South Africa: the Kalahari to the Cape Saturday 1 September to Sunday 16 September 2012 with Steve Rooke as leader.
Cost: £3030 plus about £860 for flights (2012) Price Reduced Note that the flight cost includes a domestic flight. Anyone booking their own international flights to Johannesburg will still need to pay for the domestic flight to Upington. Please click here for explanation of price breakdown Maximum group size: 6 with 1 leader; 12 with 2 leaders. |
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| In recent years South Africa has become a very popular destination for birdwatchers and a glance at one of its many excellent field guides soon reveals why. Over 700 different bird species occur there, of which over 100 are endemic or near-endemic. Thousands of kilometres of shoreline harbour migrant and resident birds, and offshore congregate some of the largest concentrations of seabirds in the world. Early September is the absolute best time to visit western South Africa. Spring will be under way and many of the birds will be full breeding plumage as they busy themselves with the onset of nesting. If the early rains have been good, they will have coaxed life from the desert and we should be treated to some wonderful wildflower displays. Our journey will take us from the rolling red sand dunes of the Kalahari Desert, through the hauntingly beautiful plains of Bushmanland to the Atlantic coast. From there we travel to the vast expanse of the Great Karoo before ending our tour where Africa itself ends and two oceans meet, at the windswept Cape of Good Hope. Steve has been running tours to South Africa for eleven years and this itinerary has been designed by him to show us the best birding the Western Cape has to offer at the very best time to visit the region. Day 1: The tour begins with an overnight flight from London to Johannesburg, arriving early the following day. Day 2: After arriving in Johannesburg, we’ll connect with an onward flight to Upington, gateway to the Kalahari Desert. Upington sits on the Orange River and our first stop will be along its banks where our birding begins with White-throated Swallow, White-backed and Red-faced Mousebirds, African Hoopoe, Crested barbet, Red-eyed Bulbul, Orange River White-eye, the localised Namaqua Warbler, Cape Sparrow and Black-throated Canary. Later we begin our drive into the Kalahari. As the landscape gradually becomes more arid, the birdlife will also change and we’ll have not gone far before we see the first of many massive Sociable Weaver nests, which are a feature of this region. Other species that will break our journey could include White-backed Vulture, Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, Pygmy Falcon and possibly Double-banded Courser and Short-toed Rock Thrush. Night in Askham. Day 3: Sandwiched between Namibia and Botswana, the Kgalagadi Trans Frontier Reserve is one of Africa’s wildest and least known National Parks. We’ll have an early start to get to the Reserve gate for dawn. Once inside the Reserve we’ll head for a small waterhole where we should be treated to flocks of Namaqua Sandgrouse coming to drink, hopefully joined by a few of the rarer Burchell’s Sandgrouse and hordes of other birds such as Namaqua Doves, Cape Sparrows, Grey-backed Sparrowlarks, Red-headed Finch and of course those ubiquitous Sociable Weavers. We are only allowed out of our vehicle in a few designated places, so we’ll spend the morning slowly driving along roads that follow an old river bed, using the vehicle almost as a mobile hide. Small birds that will be instantly obvious will include Chat and Marico Flycatchers, Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, and swarms of Scaly-feathered Finches, while some special birds we’ll be looking for include Fawn-coloured Lark, the stunning Crimson-breasted Shrike, Ashy Tit and Kalahari Scrub-Robin. The Park is also a great place for raptors and we can expect to encounter Gabar Goshawk, Lanner, and possibly Red-necked Falcons, Bateleur, and Martial Eagle. The massive Verreaux’s Eagles Owls can usually be found with ease while in the more open areas we stand a chance of finding the strange Secretarybird or a Kori Bustard. Gemsbok are common here, as are Springbok and Blue Wildebeeste while an encounter with an endearing troop of Meerkats is always possible. We may also see a pride of the large black-maned Kalahari Lions or a skulking Cheetah. The countryside outside the Reserve is also good for birds and we’ll be on the lookout for Northern Black Korhaan, African Grey and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills, Pearl Spotted Owlet, and Groundscraper Thrush to mention a few. Night in Askham. Day 4: Today we retrace our steps to Upington, stopping on the way to look for Eastern Clapper and Pink-billed Larks. We make another stop at Augrabies National Park where the Orange River tumbles into a deep and spectacular gorge before flowing on to form the border with Namibia. We’ll have time to admire the falls and look at some of the plentiful birdlife to be found nearby, including Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Acacia Pied Barbet, Pale-winged Starling, White-throated Canary and Southern Masked Weaver. Night in Pofadder. Day 5: South of the Orange River lies the arid and semi-arid regions of Bushmanland, a hauntingly beautiful landscape where, in the not too distant past, San tribes hunted the migrant herds of antelopes. This area is still sparsely