have to go far at all to get into some of the best areas, and indeed, one can see a lot just within the gardens. We stayed in a cottage - Founder's Cottage - with two totally separate rooms. Food and service were excellent as well (bear in mind that they don't serve alcohol, so you need to take your own), and they have local guides on site to take you into the forest and show you the birds.

6. Kisumu, Lake Victoria.

To break up the journey from Kakamega to the Mara, we had a one night stop in Kisumu, on Lake Victoria. Kisumu is one of Kenya's largest cities, so is a far cry from the likes of Samburu or Lake Baringo, but still offers some good birding opportunities. Unfortunately our stay coincided by a political rally by the opposition party, which got quite lively (though the action was confined to a few spots on the outskirts of the city center) and meant that our birding was curtailed somewhat, as initially there was no guarantee that the protestors would not be able to make it to the city center. We did visit Hippo Point, and took a short boat ride, but unfortunately missed the Papyrus Gonolek, the main target for the spot. We did see Swamp Flycatcher, Red-chested Sunbird (above), Greater Swamp Warbler, Woodland Kingfisher, Carruther's Cisticola, Slender-billed, Golden-backed and Northern Brown-throated Weavers, a variety of Herons, Storks etc. In the afternoon we were confined to the hotel, and met up for drinks at the rooftop bar at sunset, before dinner.

Accommodation review:
The hotel is just what you'd expect - a bit city hotel, but with good service and rooms, and well-located. Not many other options anyway!

7. Mara Triangle Conservancy.

Our penultimate stop was at Mara Serena, a 'lodge' overlooking the Mara Triangle, which is a private conservancy bordering the Masai Mara National Reserve. As Kenya's most famous wildlife area, 'the Mara' is just as spectacular as you'd imagined it to be. Vast grassy plains seem to stretch on forever, broken here and there by a rocky ridge, a river course or stand of large trees. After good rains (there was an impressive amount of storm activity every afternoon, though somehow it was always around us, not over us) it was looking incredible - green and vibrant, with some impressive animal numbers, despite it not being anywhere near 'migration season'. Green and wet always makes for tougher predator viewing, but that was OK, as sleeping Lions weren't a priority for us anyway. Green and wet does make for good birding though! Highlights included Rosy-throated Longclaw, Schalow's Turaco, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Temminck's Courser, Grey Kestrel, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Black Coucal, Meyer's Parrot, Jackson's Widowbird (some seen doing their 'Jack-in-a-Box' display), Red-cowled Widowbird, Secretarybird, Kori Bustard and many others. Mammal highlights included Cheetah, Lion and Serval, plus a wonderful array of plains game, such as these Topi above.

Accommodation review:
Mara Serena safari lodge is situated on a hill, with astounding views over the Mara River and surrounding plains. Food is good, plentiful and varied, service is good and the location is tops. Those are the pro's. The con's are that it is large, hotel-like and the rooms are not that well insulated against sound, so you can hear people walking past outside etc. However, there's really not much choice, and we elaborate in the full trip report, but suffice to say, it was still a great stay.

8. Masai Mara National Reserve.

The last stop on the safari was at Mara Bush Camp, in the national reserve. And what a great end it was. The accommodation was just superb (see more under Accommodation Review), the birding and game viewing was great - it's always nice to end on a high note! We had a great Lion sighting on the first afternoon drive - a lone male looking over a crossing point on a river. At one point a lone Wildebeest crossed the river, unknowingly walking past quite close to the Lion, but fortunately separated by a deep gully. Leopard was high up on our want-list, but unfortunately it wasn't to be - have to leave something for another time! We saw Cheetah again, plus plenty of Spotted Hyenas, as well as Bat-eared Fox as a highlight, and a great pre-sunrise sighting of a Masai Giraffe silhouetted against an orange sky (above). Bird-wise Southern Ground Hornbills were a highlight, as was a Secretarybird flying right over the vehicle. With some rain in the area (but not where we were) the roads got a bit tricky, so we had to be careful of where we drove, and indeed got stuck once. It was good to appreciate the differences between the Mara Triangle and the Masai Mara, which can only sink in when experienced first hand. See more about this in our Full Trip Report.

Accommodation review:
For once the renovations worked in our favour. Mara Bush Camp was closed for a 'soft refurb', so we were upgraded to the Private Wing, with absolutely fantastic tents looking directly into the river. Of course, this was a one-off, and so next time we'll be back in the 'main camp', but that's not a bad thing by any means! The main camp tents are spacious and private, set in a patch of woodland, and the in-camp birding looks like it'll be first rate. Either way, you can't go wrong. The service is outstanding, and it's a perfect way to end this safari.

Top birds for the safari:
Somali Ostrich, Vulturine Guineafowl, Great Blue and Ross's Turacos, Three-banded Courser, Grey Crowned Crane, Secretarybird, African Crowned Eagle, Greyish Eagle Owl, Jackson's Hornbill, Blue-headed and White-throated Bee-eaters, Yellow-billed Barbet, Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Pygmy Falcon, Red-bellied Parrot, Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye, Mackinnon's Shrike, African Blue Flycatcher, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Turner's Eremomela, Golden-breasted and Bristle-crowned Starlings, Blue-shouldered Robin Chat, Jackson's Widowbird, Red-headed Bluebill, Rosy-throated Longclaw (among others!).

Top mammals for the safari:
Eastern Tree Hyrax, Red-tailed Monkey, Black-and-White Colobus, Cheetah, Serval, Lion, African Wild Dog, Grevy's Zebra, Desert Warthog, Gerenuk, Reticulated, Masai and Rothschild's Giraffes.

Client comments:

“We’ve just returned from our fifth safari with Lawson’s and can say without reservations that they always pull together amazing trips. The latest was our first time to Kenya, doing a comprehensive trip that hit the areas that were most interested in. It was a remarkable trip from the beginning right until we were dropped at the airport in Nairobi. We’d wholeheartedly recommend Lawson’s, and this trip to Kenya" - Hugh and Angie Tyner, GA, USA.

See the full report and species checklists here - 2023 Birds & Wildlife of Kenya Trip Report.

Birding by Boat in Southern Africa.

2023-04-14T00:00:00+02:00

Birding By Boat:

On this cracking itinerary, which begins in Windhoek, capital city of Namibia, and ends in Victoria Falls some 3500 km later, we usually schedule seven boat trips, though one could easily up that to eight by adding in the Mola Mola boat cruise at Walvis Bay. We start on the Okavango in Botswana...

The Okavango River, Botswana.

On the standard tour we start our boat-based birding in on the Okavango River near Shakawe in Botswana. The excitement kicks in quickly as new species start to appear. And the great thing about birding from a boat is the ability to move around a bit, depending on the size of the boat of course, and to shoot in almost any direction. These boat trips are dedicated birding trips for our groups only - so no non-birders getting in the way! So when you come across your first colony of African Skimmers - beautiful tern-like birds that feed by trailing the lower beak through the water, snapping up small fish etc - you are bound to take a lot of photographs! Then there are roosting areas for various Herons and Ibises; African Jacanas trotting across the lily pads; the ever-present African Fish Eagle staking out the river from a dead tree; African Openbills - strange birds belonging to the Stork family - feeding on molluscs in shallow water; and regional specials such as Greater Swamp Warbler, Coppery-tailed Coucal and Chirping Cisticola hanging out in the Papyrus and reed beds; and with any luck a Pel's Fishing Owl on a day time roost in a large Mahogany or Jackalberry tree; or a White-backed Night Heron roosting in a riverside thicket. And don't forget the incredible sunsets and sunrises seen from water level... Here we usually have three boat trips, two afternoon and one long morning trip, giving us ample time on the water.

The Kavango River, Namibia.

Moving on from the Okavango Panhandle we have another night on the same river, but in Namibia where it is called the Kavango River, but without boat trips, though the lodge is set on the river bank so the riparian theme continues (watching African Skimmers skimming from the deck of Shametu Lodge at sunset is just breathtaking). And of course a boat trip is an option, with exposed rocks (during the dry season) holding Rock Praticoles between September and December.

The Zambezi River, Namibia.

From there we have two nights on the mighty Zambezi, the fourth longest river in Africa, near Katima Mulilo in Namibia. And again we have three boat trips, though two are just 'sunset cruises', though most participants are quite happy to look at pretty birds, even if they don't know what they are! The morning cruise though is a dedicated birding outing, where we scour the banks for species such as African Skimmer (hard to get enough of those birds!), Malachite, Giant and Pied Kingfishers, a range of Herons, Egrets and Storks, African Fish Eagle, Western Osprey (Western and Eastern Ospreys have now been lumped, so we can now refer to it simply as Osprey), Water Thick-knee, the massive Coppery-tailed Coucal, Blacksmith, Long-toed and White-crowned Lapwings, Little, White-fronted and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, and of course plenty of Hippo's and Crocodiles. Going back to the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, there's a famous breeding colony here, that is really something to behold. Thousands of pairs of these bright scarlet and blue birds nest in the soft sand a short distance from the southern bank of the river, and this is definitely a 'birding bucket list' experience. Seeing and hearing 20 000+ Southern Carmine Bee-eaters swirling around you as they prepare to roost for the night is an unbelievable experience.

The Zambezi River, Zimbabwe.

Moving on, our final stop is Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where the Zambezi tumbles over into a chasm in the basalt in what is the world's largest curtain of falling water, known locally as Mosi-au-Tunya, the 'smoke that thunders', in reference to the spray cloud thrown up by the falling water that is visible from miles around. On our full day here the pre-dawn sees us boarding the Kalunda breakfast boat trip, the final boat-based birding experience on the itinerary. And it's a real highlight! The sunrise on the river can be seriously memorable. The river banks are closeted in dense vegetation that hangs over the water, making for ideal habitat for the elusive African Finfoot, and one can expect multiple sightings of this usually elusive species. Malachite Kingfishers are everywhere and allow close approach - be careful, otherwise you'll end up with thousands of photos of these colorful little birds! On our last trip we had cracking close-up views of an African Openbill which had just fished two large snails off the bottom, making for yet more great photo opportunities. Rock Pratincoles are common in the late dry season, when there are lots of exposed rocks. On the river banks one can spot a range of savanna birds, from Shrikes and Hornbills to Starlings, Bush Shrikes and Parrots. And while you're watching birds you can sip hot coffee and enjoy a lovely continental breakfast - talk about a fitting end to a fantastic tour.

Walvis Bay, Namibia.

And, for a bit of a marine boating experience one could always add in a Mola Mola boat cruise at Walvis Bay - this one takes you out into the harbour to see the oyster farms, Cape Fur Seals and the endemic Heaviside's Dolphins, while birds to see include Great White Pelicans at very close quarters (perhaps even sitting right next to you like an extra passenger), large numbers of different Tern species (Damara Tern being the highlight) around Pelican Point, and even a few pelagic species such as Cape Petrel if the weather allows the skipper to take the boat out of the harbour and into the open sea. And then you are served with Champagne and fresh oysters for lunch on the way back to the docks! So it's pretty awesome, and adds yet another 'birding by boat' experience to this absolutely splendid itinerary.

Featured Safari Lodge: Serolo Camp, Tuli, Botswana.

2023-02-09T00:00:00+02:00

Featured Safari Lodge: Serolo Camp, Botswana.

The Northern Tuli Game Reserve in south-eastern Botswana is an absolute gem. It's big, wild, has great birds and animals, and is just across the Limpopo River from South Africa, so is easy to get to. Now, you can pay quite a bit of money to stay at some of the more well-known safari lodges in the area, but if your budget is not unlimited, then Serolo Camp is the perfect alternative.

Accommodation:

At the time of our last visit, in February 2025, they were busy upgrading the accommodation at Serolo Camp. We stayed in two of the new chalets. They have done away with the tented chalets in favor of solid walls and roof. They are spacious (much more roomy than the previous tents) and clean, and very comfortable overall. They are light and airy, which is good in a warm area, though personally I would have liked to have a screen door to be able to open up the big, glass sliding doors to let more air in. Overall, very good value for money.

