Join us on a comfortable birding and wildlife safari in South Africa and at the Victoria Falls.
This fabulous “introduction to Africa” trip will allow you to get your first taste of Africa (or, if you’ve been before, you’ll surely see some birds and mammals you might have missed the first time around). We begin by experiencing one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Cape Town, and the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains and spectacular Cape coastline with its unique, rich plantlife and accompanying endemic birds such as sugarbirds, sunbirds and Cape Rockjumper.
We also look for African Penguin, Blue Crane, Cape Mountain Zebra and other charismatic species. We will then fly to the opposite corner of South Africa and spend a few days in Karongwe, a “big five” reserve, meaning here you can see Lion, Leopard, White Rhinoceros, African Elephant, and Cape Buffalo. And with almost 300 species, this beautiful private reserve is a great birding destination. From Karongwe, we drive to South Africa’s greatest game park, Kruger National Park. Kruger is not only one of Southern Africa’s richest places for mammals, but also boasts a bird list of over 500 species.
This massive park covers a vast area and is teaming with Africa’s big (and small) creatures. The great thing for birders, though, is that it’s full of easy-to-see, spectacular-looking birds, such as several species each of roller, bee-eater, kingfisher, hornbill, vulture, owl, and stork. The park is famous for birds of prey, including the spectacular, colorful Bateleur. There’s also a good chance of finding Secretarybird, Kori Bustard (the world’s heaviest flying bird), Southern Ground Hornbill (along many other hornbill species). We end this amazing trip with a flight from the Kruger Park to Victoria Falls, bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe. What locals call “The Smoke that Thunders” is the planet’s largest waterfall (it’s twice the height of Niagara and more than twice its width), where the mighty Zambezi plummets into a deep gorge. The area around the falls is extremely rich with birdlife and is in the heart of wild Africa where megafauna still freely roam.
Please refer to the itinerary below. For questions or to sign up, contact Eric Schroeder at travelprogram@goldengateaudubon.
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