populated and it is possible to travel through this stark wilderness all day without seeing another person. Driving along the endless dirt roads that service the remote farms we hope to see Great Kestrel, Karoo Korhaan, Ludwig’s Bustard, Tractrac, Sickle-winged and Karoo Chats, Layard’s Tit-babbler, Southern Grey Tit, and Lark-like Bunting, among many other species. In such an arid region, water is a great attraction and we’ll stop and the many small drinking troughs to see what is coming into drink. In particular we’ll be hoping to find more or the regions larks including Sabota, Sclater’s, Stark’s, Thick-billed, Karoo Long-billed and Spike-heeled Larks. Later in the day we’ll travel to a specific region of red sand dunes to look for the rare Red Lark which is only found in a few tiny areas of the northern Cape. Night in Pofadder. Day 6: We’ll leave early this morning to travel west to the town of Springbok, gateway to Namaqualand and the world famous wildflower region. Close to the town lies the reserve of Goegap and a visit here will instantly tell us if the rains have been good as in some years the place can be covered in sheets of pastel-coloured flowers. Whether the flowers are there or not, there are still birds to see including Mountain Chat, Bokmakierie, Cinnamon-breasted Warbler, Malachite Sunbird, and Black-headed and Damara Canaries. Later we take the main road south, perhaps venturing along side roads on to a maze of dirt tracks that weave through a mosaic of hills and agricultural land where again we can find whole fields cloaked in wild flowers. Dragging ourselves away from this botanical extravagance will not be easy but an ornithological one awaits us further south at the thriving fishing port of Lambert’s Bay. We’ll arrive in the evening, just in time to sample the delights of an excellent open air fish restaurant on the beach with the Atlantic waves crashing a few yards away. Night at Lambert’s Bay. Day 7: We’ll begin the day with a dawn visit to the extensive coastal fynbos that surrounds the town looking for Karoo and Cape Clapper Larks, both of which should be performing their aerial song flights. Other species here could include Karoo Scrub Robin, Karoo Prinia, Grey-backed Cisticola, Cape Penduline Tit, and Bar-throated Apalis. After breakfast we visit the famous Cape Gannet colony, which will be teeming with tens of thousands of birds well into their breeding season. The sight, sound and, it must be said, smell of all these birds packed together is unforgettable. In the throng of Cape Gannets we should also find Cape and Crowned Cormorants jostling for space, and we’ll watch Cape Fur Seals basking on the rocks. Leaving Lambert’s Bay we follow the coast south, arriving at Veldriff at the mouth of the Berg River. Swift Terns will be much in evidence along with Caspian Terns, Cape and Hartlaub’s Gulls, and a variety of waders including Pied Avocet and Marsh Sandpiper. There should also be flocks of both Greater and Lesser Flamingos and thousands of Cape Cormorants present. Later we’ll move onto Saldana where we can get close views of Bank Cormorants and where we’ll have our first encounter with African Black Oystercatchers and African Penguins. Night in Saldana.
Day 8: Nearby is the small town of Langebaan which lies at the head of an enormous inlet that forms the spectacular West Coast Nature Reserve. We’ll visit the Reserve to search for striking Black Harriers quartering the flower-strewn coastal fynbos and spend time searching through the flocks of waders that make this huge natural lagoon their winter home. Among the many migrant waders from further north, there will also be resident birds including White-fronted and Kittlitz’s Plover and with luck we may encounter the scarce Chestnut-banded Plover. Around the edge of small pools we will find nesting Cape Weavers while Southern Black Korhaans and Cape Francolins can frequently be found along the roadside. There should be some superb flower displays here, and if the weather is clear, we’ll get our first distant glimpse of Table Mountain. Leaving the this reserve we visit a much smaller one a little way inland which is famous for it’s display of wild flowers and where we’ll hopefully see Orange-throated Longclaw and Cloud Cisticiola. Moving on, we head inland to the Cedarberg Mountains where we’ll spend the night at a remote guest house high in the hills. Day 9: We'll awake to find ourselves surrounded by truly spectacular scenery and to the sound of displaying Cape Clapper Larks. We have a full day to explore these hills and the wonderful karoo habitat. We begin with a visit to a rocky gorge to look for Cinnamon-breasted Warbler as well as Fairy Flycatcher, Pririt Batis and Layard’s Tit Babbler. Moving on we’ll drop down into the karoo, an endless stony plain covered in the most beautiful array of small Euphorbias and succulent scrub. If there has been rain we may find flocks of Black-eared Sparrowlarks visiting waterholes or Double-banded Coursers running over the stony ground and a Karoo Korhaan could turn up anywhere. This is good ‘chat’ country and we’ll have time to compare Karoo, Tractrac and Sickle-winged Chats. Elsewhere we may find Rufous-eared Warbler, Karoo Eremomela or Grey-winged Francolin and a visit to the town of Ceres should give us African Black Duck or a noisy Giant Kingfisher. Day 10: We’ll leave the Cederburg Mountains we drive through some high passes and stunning scenery. Our destination is the