Dining and Communal Areas:

Serolo Safari lodge scores once again with simplicity. There's a small lounge area for reading and relaxing, and an outdoor dining area in the shade of a giant Mashatu tree, as well as a small plunge pool, all looking out onto a small water hole. The waterhole is lit by night, allowing one to see what comes down to drink, and on our camera trap we recorded Elephant, Impala, Baboons and a solitary Spotted Hyena (good rains meant that there was plenty of surface water available, so the camp waterhole was not a big attraction). The food was good overall, simple and tasty with adequate portions. We certainly never went hungry, and indeed, no one has ever starved on a safari!

Game Drives:

With three nights at the lodge we had 5 drives in total (we missed the first afternoon drive as we were bushed on arrival from the journey). Our field guide SK was top class, with exceptional spotting abilities. We also hit it on a good run, with some incredible sightings. Our second day in particular was very good, starting with a Leopard kill at dawn (we just missed it, but the dust was still hanging in the air), followed bu Brown Hyena and Honey Badger, and then 9 Lions on a fresh Zebra kill. And that was just for the morning! In the afternoon we saw a Pel's Fishing Owl and. just after sunset, another Leopard, this time with a Kudu calf kill up in a tree 9and we were visited by a Brown Hyena while watching him). With two Leopard kills in the area our sightings were 'locked in', and we saw both Leopards twice each. Other highlights included a massive herd of Eland, plenty of Zebra, Wildebeest, Elephants etc. But each visit is different, and this time we missed Cheetah and Bat-eared Fox, which were highlights of the previous visit.

On the birding side, highlights included Pel's Fishing Owl, Verreaux's Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, Temminck's Coursers (very plentiful!), Kori Bustard, Woodland Kingfisher, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Double-banded Sandgrouse, Broad-billed Roller, Meyer's Parrot and many others.

The roads in the rocky parts of the area can be rough, and it gets a bit uncomfortable at times, especially when sitting in the second and third rows of seats (though during our stay there was only a maximum of 5 guests on the vehicle at any one time, so we never had to sit in the third row, which can be brutal on rough roads). So, try and sit in the first row - your back will thank you for it!

Location:

The setting of the tented safari lodge on the Limpopo River floodplain is great, though you can't actually see the river, as the flood plain is pretty wide, and you don't want to be too close to a river that's prone to occasional flooding! And the flood plain is so densely treed with mature trees that you don't have much of a view, but the plus side is that there's good birding, and the trees help keep the area cool in summer. So, nothing wrong with the location, except that the game drive routes did get a bit repetitive, perhaps because most of the animals were holding in a certain area, so it was 'there and back' almost every drive. I did ask our guide if we could get into some new areas on the last drive (when it was just us on the vehicle), but we ran out of time. But the plus side is that we were close to the Limpopo River, meaning we didn't have far to drive to get to the Pel's Fishing Owl stakeout. Their other, exclusive-use camp, Mohave, is situated away from the river, in the center of the area in which we spent most of our time while on drives, but is then a long way away from the river... So, pro's and con's!

The Lawson’s rating (out of 5):

Accommodation: 4 – perfect on terms of a more affordable safari lodge

Communal areas: 5 - again, just what one needs, nothing 'over the top'.

Food: 4 – no complaints, except that there was only instant coffee available, which is ok for a pre-drive cup, but for breakfast 'proper' coffee is needed. Fortunately, we had a plunger and filter coffee with us!

Location: 4 – great to be close to the river, but as mentioned, during our three nights there, the routes were a bit repetitive.

Game Viewing & birding: 5 – our recent (February 2025) visit was outstanding in terms of game viewing. Leopards were the highlight, followed by the nine Lions on a Zebra kill, Brown Hyena, Honey Badger, and a terrific sighting of a herd of Eland running through the shallow water of the Motloutse River. Elephants, plains game etc filled in nicely between the main highlights. Of course, each visit is different and it's best to approach it with an open attitude, free of expectations (but you can expect to have a good time overall!).

The birding was good overall, with Pel's Fishing Owl as a major highlight. On one morning we recorded 73 species, not too bad for a few hours out in the field.

Overall: 4.5.

Suitable for: anyone.

Recommended length of stay: 3 nights.

Special notes: the road from Platjan border post is quite bad, so it takes at least an hour to get to the camp from the border.

Website: Tuli Wilderness Trails - Serolo and Mohave Camps.

Visit Serolo Camp and the Northern Tuli Game Reserve on a Lawson's custom birding and wildlife safari.

Safari Trip Report: Tanzania's Northern Circuit.

2023-01-04T00:00:00+02:00

Tanzania Safari Trip Report

Download the PDF trip report here.

Day 0: Arusha

The safari started in Arusha, with a flight into Kilimanjaro Airport. We had arrived a day early to settle in, and so had a chance to visit Arusha National Park, which was very close to the country inn we were staying at. One of the highlights of the park (and the gardens of the inn) were the spectacular Black-and-White Colobus Monkeys - hard to photograph but oh, so amazing to see! Other species seen included Mitis Monkey (also referred to as Blue or Syke's Monkey), Suni, Kirk's Dik-dik, and a whole range of more typical savanna species. Plus of course some great birds, such as Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, African Crowned Eagle and Pygmy Kingfisher. All in all, a great start to our Tanzanian adventure.

Above: Black-and-White Colobus, Arusha.

Day 1: Arusha.

The 1st November was the official start of the safari, and we all (bar two participants who were only arriving on the 2nd) gathered at Kahawa House on the outskirts of Arusha, the idea being to all be in one place before we set off on the morning of the 2nd. Most people had come in a couple of days early however, some staying in Arusha, others in Nairobi, so as it turned out this day was a little superfluous, though with Dave and Fran only arriving on the morning of departure for Tarangire, it was a necessity in any event. However, for the future, we'll include two nights at Rivertrees Country Inn, which gives us a 'buffer day' in case of serious flight delays and allows those who are up for it a chance to visit Arusha National Park, which is well worth it.

Days 2 & 3: Tarangire National Park.

The official start of the safari! Today we left Arusha and made our way to Lake Burunge Tented Camp, located close to the lake and to the national park. After settling in we had lunch, during which a large herd of Elephants came down to drink at the camp waterhole, and then we set off for an afternoon in Tarangire National Park. The park is close to 5000 square kilometers in size, and is well known for Elephants, Baobab trees and large numbers of animals congregating in the marshy areas during the dry season. And boy, it didn't disappoint! On the first afternoon we saw our first Cheetah, one of many as it would turn out, and on the following day, we were amazed by the huge numbers of plains game - mainly Zebra and Wildebeest (this eastern race being almost silvery in colour) as well as Impala, Bohor Reedbuck, Gazelles, Warthogs and phenomenal numbers of birds (mainly Great White Pelicans, various Storks, Herons, Vultures etc.) - it was a true phenomenon, and an introduction to the sheer scale and large mammal biomass that makes Tanzania such a fantastic wildlife destination. We also saw our first Lions, two of which were resting up in a large Tree Euphorbia, not looking too comfortable!

Above: Wildebeest and birds along the marsh.

Days 4 & 5: Ngorongoro Crater.

Leaving Lake Burunge after breakfast and a morning camp birding session (with a herd of Elephant bulls in the camp!), we made our way to Ngorongoro Farmhouse, situated close to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) gate. On our full day we embarked upon a day trip into the crater, a 'bucket list' moment for all members of the group! And it sure lived up to expectations. The views from the crater rim were simply incredible. The descent into the crater was almost surreal. And the game viewing was just amazing - at least two prides of Lions, Caracal, Serval, Golden Jackal, Elephants, Buffalo, Hippo's, multitudes of plains game, plus some amazing birds, not the least of which were flocks of several hundred Grey Crowned Cranes occupying the marshy areas. Needless to say there were a few photos taken... In the late afternoon we arrived back at the farmhouse for some rest and garden birding before dinner.

Above: Safari participants and local guides Wilfred and Arnold, at one of the crater view sites.

Days 6 & 7: Ndutu.

After leaving Ngorongoro Farmhouse we skirted the crater once again as we made our way to our next stop, Ndutu, which is part of the NCA, situated to the west of the crater on the border with the Serengeti. The area was very dry, with the 'short rains' yet to materialize, and as such the numbers of general game were relatively low. The predators were still around however, and the fact that Ndutu is not as popular as the Serengeti, and the allowance of off road driving, made for a wonderful overall experience. We arrived at Ndutu Safari Lodge in time for lunch, and then did an afternoon drive, the highlight of which was a female Cheetah and her three well-grown cubs, which we watched as they rose from their afternoon slumber and headed off on a hunt. Two of the cubs spotted a Reedbuck in the reeds and set off in pursuit, but the antelope had way too much of a head start to make it viable. Good practice for the cubs though! A great sighting it was, and in the twilight, we headed back to camp before meeting for drinks and dinner, during which we had great views of the resident pair of Genets sitting in the rafters almost above the table. On our full day we were out early, and saw numerous Lions, a different Cheetah female (with one cub) which had just brought down an adult male Impala and were beginning to feed, and had brief views of Leopard while we were having our picnic breakfast. Plus of course all the other sights - the Famlingos on Lake Ndutu, a Striped Hyena at dusk, numerous antelope species, birds galore... And then there was the fantastic birding and bird photography at the little bird bath in the camp to keep us occupied between drives.

Above: female Cheetah and single cub with fresh Impala kill.

Days 8 - 10: The Serengeti.

After a wonderful experience at Ndutu we made our way into the Serengeti, where we were to be based at Kati Kati Tented Camp in the Seronera area, Central Serengeti. The Serengeti was much greener than Ndutu, and plains game were present in big numbers, which were growing every day with the arrival of migrating Zebra and Wildebeest. We had four nights in the area, essentially giving us four full days plus a morning on the day of departure. And boy, was there a lot to see! A large pride of Lions (with a number of small cubs) were camped along the Seronera River, providing many good sightings - including the take down of a Buffalo cow. Indeed, Lions were so plentiful that most of the group were happy to just bypass them, unless they were moving or doing somehting interesting. We also had a fantastic sighting of a female Cheetah bringing down a Thompson's Gazelle and then calling out her two cubs to come and feed (and eventually being shoo-ed away by an Elephant bull). We had great views of a Leopard lounging on one of the koppies (rock outcrops) that dot the plains. We saw Elephants, Giraffe, Buffalo, Topi, Grant's and Thompson's Gazelles, Bohor Reedbuck, Warthogs, Olive Baboons, Serval, Black-backed Jackals, Spotted Hyenas, and of course the huge numbers of Common Wildebeest and Plains Zebra, a couple of herds of which trekked right through our camp on their way to the Seronera River. Then there were plenty of birds of all shapes and sizes to keep us birders occupied... Just incredible in every respect. However, with the Serengeti, as one of Africa's most famous wildlife areas, come the crowds - one can't get away from that fact (even though we weren't there in peak season). Our local guides, Wilfred and Arnold, knew where to go to get away from the worst of it (for example, we had the Leopard on the rock all to ourselves for quite while, eventually one other vehicle joined us), but it's still something one has to put up with. To this end, as Ndutu is much quieter, were changing to 3 nights Ndutu and 3 nights Serengeti, as opposed to 2 and 4 for the 2023 itinerary (as voted by 6 out of 7 participants).

Above: Lioness and cubs along the Seronera River.

Day 11: Departure.

On the last day of the tour we had an early breakfast in camp, then bid farewell to the wonderful camp staff (who had really gone out of their way to accommodate us), and had a long morning game drive before arriving at the air strip for our departure flights (David and Margy flying on to the Masai mara in Kenya, the rest of us flying on to Arusha, with final views of Ngorongoro Crater from the air). At Kilimanjaro Airport we all parted ways, after a truly wonderful safari experience.

