Birding
Experience a birdwatching adventure in Africa
Summary
Africa offers some of the world’s most diverse species of birds and is a haven for birdwatching. Birding novices and serious birders will be rewarded with beautiful African landscapes to spot hundreds of rare bird species including the impressive albatross, rare shoebill, brilliant flamingo and the tiny finch. You’ll find plenty of birdwatching opportunities to marvel at across this great continent of Africa.
Highlights
South Africa: Penguins, Albatross and Shearwaters
South Africa is renowned for wildlife and it’s not all big cats and elephants, from tottering penguins on the southern shore to circling raptors in the north of the country, South Africa has birds of all feathers. Some of the best birding is offshore as the nutrient-rich waters draw thousands of birds including albatross, petrels, shearwaters and skuas. Don’t miss Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world, in the Western Cape a perfect birding escape.
Tanzania: Ostrich, Finch & Flamingo
In Tanzania, the landscape ranges from the rolling grasslands of the Serengeti to the high-altitude slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. This makes for an incredible variety of birdlife, from huge ostriches to tiny finches. Lake Natron, a salt and soda lake in the north of the country, is the only regular breeding ground in east Africa for 2.5 million lesser flamingoes. These graceful birds turn the lake to a sea of pink.
Zimbabwe: Robins, Warblers and Blue Swallows
Head straight for the Mountains of the Mist, also known as the Vumba Highlands for some of the best birding in Zimbabwe. Many species call this area home including the Swynnerton’s Robin and Robert’s Warbler, you will only find these species here and in neighbouring Mozambique. The rainforest around Victoria Falls is home to a wide variety of birdlife in a small area and it’s not unusual to bird watch at least 100 species in just a few hours. Or head to the unique Eastern highland area to sight brilliant Blue Swallow’s who depend on the wet montane grassland found exclusively in this area of Zimbabwe.
Uganda: African Green Broadhill, Skelley’s Crimsonwing and Shoebill
Uganda is regarded as Africa’s top birding destination. Many of the 1,000 species that live in the forests here are found nowhere else, like the African green broadbill and the incredibly rare Shelley’s crimsonwing. It’s the best place to see the legendary shoebill, a clumsy giant of a bird with a wingspan of more than 2.5 metres, that’s the most sought-after bird on the continent.