quaint town of Swellendam but before we reach there, we’ll detour to the town of Paarl, where the large sewage farm has partly been converted into a bird reserve. Here we may find species not seen elsewhere on the tour such as Black Crake, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hottentot Teal, Little Bittern, and Malachite Kingfisher. We’ll also visit the Paarl mountain reserve to look for Protea Canary and Olive Woodpecker before carrying on to Swellendam. Night in Swellendam. Day 11: Close to the town lies a reserve established to protect that beautifully marked antelope, the Bontebok. As well as good numbers of this endangered antelope, we could also see Stanley’s Bustard, Knysna Woodpecker, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Agulhas Clapper and Agulhas Long-billed Larks and Southern Tchagra. Later we’ll head south, driving through undulating arable fields where we should find large groups of Blue Cranes and we’ll cross the Breede River at the Malgas ferry – the last working ferry in South Africa. We’ll call in at Potberg, a towering hill which is one of the last strongholds of Cape Vulture and we should have good views of these magnificent birds circling overhead. As the day draws to a close we’ll head west and follow the road into Cape Town, crossing the Overberg Mountains at Sir Lowry’s pass where we should get superb views of False bay, the Cape Flats and Table Mountain. Night in Cape Town. Days 12-15: We’ll have four days in which to sample the delights that birding around the tip of Africa has to offer. The weather here is notoriously fickle, but if conditions permit we’ll venture out one day into the South Atlantic in search of seabirds. Our objective is to find a deep-sea trawler which, when sighted, appears to have a thick dark cloud of smoke trailing behind it. Astonishingly, this is a throng of thousands of seabirds, mostly albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, following the ship in search of offal being dumped overboard. We’ll cruise among this mass where binoculars will hardly be necessary, as many of the birds will be almost too close to focus on. The mix of birds is variable with a wide variety possible. We should see Shy, Black-browed and with luck, both Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Southern Giant, Pintado and White-chinned Petrels, Sooty and Great Shearwaters, Sub-antarctic Skua, and Wilson’s Storm-petrel. Less common possibilities include Antarctic Fulmar, Wandering Albatross, and Soft-plumaged Petrel, and there is always the chance of a real seabird rarity. There may be a few Antarctic Terns heading to their southern breeding grounds, or a Sabine’s Gull freshly arrived from the north, and all of these will be mingling with thousands of Cape Gannets, Cape Gulls and Cape Fur Seals joining in the feeding frenzy. Back on dry land, we’ll explore the Cape’s verdant mountains, passes and valleys looking for Ground Woodpecker, Knysna Warbler, Grassbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, and Cape Siskin. We will take time to visit the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, lying in the shadow of Table Mountain. These gardens are not just a wonderful place for plants – there are plenty of birds to be seen as well. A resident Spotted Eagle Owl can usually be found at its daytime roost, Cape Batis and Forest Canaries feed among the undergrowth while Cape Sugarbirds, Cape White Eyes and Lesser Double-collared Sunbirds buzz around the masses of flowers and Sombre Greenbuls call loudly from the undergrowth. Black Sawwings skim overhead and there is a good chance of seeing a majestic Black Eagle or a Red-breasted Sparrowhawk soaring around the slopes of Table Mountain. One day we’ll cross to the other side of False Bay to an area famed for giving close views of Southern Right Whales and where we’ll search the rocky slopes for Cape Rockjumper and the shy Victorin’s Warbler. A visit to the famous Strandfontein Sewage Farm should give us close encounters with Greater Flamingos, Glossy Ibis, Pied Avocets and a number of ducks including Southern Pochard and Maccoa Duck. We’ll visit an African Penguin colony and of course, we’ll fit in a visit to the Cape of Good Hope itself. Nights in Cape Town. During the evening of Day 15 we’ll catch an overnight flight back to London where the tour ends on Day 16.
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Last updated December 2011 |
A Cape Sugarbird on a protea flower - a classic image from the tour.
We can expect to see some of the best wildflower displays in the world in Namaqualand...
where we also find smart Mountain Chats.
Our pelagic out of Cape Town will encounter thousands of seabirds, including plenty of White-chinned Petrels.
Celebrating with hot coffee after seeing the Red Lark at dawn.
Cape Gulls are a common sight along the coast, here nesting at Lambert's Bay...
although the main attraction here is of course the Cape Gannet colony.
Dainty Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters can be quite common in the Kalahari Desert...
as can the distinctive Gemsbok.
And we always see the mighty Verreaux's Eagle Owl at its daytime roost.
Groundscraper Thrushes are often found around the grounds of our lodge in the Kalahari Desert.
The colourful and very vocal Bokmakarie.
A trio of African Black Oystercatchers close to Cape Town.
Photos by Steve Rooke and Peter Lord.
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Bird List