Top Mammals seen:
Cheetah, Lion, Leopard, Serval, Caracal, Common Genet, Striped Hyena, Golden Jackal, Black-backed Jackal, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Rock Hyrax, Black-and-White Colobus, Mitis Monkey, African Elephant, African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Masai Giraffe, Eland, Bohor Reedbuck, Kirk's Dik-dik, Coke's Hartebeest.

Top Birds seen:
African Crowned Eagle, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Bronze Sunbird, Bare-faced Go-away Bird, Southern Ground Hornbill, Von der Decken's Hornbill, Grey Crowned Crane, Fischer's Lovebird, Grey-breasted Spurfowl, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Grey-headed Silverbill, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Common Ostrich, Ruppell's Vulture, Kori Bustard, White-bellied Bustard, Grey-crested Helmet-Shrike.

Summary:

This was an incredible experience, enjoyed immensely by all participants. Tanzania certainly lives up to its name as one of (if not THE) top wildlife destinations in Africa. The itinerary was wonderful, but will be improved upon to make it even better for 2023 and beyond.

We'd like to thank the participants - Andy and Jane, Donna, Dave and Fran, David and Margy - for joining us on this safari; and local guides Wilfred and Arnold for their hard work and dedication that helped make this trip such a success.

Check out the gallery for more photos, and find out more about the 2024 Tanzania's Northern Circuit safari.

All photos by Leon Marais / Lawson's Safaris.

Birding Tours: the Larks of Southern Africa

2022-07-14T00:00:00+02:00

For those considering a South African birding tour, and who are keen enough to get to grips with the LBJ's ('Little Brown Jobs'), and Larks specifically, it pays to break them down into basic groups, as per the excellent book on Southern Africa LBJ's by Faansie Peacock (Chamberlain's LBJ's). This book is the definitive guide to Larks, Pipits, Cisticolas and other challenging groups of birds. Why not order a copy and do some research before you start your birding trip?

Lark groupings - narrow them down to group level.

As with all challenging bird Families, it helps immensely to break them down into broader groups, or Genera in some cases, and to eliminate species by distribution and habitat. That way you go from four or five pages of superficially similar birds to perhaps a handful of likely candidates in any given case. And, fortunately, their calls and displays are sufficiently unique in general to allow for easy-ish identification to species level.

Within the Lark Family, there's firstly the Long-billed Lark Complex, which includes the five Long-billed Larks (Eastern, Cape, Agulhas, Karoo and Benguela Long-billed Larks), as well as Short-clawed Lark. And yes, these Larks generally have obviously long bills, the Cape having the longest of them all. The Short-clawed Lark has a very limited distribution in Southern Africa, occurring in savanna and thornveld in the Limpopo Province and North West Province of South Africa, and in the Gaberone area of neighboring Botswana. By far the best place to see this species is Polokwane Nature Reserve, just outside the town of Polokwane. The Long-billed Larks are pretty much separated geographically, though there can be some overlap, such as between Karoo and Benguela Long-billed Larks in the Brandberg region of Namibia. Eastern Long-billed inhabits the grasslands of eastern South Africa; Cape is restricted to the west coast of South Africa, from about just north of Melkbosstrand up to the Orange River valley; Agulhas is restricted to the Agulhas Plain; Karoo occupies the arid Karoo and southern Namib Desert; while Benguela occurs on the coastal plain of Namibia.

The next group is the Karoo Lark complex, which includes Dune, Barlow's, Karoo and Red Larks. Fortunately, these are also separated geographically - Dune is exclusive to Namibia (best seen on the way to Sossusvlei and at Rooibank near Walvis Bay), and is in fact Namibia's only true endemic; Barlow's is found along the west coast in the area where South Africa and Namibia meet; Karoo, as its name suggests, is found the the Karoo region, and Red Lark is found on Kalahari sands in South Africa's Northern Cape Province.

We then have the Clapper Lark group, made up of Eastern and Cape Clapper Larks and Flappet Lark, all of them using sounds made by the rapid clapping of the wings in their display flights, which are pretty cool to see! Eastern and Cape Clappers are pretty much separated geographically, with Cape hugging the coast and adjacent inland areas between the far south of the Eastern Cape Province and up the west coast to the border with Namibia, while Eastern Clapper Lark is generally found in the grasslands of the central part of the sub-region, though they may co-occur in the south-eastern corner of their respective ranges. Flappet Lark is found in the open savannas of the north-east of the sub-region, though in places such as the Kruger National Park they seem to be becoming scarce in certain areas due to bush encroachment.

Then there are the small grassland larks, comprising Rudd's, Botha's and Pink-billed Larks. The first two are endemic to South Africa, and listed as Vulnerable and Endangered respectively. And by far the best place to see these is Wakkerstroom, in southern Mpumalanga Province. Pink-billed is far more widespread, occurring across much of central Southern Africa.

Then there are the three small desert Larks, namely Sclater's, Starks and Gray's Larks. The Bushmanland area of South Africa is the best place to look for Sclater's Lark; Stark's occurrs across much of Namibia and into South Africa's Bushmanland; while Gray's is a resident of the coastal Namib Desert, and it's fantastic to see them in their austere environment.

Then there are two savanna Larks - Sabota and Fawn-coloured Larks. The former is by far the most commonly seen Lark in the Kruger National Park; while Fawn-coloured occurs on sandy soils, and is found across much of the Kalahari sand basin but spills over into southern Mozambique.

Then there are four Larks that don't really fit into any particular group, namely Dusky, Spike-heeled, Red-capped and Large-billed Larks. Dusky is an intra-African migrant and in Southern Africa is found mainly in savanna habitat during the summer months (October - April); Spike-heeled occurs in a wide range of habitats from grassland to Karoo, Kalahari and even into the Namib Desert; while Large-billed is pretty much endemic to South Africa, found from the west coast as far east as the high plateau of Lesotho.

Then there are the three Larks in the Mirafra Genus, namely Melodius, Monotonous and Rufous-naped Larks. Melodius is endemic to the grasslands of central South Africa; Monotonous occurs across much of northern Southern Africa, often 'erupting' into areas such as the basalt grasslands of the Kruger National Park after good rains; while Rufous-naped is common across mush of the region except for the west and south-west It's common in the Highveld grasslands, such as found in Rietvlei Nature Reserve between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and its call is one of the classic summer sounds of the grasslands.

And finally, there are the Sparrowlarks of the Genus Eremopterix, or 'desert bird'. There are three in this Genus - Grey-backed, Chestnut-backed and Black-eared Sparrowlarks. As their common name implies, they are more sparrow-like than other larks, less upright and with shorter legs. Grey-backed is more prevalent in the west of the sub-region; Chestnut-backed in the wetter east and north-east (Kruger National Park is a good place to see this bird); and Black-eared is endemic to southern Namibia and north-west South Africa.

So that's 31 species in a nutshell!

Which of our birdwatching trips offer the best chances for Larks?

If you are considering a birdwatching trip to South Africa, or somewhere in Southern Africa, and you have a liking for Larks (or at least want to see as many of the endemic birds as possible), then the arid interior and western coastal region of South Africa have the most to offer in terms of Larks. And we've developed a two-part birding safari that is purposefully designed to give participants a chance of seeing most, if not all, of the Larks and other endemics and specials of South Africa. Take a look at our Western South Africa and Eastern South Africa Endemics birding tours. And for a chance to see loads of Larks in Namibia, check out our Essential Namibia birding trip.

Birding the Kruger: the Raptors.

2022-04-06T00:00:00+02:00

If you are keen on raptors (and which birder in their right mind isn't?), then you're in for a real treat on a Kruger National Park birding safari. The Kruger has an impressive array of birds of prey, from the rapacious Little Saprrowhawk, no bigger than a small dove, to the mighty Martial Eagle, one of Africa's largest and most powerful birds of prey. There are 46 species to be exact (excluding the rarer vagrants such as Palmnut and Egyptian Vultures, Sooty and Western Red-footed Falcons). These belong to 4 distinct families - the majority fall into the Family Accipitridae (31 species); the Falcons and Kestrels belong to the Family Falconidae (7 species); while the remaining 2 species belong to their own families, Saggitariidae in the case of the Secretarybird, and Pandionidae in the case of the Western Osprey.

Many are resident species, but raptor viewing is best in the summer months (October - March) when the Intra-African migrants, such as Wahlberg's Eagle and Yellow-billed Kite, and the Palearctic Migrants, such as Pallid and Montague's Harriers, Steppe and Lesser-spotted Eagles, are present. That being said, any time of the year provides rewarding raptor viewing, as well as general birding (the list for the park stands at over 500 species!). So there's no bad time for a birdwatching tour in the Kruger...

Commonly seen species include five types of Vulture (African White-backed, Cape, Lappet-faced, Hooded and White-headed Vultures, and sometimes all can be present at one carcass); big, impressive eagles such as Martial, Tawny, Wahlberg's and Lesser-spotted Eagles (the latter two in summer only); the stunning Bateleur, one of Africa's most attractive birds of prey; Brown and Black-chested Snake Eagles; the dapper African Fish Eagle; African Hawk Eagle; the rather unique African Harrier Hawk; a number of Accipiters such as Little Sparrowhawk, Dark Chanting, African and Gabar Goshawks, Lanner Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby and Eastern Red-footed Falcon (the latter three in summer only), and oddities such as the Secretarybird. Less often seen species include African Cuckoo Hawk, Ayres's Hawk Eagle, Long-crested, Verreauxs' and Crowned Eagles, Montague's and Pallid Harriers (summer only) and Dickinson's Kestrel.

And finally, some more unusual species recorded include Bat Hawk, Palmnut and Egyptian Vultures, Booted Eagle, Western Red-footed Falcon and Sooty Falcon.

Some species are confined to certain areas - Dickinson's Kestrel, for example, is only found in the far north of the park - so if you are after specific species you need to do your homework. Or speak to the local experts (that's us...). Just to give you an idea, I trolled through some trip reports, and for an average 4 - 5 night stay in the south of the park we usually saw in the region of 20 - 25 different species of raptor. And if you want to have a chance at seeing a good number of Kruger's raptors, check out our 11-day Incredible Kruger small group safari (with more time, and more distance covered, you're bound to see more raptors). Or, if you also want a chance to see some raptors that don't occur in the Kruger, check out our Escarpment and Kruger Voyager tour (available as a custom trip). .

So, in conclusion, your won't be disappointed by the birding in general in the Kruger, and the raptor viewing is bound to be exceptional. The sight of dozens of Vultures thermalling together in a clear blue sky; hundreds of Wahlberg's, Lesser-spotted and Steppe Eagles converging on a giant Red-billed Quelea breeding colony; a stately Secretarybird stomping through the veld, or even just a Gabar Goshawk perching in plan view - these are some of the raptor highlights of the Kruger National Park.

Check out the gallery for some cracking Raptor images!

Eastern South Africa Endemics trip report

2022-01-10T00:00:00+02:00

Itinerary:

In trying to see all of the endemics of the eastern side of the country one has to cover a lot of ground, so by nature this is a fast-paced tour, though not as grueling as some other tours run by other companies out there to be honest! So we weren't quite relegated to one night stays throughout; most places were two night stays to cut down on the overall number of hours spent in the car traveling from A to B as a proportion of the overall duration of the tour. We started off with a night near the airport in Umhlanga; then had two nights in Creighton, close to the famous Sani Pass area; one night in Eshowe; two nights in St Lucia; two at Tembe Elephant Park; two again in Wakkerstroom; four nights in the Kruger National Park in three different camps; then two one night stays at Magoebaskloof and Polokwane respectively, for a total of 16 nights. We did close to 4000 kilometers in total, all safely and trouble free, and had an excellent time in general.

