This is a self drive Birding Route | | | | Day 1 | | Fly in to Johannesburg, and transfer to Kruger National Park. The bushveld is one of the richest birding biomes, and Kruger has about 500 of the estimated 900 bird species found in South Africa. (An extra day here would be well spent.) | | Day 2 | | Drive slowly up to the north, and then back down again. | | Day 3 | | Drive to Ithala Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Ithala has a number of vegetation zones, thanks to its wide range of geological features and large altitude range. Consequently, there is an enormous number of bird species in a small area. | | Day 4 | | Head off to Ndumo, which has some of the best bird hides in the country, overlooking a prolific wetland. (If you have the time, you could take a longish detour to Kosi Bay, where you are virtually guaranteed a sighting of a palmnut vulture at the southern extreme of its range.) | | Day 5 | | Head South to Durban via the wonderful Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve, where you will see lots more birds. | | Day 6 | | Fly to Port Elizabeth and do an escorted, or unescorted birding trip near the city. | | Day 7 | | Drive from Port Elizabeth to Tsitiskamma National Park, where you can take a long walk to see some shy forest birds. Knysna loeries are beautiful and quite secretive, as is the spectacularly beautiful and iridescent Narina trogon. You may also catch a glimpse of the less spectacular, but quite rare, grey cuckooshrike. A walk through the fynbos on the hillside overlooking the sea will reward you with sightings of the black and/or lesser double-collared sunbird. | | Day 8 | | Drive to Cape Town. En route you are likely to see Abdim?s storks (summer only) grazing in fields on the side of the road. Once past Swellendam, you stand a good chance of seeing a blue crane ? South Africa?s national bird, and one of our most endangered. | | Day 9 | | Visit all the birding hotspots of Cape Town ? Cape Point, Table Mountain, Rondevlei Bird Sanctuary, and Boulders Beach (for penguins). There are so many birds to see here, but one of the prettiest endemics to look out for is the orangebreasted sunbird. | | Day 10 | | Take a boat off Cape Point to see a huge variety of oceanic birds. | | Day 11 | | Head up the West Coast, to just overwhelm yourself with the sight of countless waders and seabirds. Spend the night in Langebaan or Elands Bay. | | Day 12 | | Head back to Cape Town and fly home. (If you have more time, you could keep going north to the Kalahari, where you will see yet another whole assemblage of birds.) |
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