Our South africa Birding Safaris are below this introductionary text.

 We can custom design your Birding Safari to South Africa or Botswana, and even I have managed to see Pells Owl twice , with some good Birding Guides.

SAFARIS / GAME PARKS:BIRDING

South Africa is an absolutely awesome game-viewing destination. With our many different biomes, and vast protected areas, we have more variety and sheer abundance of game than almost anywhere else on earth.

The way to experience this wide variety of wildlife is by doing a Safari, either at a public or private park. What follows is information about Safaris and Game Parks.

For suggested schedules that include Safaris, look at our Sample Trips section.

With about 900 species, many of which are endemic, rare, or just plain beautiful, a South Africa Birding safari is megatickland. Even if you just drive around on the edge of the cities, you'll be constantly reaching for that pair of binoculars. And, of course, a visit to one of our national parks will absolutely overwhelm you with the sheer number and variety of birds.

South AfricaBirding Safari
Birding is at once the most satisfying and most frustrating pastime. Satisfying because you can do it in so many unexpected places, and frustrating because that one mega-tick somehow always seems to escape you. And non-birders never seem to understand. There you may be, avidly trying to focus on what you’re sure was a pink-throated twinspot, while everyone else on the safari vehicle wants to go off and see elephants. So perhaps it's best to travel with like-minded "feather-brained" companions.

There are a number of specialized South Africa birding trips ranging from half-day escorted jaunts on the outskirts of cities to organised treks across the country. Some game reserves and national Parks also have specific birding programs.

Bird parks or sanctuaries

Although nothing can compare with stalking that special bird through the forest, or across an open plain, bird parks do have their place. As well as the few commercial parks, you can also get fantastic sightings of birds at a number of sanctuaries - many of which are withing city limits. And, of course, don't forget that ostriches are birds and, even if you did spot one in the wild, you will learn a lot more about them at an ostrich farm.

Near Cape Town, there are some protected penguin colonies, where you can spend ages just watching these endearing birds.

Seabirds

If you’re planning to tick off a whole lot of seabirds on your holiday, you’ve come to the right place. As well as the many gulls, gannets, terns and cormorants who have their permanent home here, we have a huge population of the endemic and adorable, African penguin. This endangered, flightless bird nests on pretty inaccessible offshore islands but can be seen in one of two mainland colonies near Cape Town, and also on Robben Island.

There are many spots where you will see an awesome number of seabirds and waders, but the West Coast is hard to beat. All the way up this coast, there are estuaries, lagoons and wetlands just teeming with waders and seabirds, especially when the summer migrants arrive. Try Langebaan Lagoon, Verlorenvlei, Rocher Pan, Bird Island, and Velddrif.

Even more exciting, though, is the opportunity to see a whole range of Arctic migrants, and even a few unusual vagrants, just off the coast of Cape Town. If you charter a boat to take you off Cape Point (which is, incidentally, spectacular from the sea), you may see a number of species of albatrosses, petrels, storm petrels, sheerwaters, skuas and tropic birds. The cute and comical rockhopper penguin is a fairly frequent vagrant, and even macaroni and king penguins have dropped in for a rare visit.