This is what Volkert had to say about the trip:

“Dear Leon: The trip is slowly sinking in. We had a great one. The stage was set by the different habitats Eastern South Africa has to offer, but with your expertise you pulled out an amazing number of birds. Thanks to your knowledge of the calls and songs combined with a very sharp eye we had great success in finding the birds I wanted to see. Thank you for your efforts, it was a tiring but very rewarding 16 days. The tiredness will be forgotten, so all that remains are memories of a great trip. Warm greetings, Volkert”

Weather:

The first half of the tour brought some challenging weather conditions, especially on our trip up Sani Pass (though we still managed to see virtually all of our target species) and in the Wakkerstroom area, with wind, rain and pretty low temperatures - it is the rainy season after all, and this one has so far been a very generous one. After Wakkerstroom it improved generally, and we had mild to warm days and plenty of sunshine, and it wasn't as hot as it can be, making for great birding conditions.

Places visited:

Creighton and Sani Pass:
In Creighton we stayed at Smithfield Guest House, owned and run by local birder Malcolm Gemmel and his wife Gail and, birds aside, this is always the highlight of any tour in terms of hospitality. Malcolm and Gail and their staff do a superb job, and it's like staying with old friends - staying there gives you that 'warm and fuzzy' feeling and it's always hard to say goodbye! In terms of the birding, we had a couple of excursions with Malcolm, who showed us some target species such as Cape Parrot, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Pale-crowned Cisticola and Orange-breasted Waxbill, and it's always fun to go birding with Malcolm, who knows the area like the back of his hand. Then Sani Pass is one of the highlights of the entire tour, and this we did on our own, and were pretty successful. Target birds seen included Southern Bald Ibis, Bush Blackcap, Barratt's Warbler, Sickle-winged Chat, Large-billed Lark, Karoo and Drakensberg Prinias, Fairy Flycatcher, Layard's Warbler, Ground Woodpecker, Grey Tit, Drakensberg Siskin, Mountain Pipit and of course Drakensberg Rockjumper.

Eshowe:
On the way to Eshowe we stopped to see the 30th Golden Pipit seen in South Africa, an unexpected bonus bird that is normally restricted to East Africa. Then, in Eshowe we stayed at Eshowe Guest House, a wonderful establishment so well run by Anette Goosen, and also very well located, right at the main entrance to Dlinza Forest. Target birds seen here were Chorister Robin Chat, Spotted Ground Thrush, Lemon Dove and Red-backed Mannikin, though we missed Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon and Green Twinspot. Then, using the services of local guide Junior Gabela we added Green Malkoha, Black-throated Wattl-eye, Green Barbet and Palmnut Vulture to the list.

St Lucia:
What a great place! This little town, adjacent to the magnificent iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is a real gem, one of my favourite places in the country, with so much to offer. We spent time in the iGwla-Gwala Forest, and visited both the Eastern and Western Shores sections of the park. Birds seen included Livingstone's Turaco, Grey Waxbill, Rudd's Apalis, Rufous-bellied Heron, Allen's Gallinule, Gorgeous Bush Shrike, Grey and Olive Sunbirds, Woodward's Batis, Brown Scrub Robin, Southern Banded Snake Eagle and others.

Tembe Elephant Park:
Tembe is a charming tented camp in the Tembe reserve, and offers a well-priced luxury lodge experience, with some great birding and game viewing. Notable birds seen included Lemon-breasted Canary (seen en-route to Tembe), Purple-banded, Plain-backed and Neergard's Sunbirds, Eastern Nicator, Pink-throated Twinspot, Gorgeous Bush Shrike, Broad-billed Roller, Narina Trogon and the charming Crested Guineafowls that hang around the camp.

Wakkerstroom:
This is one of the country's endemics hot spots and we were ably assisted here by expert local guide David Nkosi. Despite the bad weather we did pretty well. Highlights included Rudd's and Botha's Larks (the former not seen very well, however), Secretarybird (8 individuals in less than 24 hours!), Blue Crane, Grey Crowned Crane, Blue Korhaan, Eastern Long-billed and Eastern Clapper Larks, Cape Grassbird, Cape Bunting, Yellow-breasted and African Rock Pipits, Sentinel Rock Thrush, Buff-streaked Chat, Grey-winged Francolin, Marsh Owl, Cloud Cisticola, Drakensberg and Karoo Prinias and others.

Kruger National Park:
As savanna habitat is widespread across Africa, the Kruger Park doesn't have a lot of endemics, but rather offers superb general birding coupled with world-class game viewing - what a great combination! Birding highlights were too many to mention, you'll have to read the full report for more details, but the display of a male Red-crested Korhaan was definitely a sighting to remember. Animal highlights included Lions, Elephants, Honey Badgers, Hippo's, Black-backed Jackals and a range of antelope and other species. We stayed at three different camps, namely Pretoriskop (1 night), Skukuza (1 night) and Satara (2 nights) which all provided typically basic but clean, comfortable and functional National Park accommodation, and pretty good food as well.

Magoebaskloof:
Forest birding is tough, and frustrating at times, but our stay at Magoebaskloof delivered some great species, such as Magpie Mannikin (seen en-route to Magoebaskloof), Knysna Turaco, Cape Parrot, Black-fronted Bush Shrike, Olive Bush Shrike, Orange Ground Thrush (not seen well though), Olive Thrush, Forest Canary, Olive Woodpecker, White-starred Robin, Chorister Robin Chat, Mountain Wagtail, Narina Trogon and others. Accommodation was at Magoebaskloof Hotel, which was OK apart from poor service at the bar and restaurant.

Polokwane:
For our last stop we stayed at Plumtree Guest House in Polokwane, which was very spacious and comfortable, and well positioned for access to Polokwane Nature Reserve. The reserve and general area holds quite a few species that aren't found further east, and new birds seen included Short-clawed Lark (the main target species), Shaft-tailed Whydah, Black-faced and Violet-eared Waxbills, Great Sparrow, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Scaly-feathered Weaver, Chestnut-vented Warbler and Marico Flycatcher, taking us up to 408 species seen by client and guide.

Click the link to read the full report and see the full bird and mammal lists: 2021-11 Eastern South Africa Endemics Trip Report. Note that file is 1MB in size, and that the photos are compressed to minimize the file size. See some more images (compressed for web, so also not great quality) in the gallery, and like and follow our Facebook page for more great content from the field!

Birds of South Africa: five amazing species.

2021-10-22T00:00:00+02:00

Five cool birds of Southern Africa:

The curious Hamerkop.

By all accounts the Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is a strange bird. Taxonomically, it's monotypic, being the only member of the Genus Scopidae, and is distantly related to the Shoebill and Pelicans according to current thinking - when you look at one, it's very hard to place it into any particular group of birds. It's found across much of Africa, Madagascar and parts of Arabia, where it hunts frogs, fish and insects around water, often swishing its feet in shallow water to disturb prey items. But what makes it pretty awesome is the nest, a gigantic structure measuring up to 2 meters high and 1.5 meters across, and weighing up to 50 kg. But it's not a conventional nest on which the bird sits on top (like a raptor nest), but rather has a mud-lined chamber inside the main structure, providing protection and insulation for the developing eggs and chicks. It's quite a feat of design and construction! The nests are usually built in large trees close to water, and occasionally on cliffs and buildings. It can take a pair up to 6 months to complete a nest, and they often adorn the top of the nest with additional sticks, bits of material, rubbish, and reportedly even clothing items 'stolen' from a clothes line in one instance! The unique Hamerkop is a common bird and is seen on most of our African safaris.

Denham's Bustard: 'Trash Bird'.

You're scanning the grasslands of South Africa in summer, and in the distance you see what looks like a white plastic bag hooked in a bush and inflated by the breeze. But don't be fooled, for its not a plastic bag, but rather the inflated throat of a male Denham's Bustard (Neotis denhami) in display, something that can be seen from a substantial distance (even by us humans). They are a truly spectacular sight, with their throat and breast feathers puffed up incredibly, making them stand out to potential mates and rivals alike from miles around. These large birds are unfortunately very shy, so it's hard to get close to them and scope views will have to do in most cases. The bird seen in the video (shot via a spotting scope and smartphone) was seen during a recent bird survey near Indwe in the Eastern Cape, and was 'on display' for days on end, just wandering up and down, showing off to the world. This species is best seen on our Western Cape Highlights safari.

The black phantom: Long-tailed Widowbird.

It's one of the classic summer sights across the grasslands of the interior of South Africa. It's kind of like the living version of the Will-o-the-Wisp, a black shape fluttering phantom-like low over the open grassland. But suddenly it changes shape, becoming a black streamer fighting valiantly against the prevailing wind. This is a spectacular male Long-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes progne) in display. They are resident in the grasslands of central and eastern South Africa, but the males have strong seasonal plumage variation - in winter they are drab, brown birds, but by full summer are resplendent in jet black, with red shoulders and an astonishing long, flowing tail. When in display flight they let the tail drop and fan out below them, and float along slowly for a minute or so, before cleaning up and flying to a perch to take a break and scan for passing females. It's a great spectacle to witness, especially when several males are displaying in the same area. A definite South African birding bucket list item! See this on our Eastern SA Highlights safari tour.

The billion bird: Red-billed Quelea.

Take a look at the Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) in the bird book and you may wonder why it's listed as an 'awesome bird'. It's a small brown affair, though the males look a little less drab in breeding season when they sport black and red heads, but generally it looks fairly insignificant. So, not much to look at, really. But when a flock of 1000 000 plus comes streaming over your head, well, that's pretty awesome indeed. It's said that the Red-billed Quelea is the most numerous bird on the planet, and when one sees them in big numbers that's entirely believable. They are basically seed eaters, and are nomadic, moving in response to food availability. At almost any time of the year one can see them across Southern Africa but, in the Kruger National Park at least, late summer is when they are most impressive. They create breeding colonies that sometimes cover several hectares, with every available bush and shrub packed with their small, woven nests. And when the nests are occupied by chirping chicks, the collective sound produced is unbelievable (see video in the gallery). In May 2018 we had some of the most incredible sightings of Queleas in the Kruger, as seen in the other Quelea video. They seemed to follow a fixed pattern, streaming eastwards from an unseen roosting area in the mornings, and then westward again in the later afternoon, coming right over our heads on the H1-3 not far south of Satara. In fact, it wasn't a 'sighting', but could rather be described as a phenomenon, that's just how awesome it was... And if you can get close to a breeding colony, it's incredible to see how it attracts birds of prey such as Tawny, Wahlberg's, Lesser Spotted and Steppe Eagles, sometimes in great numbers. Another South African birding bucket list item! Book on a custom Kruger safari in March to May to experience these Quelea flocks.

'A double joint, anyone?' - African Harrier Hawk.

While all raptors are naturally cool birds, the African Harrier Hawk (Polyboroides typus) is one of the most remarkable and entertaining of African raptors. It's waaay-cool, dude. This species is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa, with the very similar Madagascan Harrier Hawk representing the genus in Madagascar. One of the unique features of the bird are the double-jointed knees, enabling the lower legs to bend in multiple planes, giving the bird the ability to access prey items such as geckos, lizards, birds, squirrels etc hiding in cracks, crevices and nests. The message for small critters - 'You can run but you can't hide!' Watching this bird hunting is quite an experience, and it's clear at times that it has a degree of problem-solving ability as it works out how to extract something from a hole or crack. Another interesting feature is the ability of the normally yellow facial skin to change to bright scarlet according to mood - as can be seen in the mating pair which were obviously a bit excited! It's a relatively common species, even occurring as a garden bird in our home town of Nelspruit, South Africa, and easily seen on most regional safaris. See this bird on our Incredible Kruger safari in 2022.

And coming up in a new blog post soon: the coolest bird nest in the world.

