Lifers and Twitchers
Malachite Kingfisher
We specialise in offering nature tours focusing on wildlife and birding. Whether you’re a tourist keen on wildlife wanting to see birds as an optional extra, a beginner birder or well-travelled twitcher keen to add species to your life list, we have something for you. We offer a range of tours including day tours to Pilanesberg National Park and various natural areas around Johannesburg and Pretoria, together with short excursions to Pilanesberg National Park (combined with Magaliesberg and Sun City) as well as the Kruger National Park, where we offer a short stay at an affordable game lodge in a private game reserve open to the Park. Visit our “Day Tours” and “Itineraries” pages for more information about our offerings.
With seven biomes supporting a range of habitats, South Africa’s bird list stands at around 900 species, 144 of which are endemic or near-endemic. The country is therefore a birders’ paradise, no matter whether you’re an average twitcher or an international birder in search of more lifers to add to your list. Many of the birds are located in prime wildlife areas, so you will have an excellent chance of enjoying a superb game experience too and may even have opportunities to see the Big Five in some of the reserves that we visit on our tours.
Summer (September to April) is definitely the time to visit as you will see intra-African migrants as well as Paleoarctic and Paleoantarctic migrants. Many birds will also be in colourful breeding plumage; spectacular to behold and easier to identify.
On the flip side, South Africa’s winter birding is also excellent with many lowerlying regions supporting altitudinal migrants and having an average bird list numbering well over 350 species, even in winter.
The climate of many of the country’s warmer areas such as the Kruger National Park and Lowveld, as well as certain areas of KwaZulu-Natal is generally mild and pleasant at that time of year.
As most of South Africa is a summer rainfall region, you are also less likely to experience rain and thunderstorms on your trips and birds will be more active. Malaria in the eastern parts of South Africa is also less prevalent at that time of year.
FOR A LIST OF BIRDING SPECIALS YOU MAY SEE ON OUR TOURS, CLICK HERE.