Greater Kruger Discoverer Trip Report

2021-10-04T00:00:00+02:00

Birding & Wildlife Safari Trip report:

Safari Itinerary:

Our itinerary included two nights in Johannesburg to settle in, and it's always a good idea to have time to recover from the long journey, especially when coming from the USA. We then had a night at the Blyde River Canyon, which offers the chance for some fantastic landscapes and scenery, and an opportunity to see a bit more of the region besides the savanna habitat of the Kruger.

From there we made our way to the Kruger National Park, entering at Phalaborwa Gate and then making our way to Olifants Rest Camp for two nights. Olifants is a great camp, offering some of the best views in the whole park.

From there we made our way southwards to Satara for two nights, always one of our favorite camps, and then we had two nights at Skukuza to finish off the Kruger leg of the tour.

After the Kruger they had four nights at Idube Game Lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, as a 'cherry-on-the-top' experience.

This Kruger / Sabi Sands combination itinerary is one we do often, and we (and the clients) find that the combination of the two different experiences works very well indeed. For more insight check out our YouTube video Kruger National Park vs. Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

Weather:

Although August to the end of October is generally very dry in the Greater Kruger region, the weather itself is variable, changing dramatically in a short period of time as cold fronts move through. So one can go from sunny and hot one day, to cold and cloudy the next. These cold snaps usually persist for 2 - 3 days, before the weather improves again, only to change again as the next front arrives. So out first three days were fine and warm, with a change coming on the full day at Olifants, and then we experienced some cold, windy days while at Satara, and by the time we got to Skukuza it had improved again, and it held through their stay at Idube.

Places visited and daily notes:

Blyde River Canyon:

So we started off at 08h00 at AfricaSky Guest House in Johannesburg, a great place to relax before the safari proper begins. We loaded up the van and then had a morning on the road, which gave the group a chance to see some of the South African countryside, and to learn more about the land form their guide, Leon Marais. Our route took us east from Johannesburg along the main N4 route, and just before Nelspruit we turned north through Sabie and Graskop on the Panorama Route to the Blyde River Canyon. After arriving at unpacking we made our way up to the canyon viewpoint, which affords stunning views of the canyon and the 'Three Rondavels' rock formations, looking fantastic in the late afternoon light.

Olifants Rest Camp:

The next morning we had a walk along the Kadisi Trail to see the stunning tufa waterfall, followed by breakfast and departure for the Kruger, stopping off to buy some curios on the Abel Erasmus Pass on the way. At Phalaborwa Gate we swapped over to our open-sided safari vehicle, did the check in and then began the trek to Olifants. Of course, the first few hours are filled with excitement as everything seen is basically new, so we had some slow going as we encountered Kruger's ample birds and wildlife, seeing and photographing animals such as Giraffe, Impala, Elephant, Buffalo, Kudu and Hippo, and common birds such as Lilac-breasted Roller, Red-billed and Yellow-billed Hornbills, Swainson's Spurfowl, Red-billed Oxpecker, various Spurfowls, Starlings, Shrikes etc.

We arrived in camp in the late afternoon to settle in before dinner on the deck overlooking the river, on a glorious evening (as is typical, when the weather is at its best it's about to change!). The next morning we met up for coffee before we headed out on a morning drive, which took us down the tar road to Ngotso Waterhole and then back via the low-level bridge over the Olifants River. Unfortunately the big predators eluded us, and we arrived in camp for a late breakfast, followed by a rest and then an afternoon drive - the typical Kruger routine. We bagged two Lionesses in the bed of the Olifants River, who were given away by a herd of Common Waterbuck all staring in the same direction, but it was the thousands of bats streaming out into the sky from their roosts under the bridge that was the highlight of the afternoon.

Satara Rest Camp:

On our last morning at Olifants we had another short drive before breakfast, before packing and then taking a slow drive down to Satara, our base for the next two nights. The weather had seemed to be improving as we arrived, but then turned again and for the next couple of days was cold and windy. Nevertheless, on our morning drive from Satara we had an incredible encounter with a large group of Spotted Hyenas gathered at what we later learned was an Elephant carcass (we couldn't see what they were feeding on), but there must have been over 30 of them, accompanied by Black-backed Jackals and a large number of Vultures (White-backed, Lappet-faced, Hooded and White-headed Vultures). In the afternoon we had another highlight, this time a large pack of Painted Dogs, with around eight puppies. It was a cold, windy afternoon, and when we arrived they were hunkered down out of the wind, not showing very well at all, so we decided to drive on for a bit and return a bit later. And we timed it perfectly, getting back just before they got up and began socializing before setting off on the hunt. Talk about an exhilarating experience!

Skukuza Rest Camp:

The following morning we made our way down to Skukuza, situated on the southern bank of the Sabie River, once again arriving in time to settle in before an afternoon drive. On our full day we had a long morning run, heading all the way down river to Lower Sabie Rest Camp for a late breakfast. It was a great morning, producing two Leopard sightings (both resting in trees), Lions (including 6 females with cubs), plus all the usual wonders - Elephants, Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Kudu, Bushbuck, Nyala, Steenbuck and a plethora of bird species.

Idube Game Reserve:

After Skukuza we dropped the group off at Idube Game Reserve in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, a large, private reserve that shares an unfenced boundary with the Kruger National Park, part of what is known as the Greater Kruger National Park. Unfortunately we weren't with them for the four night stay at Idube, as they were in the hands of the lodge guides and staff, but by all accounts they had an amazing time, and had some amazing sightings (as expected!). See some of the photos generously supplied by Donna Gottschalk.

And here are a few photographs from this awesome safari:

Western Cape Voyager Tour Trip Report

2021-09-17T00:00:00+02:00

Birding Safari Trip Report:

Itinerary:

This tour itinerary includes time in Simon's Town on the Cape Peninsula, from which we visit Boulder's Beach, Kirstenbosch Gardens (a fantastic bird photography venue), Cape Point, Strandfontein Water Works, the Stony Point Penguin Colony and Rooi Els, the stakeout for the endemic Cape Rockjumper. Then we head east to Swellendam, the country's third oldest town, which we use as a base to explore Bontebok National Park and De Hoop Nature Reserve. From there we circle inland a bit to Ceres, with a day visit into the arid Tankwa Karoo as the main activity, and from there we have a last stop at Langebaan, on the edge of West Coast National Park.

The 'stock' itinerary is 8 nights / 9 days long, but one can easily add a night or two (which is essential if a pelagic trip is included).

Weather:

While September is typically the prime month to be in the Cape, when the flowers are showing and the birds are active and breeding, there's always a gamble with the weather - and that's true of any time of the year (the traditional winter rainy season seems to be becoming less distinct over time, and there's always a chance of the notorious winds picking up). We were incredibly lucky on this trip however, with a little bit of inclement weather over the first few days (but not bad enough to disrupt our activities in any major way), which then cleared to give us 5 glorious days of sun and no wind, followed by a morning of rain as we made our way to the airport - talk about good timing!

Places visited:

The Cape Peninsula:
On this tour we had a total of four nights in Simon's Town, based at Whaleview Manor, offering stunning views across False Bay from our rooms. The first night was basically just to settle in, and on our first full day we spent most of our time at Kirstenbosch Gardens. This was a photographic tour, and the gardens delivered generously - time spent staking out the flowering Leucospermums and Proteas got us some great Southern Double-collared Sunbird and Cape Sugarbird shots, among others. From there we took the scenic route back to Simon's Town, via the tern roost at Kommetjie, Misty Cliffs and Scarborough.

On our second day we headed out to Strandfontein, only to find that it was close due to a recent sewage spill. A bit of a blow, but we decided to push on to Rooi Els to look for Cape Rockjumper. Unfortunately, as we arrived, the rain came down, and we had to come up with Plan C. So we carried on to Betty's Bay and the Stony Point Penguin colony. Fortunately the sun came out again and we had a terrific hour or so watching Penguins, and all four of the marine Cormorant species in one location. We then had a pleasant lunch at the cafe before giving the Rockjumpers another bash, but without luck (they tend to dissapear in the afternoons!).

On our last day on the Peninsula we had a wonderful day at Cape Point, with great birds, some mammals (including a view of the elusive Caracal) and breathtaking scenery filling out the day.

Swellendam and the Agulhas Plain:
Leaving the Peninsula on an absolutely stunning day we had a third attempt at the Rockjumpers, and managed to find them, but unfortunately they never came quite close enough for photographs. We then drove to Swellendam via Hermanus, where we had lunch and saw our first Southern Right Whales.

On our full day we headed out early, making our way down to De Hoop Nature Reserve. It wasn't just about the destination though, and we had some of the best birding in the agricultural lands between Swellendam and the reserve, seeing species such as Cape Clapper Lark, Agulhas Long-billed Lark, Large-billed Lark, Blue Crane, Capped Wheatear, Bokmakierie, Karoo Scrub Robin, Cape Teal and many others. The reserve was splendid, as usual, with plenty of birds and mammals to keep us occupied, including some great Whale-watching at Koppie Alleen.

Ceres and the Tankwa Karoo:
We started off with a visit to Bontebok National Park, which delivered some great views of the endemic Black Harrier, among other birds and mammals, and then we made our way to Robertson, doing some back-road birding and flower viewing en-route, and arriving in Ceres for some time to relax before dinner. On our full day we departed early, heading over the Koue-Bokkeveld Mountains and into the arid Tankwa Karoo region. We stopped for a picnic at the Katbbakies picnic site, then had some great cappuccinos at the somewhat eccentric Tankwa Padstal (road-side stall), and then carried on, seeing some great flower displays, and birds such as Karoo Eremomela, Black-eared Sparrowlark, Mountain Wheatear, Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, Karoo and Tractrac Chats, Lark-like Bunting, Fairy Flycatcher and Verreaux's Eagle, among others.

West Coast National Park:
Leaving Ceres early, we made our way to West Coast National Park for the day - we only had one day there, so we made the most of it. We first checked out the bird hide at Abrahamskraal, but with all the water around it wasn't too productive, so we headed on to the Postberg Wild Flower section of the park, which is only open during the 'flower season'. And this season has been one of the best in recent times, with incredible colours on show at every turn, the flowers definitely stealing the show! Notable birds seen included Black Harrier, Southern Black Korhaan, Cape Weaver, Greater and Lesser Flamingos, African Oystercatcher, White-backed Mousebird and many others. From there we headed back to the airport for the end of the Cape leg, but there was still a lot to look forward to for Jo and Maggie, who still had Zimanga in KwaZulu-Natal, the Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve to look forward to...

Safari packing.

2021-08-03T00:00:00+02:00

What are my safari packing essentials?

Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, phone and charger, binoculars and camera, wallet and passport. I could conceivably still guide a successful safari with only these items! Though some clothes would also be useful, I guess…

More about your phone – bird apps are handy; use your camera for landscape / people shots. Smartphone photo tip: set up your phone with 'quick launch' of the camera via a side button, and disable your code access while on safari. Often you'll be driving along and you see a landscape you want to shoot, but you'll miss it if you aren't quick. And have shutter release via a side button, so you can shoot one-handed.

There’s generally good Wi-Fi coverage at most safari lodges – but don’t spend all of your down-time with your head buried in your phone! Look up and enjoy the birds, environment and lodge ambiance. But do download the Wetu Travel Key App so you can have your Lawson’s Safaris digital itinerary with you all the time!

What about chargers & electrical outlets?

South Africa – large 3-pin, type M (‘Universal’ adapters don’t fit type D & M!). Type C (2-pin) & N (small 3-pin) common as well, most guest houses etc will have wall sockets or adapter taking all 3 types. Check out this site for more info.

Namibia – type M and D.

Botswana – type G (flat 3-pin), D & M.

Kenya – type G.

Tanzania - type D & G.

Most safaris have electricity availability throughout, but certain safaris, such as mobile camping safaris, and the odd remote destination, may not have electricity provision in your room (though they usually have a central 'public' charging station), so in such cases you can bring a mobile power unit. But for most safaris this is not necessary.

And clothing?

Don’t overpack! A common post-tour comment from clients is that they brought too much luggage!

Safaris with charter flights may limit one to 15-20kg including hand baggage and camera gear, using soft bags only. These rules are strict! So, don’t assume they’ll give you some wriggle room. For a safari tour without charter flights you have more leeway with luggage, but it’s still advisable to limit your luggage to one main bag and one carry-on. Everyone on the tour takes an immediate dislike to the person hauling way too much baggage out of the arrival gate (as does the guide!).

Light, cotton clothes work best for a safari. It’s probably going to be warm to hot during the day on most typical safaris, so clothes that breathe a bit and aren’t too tight are advisable. No jeans and black shirts! You can self-wash or use laundry facilities – if it’s hot and dry = quick drying, so no need to bring more than about 4 complete sets.

You can wear shorts during the day in most destination, if your legs allow for it! Long sleeve shirts protect against the sun and possible insect bites.

Do pack a fleece and / or windbreaker. Your warm gear requirement will depend on your specific safari – in Namibia in October you won’t need much at all, but on a Kruger safari in winter you definitely will (and probably more than you realize). Open vehicles = wind chill factor. So, speak to your safari consultant for specifics. Don’t assume it’s always hot on a safari!

At night we recommend closed shoes and socks (despite all the locals ‘braiing’ - that’s barbequing to you - in their shortest shorts only!), as the ankles are prime target for mosquitos, plus there is a chance of scorpions etc on the ground.

Day time footwear:

One can wear sandals (or 'thongs' as the Australians call them) on safari - just not with socks, bitte! Otherwise, a light low-cut walking shoe is a good option, or even comfortable trainers. You don’t need proper hiking boots unless your tour includes a specific hiking activity. Many guides are Harry-casual about footwear (there’s even one guy I know who hasn’t worn shoes in years), but I’m a firm believer in closed shoes. It takes just one bit of bad luck with a 3-inch long Acacia thorn or an angry Parabuthus Scorpion to ruin your day, and maybe your trip…

Going back to insect bites:

For the most part, in my experience, people are expecting far worse in terms of biting insects than what is usually the case on safari (try New England in July!). There’s the odd place that is for some reason inundated with mosquitos, but for the most part they aren’t that prevalent, even in places like the Kruger National Park. Tsetse Fly though can be a problem though in certain locations and seasons, such as parts of Zambia and Tanzania in summer (avoid wearing black, blue and bright colors in Tsetse fly areas).

In terms of 'mozzies', I’m not going to talk about anti-malarial medication, but prevention goes a long way, so I always wear closed shoes and socks after dark, and use a repellent spray such as Peaceful Sleep, spraying every evening before dinner and in the mornings before I go out. I often have a chuckle to myself, as I carry spray-on sunscreen which I apply through the day, and the pax on my vehicle see this and think I’m repeatedly dosing with insect repellent, so they then rummage in their bags and start reapplying it all through the day, a cloud of DEET hanging behind the vehicle. Daytime application is generally unnecessary (the small, harmless ‘sweat flies’ that may buzz around you during the day seem to ignore all forms of insect repellent anyway).

Then a few other safari packing basics:

Torch / flashlight – a good LED torch doesn’t cost a lot, and it’s essential for walking around at night. Don’t bring your old torch you’ve had for 20 years and which casts out a vague yellow glow – get a good one, you can even use it for a bit of night spotting around the rooms in certain places where you can do that safely.

Clear safety glasses for open vehicle drives – to protect against dust, wind etc; you’re either going to look like an idiot or a seasoned pro, but either way you save your eyes from extra strain. Or maybe even save an eye from an incoming Giant Dungbeetle who’s missed his last few optometrist appointments….

Multi-plug, for charging multiple devices – some places were built in the days before you needed to charge a hundred personal devices every day, so wall sockets in the room can be few and far between.

Quick dry towel – I carry my own towel, to try and save water – if I visit 6 places on a tour, I only use 1 towel, instead of six towels, saving on water and washing powder, which is especially important as much of Africa is arid. Furthermore, please do your bit to save on water and electricity – you really don’t need to shower twice a day.

A final packing tip:

Discipline! What does discipline have to do with packing? Apart from keeping luggage to a minimum, it’s about everything having a home in your bag. Find the best place to keep things, and once you’ve found the best place for an item, stick with it! If your sunscreen goes in this or that pocket, then be religious about putting it back in the same place every time. That way you always know where it is and don’t hit a flat spin looking for things when the next activity is about to begin. And one more thing – if you use something, like the phone charger, pack it away immediately after use. That way there’s less chance of leaving things behind in the room when you move on. I guarantee you that on a group tour someone is going to leave a charger behind, just make sure it’s not you…

For safari packing lists and more packing advice see our Safari Store partners – and it’s a great place to buy items for your upcoming safari.

Happy packing and happier travels!

Basic Safari Packing List:

Essentials:
* Passport
* Vaccination Certificates if needed
* Copies of passport (photocopies and scans on phone)
* Cash
* Credit Card (approved for use in different country).
* Travel Insurance paperwork
* Binoculars (muy importante!)
* Camera gear

Luggage:
* Soft main bag is preferable, and essential on safaris with small aircraft local flights ('charters'). One per person.
* Limit weight of main bags to 20 kg for safaris without charter flights, and max 15 kg for those with charter flights.
* Small 'day pack' for personal goods.

Clothing:
* Avoid bringing too much!
* 2 - 3 pairs of shorts.
* 2 - 3 pairs of longs if you prefer to wear longs during the day.
* 1 pair of longs for evenings.
* 3 - 5 shirts, as preferred.
* Underwear, socks, sleepwear.
* Light rain coat.
* Fleece.
* Scarf, gloves, woolly hat for winter safaris (plus extra warm jacket).
* Day shoes, and perhaps a pair of sandals.
* Hat & sunglasses.
* Spare reading / prescription glasses.

Personal things:
* Sun block.
* Insect repellent.
* Medications (leave in original packaging so it's easy to see what has been taken in case of an emergency).
* Basic 'first aid': plasters, sterile syringes, antihistamine creams, Imodium, pain killers etc.
* Toiletries (ladies, you can forgo the makeup while on safari!).
* Quick dry towel if you want to cut down on the number of towels washed.
* Books / Kindle
* Torch / Flashlight / Headlamp
* Alarm clock (most people use their phones).
* Phone chargers.
* Plug converter / adapter for specific country visited (see above).
* Ear plugs (noise levels on small planes can be quite high).

Safari Highlights: The Grim Reapers of Letaba.

2021-07-15T00:00:00+02:00

Safari Highlights; July 2021

On a recent Kruger safari tour visiting the Letaba area, we knew of a den site close to camp - one of the usual dens in a drainage pipe under the road. We could see that it was occupied, by the bones on the road in the mornings, and fresh signs of entry and exit.

But on several trips out there were no Hyenas to see. The adult Hyenas go on extended foraging trips, sometimes lasting several days, leaving the youngsters behind in the den. And with the cold weather the pups were reluctant to come out, as it was probably warmer down below than it was up on the road.

But one morning on the tour it all came together, and we arrived at the den just after the adults had returned. It's always a joy to see these reunions, the youngsters visibly elated at having the adults back home again. As we were watching, something interesting happened - one of the larger Hyenas regurgitated something - possibly semi-digested food - onto the road, and immediately the other members of the clan jumped in and began rolling enthusiastically in it.... Check out the video.

As to why they do this, there has been some research done. It seems that individuals who smell more may garner increased social attention from other clan members. The research was done in terms of the smell of carrion / meat (they also love to roll in putrid meat), but perhaps may apply to vomit as well. Interesting behavior! Who knows, but they are wonderfully grim but somehow still lovable creatures! Well, at least the little ones are....

See Hyenas and much more on our Incredible Kruger safari

Featured Safari Camp: Satara, the heart of Lion country.

2021-06-11T00:00:00+02:00

Featured Safari Camp: Satara, the heart of Lion country.

Satara is situated at the top of the lower third of the park. It's location means that it's convenient when coming from / going to the Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga Highlands route and Gowrie Gate (to access the northern Sabi Sand Game Reserve), making it one of the most regularly used camps on our tours and safaris.

Why is Satara one of our top Safari Camps in Kruger?

But that's not the only reason we like it. The basalt soils of the area support good grass growth, creating some classic African plains scenery, complete with classic dead Leadwood trees, which is typically what many people expect to see on a safari (unlike the shrubby country further south). And grass means grazers. Big grazers, such as Buffalo, Plains Zebra and Wildebeest. And big prey items mean... Lions! Indeed, the Satara area is rated as having some of the highest Lion densities in the entire park. And a large Lion population usually supports a large Spotted Hyena population, while the smaller prey items such as Impala are food for Leopard, Cheetah and Wild Dog packs. So a drive out of Satara always comes with a sense of excitement at what we may find. Moreover, the camp itself offers the best chances of seeing African Wild Cat and Honey Badger, as there are individuals of both species that frequent the camp, looking for scraps (and raiding dustbins in the case of the latter!). Doing your own braai (barbeque) at night offers the best way to see these two.

The birding is also excellent, and again, the predators support a healthy Vulture population, while other big raptors such as Martial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Bateleur, African Hawk Eagle and Brown Snake Eagle are also seen regularly in the area. Special birds we focus on while at the camp include Kori Bustard, Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark, African Mourning Dove, Double-banded Sandgrouse, Verreaux's Eagle Owl and Common Ostrich.

What are the Accommodation and facilities like?

Satara offers classic Kruger 'rondavel' accommodation, comprising round, thatch-roofed 2-bed huts, and there are also some larger some family units and guest houses. They are arranged in circles, all rooms facing onto an open common area that can teem with birds during the day. The rooms are generally clean and comfortable, with en-suite toilet and shower facilities (some of the family units have baths). Our preferred rooms for our trips are in A-Circle, on the northern side of the camp along the boundary fence, where one can hear the sounds of night animals coming from the dark bush beyond. There's a restaurant, shop and fuel station as well, as is the case with all main camps in the park. There's a flood-lit waterhole beyond the fence close to the restaurant which is worth keeping an eye on while dining (take your binoculars to dinner!), and at sundown during the dry season it's worth scoping it out to see the flocks of Double-banded Sandgrouse coming in to drink.

What about the safari routes?

One of the great things about Satara is the route choice from camp. One can go north, east, south or west on long circular routes that are ideal for a morning drive.

The route north takes one through stunning plains country. One can then deviate along the S90 to the west, the first section of which is great for Kori Bustard and Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark and large numbers of plains game at certain times of the year. If you carry on with the S90 you can loop back via the famed S100, the most popular route in the area (along which one occasionally sees the 'S100 Mega Pride of 25+ Lions), often producing great Lion sightings.

Or one can go east along the S127 to the Timbavati Picnic Site, and then back to camp via Nsemani Dam and the H7.

Or one could do the south-eastern quadrant, via the S100 and back via the H7 or vice versa, the H7 being particularly good for Cheetah, with a stop off at Sweni Bird Hide.

One of my personal favourites is the south-western quadrant in the early morning, going south on the H1-3 to scan the plains south of the Sweni Bridge, then backtracking slightly to west on the Sweni Road, which is often very productive up until the Welverdiend Water Hole. One can either return via the same route (the number of times we've hit the jackpot on the way back along the same route!) or carry on to Muzandzeni Picnic Site and the H7.

So there are four long, circular routes from the camp, plus one can go all the way north to Olifants Camp for breakfast and return via the S90, or head south to Tshokwane Picnic Site for breakfast - there's plenty of choice while staying at Satara!

Which of our tours include Satara?

For wildlife enthusiasts:

Our Incredible Kruger safari tour (June 2023 / 2024) offers the best way to experience Satara and its wildlife. On this itinerary we include 4 nights there, allowing ample time to experience the area and explore all the available route choices.
For a custom trip (we book it according to your availability) consider our Greater Kruger National Park Discoverer Extended tour (9- nights / 10 days), which includes 2 nights at Satara, as well as the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

For birders:

Our Eastern South Africa Highlights: Escarpment & Kruger safari includes a 2-night stop at Satara, with a focus on the birds (available as a private tour as well).
Our Eastern South Africa Endemics safari also includes a 2-night stop at Satara.

In conclusion, Satara is an all-round great camp, offering some of Kruger's best game viewing, with incredible Lion sightings generally, and a plethora of route choices, making every trip out of camp an exciting adventure. It's definitely one of our top safari camps in the Kruger National Park!

Mammals of the Kruger National Park

2021-05-12T00:00:00+02:00

The Mammals of the Kruger National Park:

For mammals, birds and other wildlife, the Kruger National Park is hard to beat. The 20 000 square kilometer park has an amazing range of habitats and vegetation types. These are largely a function of underlying geology, and there are 5 main rock / soil types – Gabbro, Grantine / Gneiss, Ecca Shales, Basalt and Rhyolite. These are arranged roughly sequentially, starting with Granite in the west and ending with the Rhyolite Lebombo Range in the east. The combination of geology, rainfall and aspect has resulted in 6 broad ecosystems within the park, which can be further sub-divided into 16 different vegetation types, or ‘ecozones’. This means that the landscape is always changing, and each camp brings with it a different experience for the visitor.

It also means that there are a lot of different mammals to see. There’s the big stuff of course – Elephants (plenty!), African Buffalo, Lion, South African Giraffe, Hippo’s, Plains Zebra etc, basically all the classic African mammals. But there’s a lot more to it – Kruger has 137 recorded mammal species! Granted, the bulk of those are bats and rodents, but still, you’ll have a chance of seeing a pretty decent range of mammal species.

But you may wonder what mammals you are likely to see on an average Kruger safari, hence the purpose of this blog – to give you a realistic idea of what species you may see on a Kruger Safari.

The ‘Big Five’ are generally the most sought-after mammal species. These are Elephant, African Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, and Rhino (Black Rhino and White Rhino). On an average stay of 4 nights and more in the south and central parts of the Kruger National Park, the chances of seeing Elephant, Buffalo and Lion are good to excellent – pretty much guaranteed for the first two, and very good for the later, probably over 80%. The chances are also pretty good for Leopard, especially in the south - I would put our average hit rate at over 75%. And time is your friend in the hunt for the cats, so that's why we recommend at least 4 nights, divided between 2 different camps.

In terms of Rhino, unfortunately these days the chances of seeing them are far lower than they used to be even 5 years ago, with numbers seemingly vastly reduced due to intensive poaching since 2010. Nowadays one has to go to specific camps to see them, so in certain areas the chances of seeing Southern White Rhino are still very good; the chances of seeing Black Rhino are low to very low (but this as always been the case to a degree, as they are very secretive).

Then there are two other sought-after mammal species: Wild Dog and Cheetah. These are species with large home ranges, covering large distances on a daily basis, and sightings are by no means guaranteed. In winter Wild Dogs become sedentary around den sites, so they move far less, and the chances of seeing them decrease somewhat – unless you know where a den is! In general, the chances of seeing these two species in the Kruger are around 50%, though on our dedicated ‘big cat’ safaris in October, which visit the Kruger and the Sabi Sand Game Reserve (one of Kruger’s neighbours), the hit rate for both Wild Dogs and Cheetah has been over 65% over a 10-year period. Spotted Hyenas are common, and almost guaranteed.

The in terms of ‘general game’ mammals – Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Hippo, Warthog, a range of Antelope species, these are guaranteed – you’ll see lots of them in the Kruger.

Then there are the small, more unusual mammal species, such as Honey Badger, different Mongoose species (Dwarf, Banded, Slender, White-tailed Mongooses etc), Genets, Civet, African Wild Cat, Serval etc. Many of these are nocturnal, and they are obviously hard to see, so there is some chance, but not necessarily a good chance. Night drives increase the odds, and sometimes you get lucky during the day, but these aren’t guaranteed by any means. Staying at certain camps, such as Satara, and doing your own food at the chalet, gives probably the best chances for Honey Badger and African Wild Cat, as there are a few individuals of both species that roam the camp after dark looking for scraps (or raiding dustbins in the case of the Badger!).

Primates include Vervet Monkey and Chacma Baboon, both guaranteed, becoming pesky at picnic sites etc, but fun to observe when feeding and socializing away from humans, where they belong. Night drives can produce Southern Lesser Galago, also seen on occasion on day roosts (when you have a sharp guide!), while Brown Thick-tailed Galago can be seen in certain camps.

On the really small end of the mammal scale, Free-tailed Bats (Chaerephon sp) occupy roof cavities in the main buildings of most camps, while certain camps have colonies of Epauletted Fruit Bats (Wahlberg's and Peter's are probably the main species, but they are almost impossible to separate in the field). Mauritian Tomb Bats can also be found roosting under the eves of buildings. Smith's Bush Squirrel is common throughout the park. Rodents seen occasionally include Pouched Mouse, Bushveld Gerbil and Acacia Rat, though of course there are many more species out there (and the same with the bats). And Rock Hyrax can be found in certain areas, notably the rock outcrops near Phalabrowa Gate.

If you are into statistics, I looked at seven random trip reports, from trips with an average of 4 nights in Kruger, and the average number of mammal species per trip was 28. To see the list, click here. Obviously, the longer you stay and the bigger the area you cover, the more mammal species you’ll see. The north for example, especially the Mopani area, has Antelope species that aren’t found in the south, such as Roan, Tsessebe and Eland. Then you occasionally get lucky with something very unusual, such as a Sharpe’s Grysbok (Olifants area), Sable (Pretoriuskop), Cape Clawless Otter (Sabie and Crocodile Rivers), Serval or Caracal (if you’ve very lucky!).

And Aardvark and Pangolin – don’t even ask! In all my time spent in the Greater Kruger area (close to 2 decades) I’ve only seen Pangolin twice, and Aardvark perhaps three times. But for the latter there are other places in the country where one stands a good chance – email us to find out more!

If there are specific mammals you would like to see, get in touch with us and we can build an itinerary around your target species!

Featured Safari Lodge - Elephant Bedroom, Samburu.

2021-04-13T00:00:00+02:00

Featured Safari Lodge: Elephant Bedroom, Samburu.

We can't wait to return to this safari lodge! Samburu is often overshadowed by the likes of the Masai Mara, but it’s a great reserve in its own right, and so different to the Mara that it is a must-visit on any Kenyan safari itinerary. And Elephant Bedroom safari lodge is the perfect base from which to explore the reserve.

Accommodation:

Tented camps provide the quintessential African safari lodge experience - the 'romance' of a bygone age coupled with comfort and a relatively small ecological 'footprint'. But leave behind your ideas about ‘tents’, as most tented camps are on a whole different level to what you may have in mind. And Elephant Bedroom is no exception. The 14 spacious safari tents are set on decks in linear layout along the bank of the Ewaso Nyiro river. They have a double layered ‘tropical roof’ set up to keep them cool (one disadvantage of improperly designed safari tents is that they can be hot inside, but a tropical roof or thatched covering moderates the temperature). They are large, airy and tastefully decorated, with en-suite bathrooms. They have private decks in front, complete with a small splash pool (be aware that the pool is covered at night so you don’t immediately notice that there’s a pool there - one our last visit I took an unplanned night swim!). The decks provide a good place to while away the hot hours, and don’t be surprised if an Elephant comes wandering past – the camp is unfenced, and Elephants often feed in and around the camp (hence the name). There are great birds to be seen from the decks as well, so all in all, 5/5 for the tents!

Dining and communal areas:

The lounge and evening dining area is set on another deck overlooking the river, while the lunch area under shady trees on the river bank is wonderful – you’ll have 'lifers' (a lifer is a bird species seen for the first time, for the non-birders) pecking around at your feet! And of course, the food is great - it’s always amazing to see what incredible dishes come out of basic, remote kitchens!

Game Drives:

When we visit Kenya, we always do our own game drives, as opposed to joining the drives offered by the various lodges or camps. So, at Elephant Bedroom we didn’t get to go out with their guides, but rather went out with our guide and vehicle from FACT Safaris, our local ground agent. As usual we went out on extended drives, taking a packed breakfast and lunch with us and only returning to camp in the late afternoon. The reserve itself is spectacular, with ample and varied bird life (it’s a superb bird photography venue), and plenty of special species to be seen including the ‘Samburu specials’: Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, Beisa Oryx, Desert Warthog and Vulturine Guineafowl. Predators are also common, and one can expect great Lion and Leopard sightings. Thoroughly enjoyable overall.

Location:

The location on the river is superb. The majestic Doum Palms on the banks are just so characteristic of the reserve. There are other lodges in the reserve that are situated in the rocky hills, giving wonderful panoramic views out over the arid plains, but being close to the river puts you closer to the action…

The Lawson’s rating (out of 5):

Accommodation: 4.5 – wonderful, as mentioned.

Communal areas: 4.5

Food: 4 – tasty and wholesome.

Location: 5 – the river is the place to be!

Game Viewing & birding: 5 – Samburu is a real gem, especially in terms of birds.

Overall: 4.6.

Suitable for: anyone.

Recommended length of stay: 3 nights.

Special notes: don’t fall into the splash pool!

Website: Elephant Bedroom Camp, Samburu

Visit Elephant Bedroom on our Birds & Wildlife of Kenya set-departure.

Birds of Nelspruit gardens and parks

2021-03-12T00:00:00+02:00

Birds of Nelspruit gardens and parks

The thing about garden birds is that one birder's garden bird is another birder's lifer!

So, when thinking of the birds I see in my Nelspruit garden and neighbourhood, there are quite a number that come to mind that are reasonably common but still pretty unusual and / or spectacular, at least for birders from overseas or from other parts of the country. And we're actually pretty lucky in terms of what we consider to be garden birds - I mean, who isn't impressed by a Purple-crested Turaco at the bird bath! And, in the two map pentads that make up the greater Nelspruit region, there have been almost 350 recorded species! So we have a pretty decent avi-fauna component all round.

So here are 12 incredible birds we see with reasonable regularity (at least) here in our Nelspruit gardens. Of course, there are plenty of more common species to be seen - Bronze Mannkin, Speckled Mousebird, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Dark-capped Bulbul and the like - as well as rarer species (some folks in the more well-wooded areas are lucky enough to have species such as Narina Trogon and African Wood Owl in their gardens), but for visiting birders here are some pretty cool garden birds to look out for in Nelspruit:

1. African Goshawk.
This is one of the most common raptors in and around Nelspruit. It’s primarily a bird hunter but will also take reptiles such as Agamas and small mammals such as rats and squirrels. If you hear a strange clicking sound seemingly coming from nowhere, look up and you’ll find an African Goshawk in display flight high in the sky above.

2. Freckled Nightjar.
This nocturnal species is associated with rock outcrops, and is not uncommon in the greater Nelspruit area. You may hear them at night, calling ‘pow-wow, pow-wow’ from rocks and rooftops. Amazingly, they nest on bare rocks, raising young in an incredibly challenging micro-environment – can you imagine the heat they have to endure on a hot Nelspruit summer’s day?

3. Purple-crested Turaco.
This is a common local species almost anyone will be familiar with. You can’t help but notice the intense scarlet under the wings as it flies across the road in front of you! And their loud, raucous calls are just so characteristic of the Nelspruit area.

4. Violet-backed Starling.
Our summers are definitely more colourful with these guys around! The males are just exquisite, their colour turning from deep ‘plum-purple’ to red, depending on the angle of the light. The females are a bit more drab – brown on the back, white with brown streaking below. These are Intra-African migrants, present in the region between October and late April.

5. White-browed Robin Chat.
This is our local songster! It’s a very vocal species, inhabiting thickets and tangles and densely vegetated gardens, from where it will chortle away with a series of whistles, starting softly but often becoming quite loud. One can often lure one into view by mimicking its whistles.They are quite common in the gardens of Nelspruit.

6. Crowned Hornbill.
Nothing says that you're in 'the bush' quite like the Hornbills. While the nearby Kruger National Park has half a dozen species, we're not quite as lucky here. Trumpeter Hornbills can be seen in some areas on occasion, but some winters see a massive influx of Crowned Hornbills - from where, I'm not quite sure! During winter of 2020 I had great pleasure every morning watching flocks of 50+ arrive to feed on the Natal Mahogany fruits in out neighbourhood - seeing squadrons of them gliding in from across the valley one almost expected Ride of the Valkyries to start playing from somewhere.

7. Black-collared Barbet.
These are also vocal species, with the pair performing a lively duet. They are fruit eaters, and also hole-nesters, and are able to actually make their own holes in soft wood (unlike the hordes of other hole-nesters we have that can't actually make their own holes). They are parasitised by Lesser Honeyguide, so when you have nesting Barbets, there's usually a Honeyguide presence in the area as well.

8. White-fronted Bee-eater.
Bee-eaters are always popular, and rightly so, with their vibrant colours and 'exotic' appeal. These are not really permanent residents in suburbia here, but can be seen anywhere as they move about, looking for insects. If you are looking for them specifically, they are often seen along the stream running through West Acres - drive along Kremetart Street and look for them perched on the powerlines. What a great Nelspruit garden bird!

9. Brown-hooded Kingfisher.
This is our resident Kingfisher and, as it is not a water-associated species (feeding on terrestrial insects mainly), it can be found in gardens and parks. In summer it is joined by the more flamboyant Woodland Kingfisher, but these are not that common in Nelspruit generally. Once again, the stream area along Kremetart Street is a good place to find Brown-hooded Kingfisher.

10. Amethyst Sunbird.
Sunbirds are another wonderful group of birds. Metallic plumage is almost standard, and there's no shortage of colour in the Family. And we have quite a few species here in Nelspruit - Amethyst, Scarlet-chested, White-bellied, Collared and Greater Double Collared and even Purple-Banded Sunbirds (the latter a relatively new arrival from northern KwaZulu-Natal), while Olive Sunbird can be seen in our local botanical gardens.

11: Spotted Eagle Owl.
This lovely nocturnal bird is not uncommon in and around town. At one stage we had a pair roosting in our office garden, which was a real privilege; and waking up in the dead of the night to hear their soft 'Hooo... Hoo' duet is just magical. African Wood Owl is also common, adding to a decent suite of night birds to be seen in and around Nelspruit. Unfortunately they are susceptible to secondary poisoning after eating poisoned rats.

12. African Harrier Hawk.
This curious raptor is fairly common in town gardens and parks. There are only two members of the Genus (Polyboroides): The African and Madagascar Harrier Hawks (or Gymnogenes). Their unique trait is the 'double-jointed' legs, which allow the bird to bend its legs sideways, forwards and backwards to access nests, holes and crevices where prey may be hiding. It's great to see them hunting in the neighbourhood, usually accompanied by a rather agitated 'mobbing party' of smaller birds.

Other 'notable' birds we see here in our Nelspruit gardens include African Green Pigeon, Green Wood Hoopoe, African Hoopoe, Black-headed Oriole, Red-headed Weaver, Little Sparowhawk, Black Sparrowhawk (had a cracking few yesterday as one flew right over my roof while my wife and I were having afternoon tea outside), Black-backed Puffback (Lawson's 'logo bird'), African Paradise Flycatcher (summer), Yellow-rumped and Yellow-fronted Tinkerbirds, Natal Spurfowl, Blue Waxbill and Klaas's Cuckoo (summer as well), to mention a few!

And if you ever find yourself visiting Nelspruit on business or whatever, and you'd like to do some birding in the area, drop us a line here to set up a morning outing or whatever, or just to find out about where to go etc.

Walking Safari Trip Report.

2021-03-03T00:00:00+02:00

Mohlabetsi Walking Safari Trip Report; 26th February – 1st March 2021

Day 1:
We all met up at Mohlabetsi Safari Lodge in the York region of the Balule Game Reserve at 13h00 on Friday 26th Feb, and were debriefed on arrival by the reception team as to the daily program and the Covid-19 safety protocols for the duration of our stay. It was a warm sunny afternoon and after checking in and getting settled we had a scrumptious lunch out on the lawn of the lodge overlooking a large open grassland plain. At lunch a Crested Barbet in a nest above us kept our necks very supple as did a Southern Red-billed Hornbill feeding its nest in a Knob Thorn tree close by. A large bull Elephant strolled past on the floodplain having a brief look our way before passing the herd of Impala. Tawny-flanked Prinia, Long-billed Crombec and Willow Warbler also made an appearance at lunch.

The afternoon drive departed at 16h00 stocked with a drinks box and clean binoculars. We visited some of the dams close by not to see animals but more to try find some water birds. Lesser Masked Weavers and Red-billed Buffalo-Weavers were still very vocal and busy on their nests in the middle of the dams. A Striated Heron made a brief appearance before flitting off into the thick fringe vegetation.

Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls were calling close by but we could unfortunately not get to see them. Egyptian Geese with goslings made a very narrow escape from a large menacing Crocodile hell bent on making them dinner. African Fish Eagle regaled us with its magnificent call while we were having sundowners.

Our first night drive back to the lodge got us Fiery-necked Nightjar, Spotted Thick-knee and Bronze-winged Courser. Dinner was moved indoors due to rain that started as we arrived back at camp, however, this did not dampen our spirits… or our appetites!.

Day 2:
We were woken at 5am with a knock on the door and all met for coffee soon after. It was still overcast and wet out but was not raining. The dawn chorus was slow but also drawn out. We left camp on foot in the grey light of an overcast dawn and immediately started clocking up new species. Southern Grey-headed Sparrow and Burchell’s Starlings were everywhere as were Grey Go-away Birds. Marico Sunbird gave us a spectacular view of itself before darting off to go find its mate.

Hippo tracks were everywhere and trails through the grass generally had Natal Spurfowls or Crested Francolins on them. We found the Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl that eluded us the day before. Two adult birds and a youngster were perched in a Marula Tree with the youngster whistling his sorrow-filled cry for food. Three-banded Plover, Wood Sandpiper and Water Thick-knee awaited us at a dam, with a very nice view of a small Malachite Kingfisher perched on the vegetation in the water.

Breakfast back at the lodge was out on the lawn again and this time we were enthralled by a number of Epauletted Fruit Bats hanging in the Knob Thorn Tree above us. Warthogs made an appearance on the lawn while we were having breakfast. The welcome midday siesta was great and it was with rejuvenated bodies we tackled the afternoon drive adding in a short walk. We drove out to a spot close to Dead End Dam and took a short walk to the dam. A large herd of Impala was at the water when we climbed the dam wall but did not take much notice of us sitting watching them. A Black-backed Puffback male was doing his puffed-up display in the Brown Ivory tree above us, and a Pearl-spotted Owlet was calling close by.

Back at the vehicle we took a short drive to a close dam for sundowners and watched an awesome sunset with a Hippo in the water below us. Fiery-necked Nightjar, Bronze-winged Courser and Double-banded Sandgrouse were our birds on the way home. True to form as we alighted from the vehicle the heavens opened up which changed boma dinner plans to inside dinner. We fell asleep to the soft calls of the African Barred-Owlet and the distance roar of Lions.

Day 3:
Two African Barred-Owlets were hawking insects in the still dark morning light when we came out for morning coffee, and were very patient with us and our spotlight. The morning walk did not go according to plan as we got distracted by a Lion roaring very close to us and then spent the rest of the morning trying to find it. However, we did do some good birding while tracking the male Lion and added Stierling’s Wren-Warbler, Red-crested Korhaan, Swainson’s Spurfowl and White-bellied Sunbird to the list.

We never did catch up to the Lion as a breeding herd of Elephants cut us off and then followed the Lion themselves. On our return to camp, we took a seat on a small dam wall and a Lesser Moorhen came out the vegetation on the far side of the dam. It stayed round for a long time giving us all magnificent views. White-faced Whistling-Duck and ducklings were also occupying the pond.

Our afternoon drive headed down to the Mohlabetsi River where we spent some time under the splendid large riverine trees on the banks of the river. Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike, Black Cuckooshrike, Grey Tit-flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher were fluttering and singing above us as we watched a large male White Rhino come down to the river to drink. A Gabar Goshawk caught our attention as it landed on a dead branch close by giving us splendid views of all its ID features.

Dinner was a splendid traditional braai (barbeque), in the boma, as the weather held off for us this night.

Day 4:
The weather was perfect this morning with a clear sunrise over the Drakensburg escarpment. Hippos watched us as we walked past the dam before witnessing two African Hawk-Eagles swoop down and try take some Egyptian Geese on the water. They perched close by much to the resident Blacksmith Lapwings’ dismay. A little further on we got our first good views or Southern White-crowned Shrikes and White-crested Helmet-Shrikes. Coming around a bush we walked straight into a very large, luckily sleeping Black Rhino cow. She was so sound asleep we could hear her snoring as we retreated, getting some distance. Shortly before returning to camp we did an approach on three Elephant bulls, experiencing the thrill of being close to these big creatures on foot. Back at the lodge we had a final breakfast before packing and departing, ending off a great ‘birding and wildlife on foot’ experience at Mohlabetsi Safari Lodge. Thanks to Tony, Alma and the staff at the lodge for incredible service and hospitality (as usual!).

Our total bird list ended on 127 with many lifers for the group participants.

"It was excellent. Bruce’s knowledge was outstanding. Great learning experience. Megan was also very good to be with. Overall, highly recommend this to anyone. It was what Arda and I hoped it would be. Facilities were good also, as was the food. Just a great experience" - D. Bryne.

The Guide's Tale: Snake on a Stick!

2021-02-18T00:00:00+02:00

On a late summer safari in 2015 with our South Australian Zoo Volunteers we were taking an afternoon bumble up the Sabie River road. As usual I was working hard to find anything of interest (besides everything overt that’s of interest – the trees, scenery, Giraffes, Elephants etc). As my eyes passed over a dead tree some distance off the road, I spotted an anomaly. A dead tree, with the bark long gone, should be almost 100% matt, it shouldn’t shine or reflect any light. Whoa! Brakes were hit and I reversed, picked up the binoculars and checked it out. Wowzer! A South African Python (formerly known as African Rock Python), was draped over the branch, its skin reflecting the setting sun slightly to create the shine. It took a while to get everyone onto it, as it blended almost perfectly into the environment, but what a great sighting! You certainly don’t see Pythons every day.

That was April 2015. On all my subsequent visits to the area I kept checking out the branch to see if there was a snake on it, but through the autumn and winter and into the summer of 2016 it never made an appearance again. Now here’s the strange part. In May 2016 the Zoo Volunteers were out on safari with us again. And again, we were driving along the Sabie River road in the late afternoon. As I passed the dead tree, I decided to give it a closer inspection, and lo and behold, the Python (or at least A Python, of similar size), was back on the branch! What are the chances of that? Like deja vu. Of course, I was immediately accused of having placed it there! Those Australians... (we do love them! And we are sure missing the 'gang').

Here's why they do it: small Pythons use these branches as ambush positions. I’ve seen a few, and they seem to often be close to water. And any water attracts birds, such as Doves. And the Doves like to alight on a ‘branch’ close to the water to survey the scene for danger before they fly down to drink. Little do they know that occasionally the danger is actually on the branch they plan to land on!