South Africa truly showcases a wonder of diverse habitats. Although I often mention this, you'll truly believe it once you join a birding tour here. One of these extraordinarily diverse habitats is the Western Cape region. The fynbos, a remarkable birding habitat, boasts an incredibly flower-rich area. Despite being the smallest floral kingdom, it captures the heart in many ways.
Naturally, being so unique, you'll encounter birds endemic to this habitat, adding to its incredible charm. While in Cape Town, we'll aim for a Pelagic trip to spot some offshore birds. Additionally, we'll explore the Cape of Good Hope in search of our desired species. This trip isn't solely focused on birds; we'll also marvel at incredible landscapes, places, and natural beauty at a relaxed pace.
The Cape region is also renowned for its wines and food. We will visit the West Coast National Park at Langebaan, situated on the Cape Peninsula, which hosts an incredible lagoon, and the Tankwa Karoo National Park, which, despite its large, dry, and quiet appearance, hosts an abundance of life and incredible beauty.
Day 1
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Birding adventure starts in Cape Town and staying the night at Fernwood Manor or similar.
Our first day is flexible. We can pick you up from Cape Town International Airport or your booked accommodation in Cape Town. For the next few nights, we’ll be based in Cape Town. If we have time on the arrival day, we could start of with some local birding. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens is a great place to see some of the special birds on our list. Alternatively, we could visit Rondeblei Nature Reserve to experience some Western Cape wetlands and see wetlands birds.
Day 2
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We stay one more night in Cape Town and take part in a Pelagic Tour.
Depending on space on the Cape pelagic trips in the area and wether weather permits we can embark on one of these ocean adventures. But otherwise on this day we will embark on a journey towards Betty's Bay stopping over at various birding sites along the way. We start our drive towards Harold Porter Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens are quite close to Stony Beach Penguin Colony where we can see the African Penguin and other breading Cormorants not easily seen elsewhere.
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Today is an early start as we embark on a Cape pelagic trip (weather-permitting, otherwise we will spend the day around the Cape Peninsula and False Bay). Soon after leaving the harbor we normally come across large flocks of Cape Cormorants and Cape Gannets heading out to sea to fish for the day, along with the occasional African Penguin. The coastline is incredibly rugged, yet eerily beautiful, with the sharp mountains rising right from the shore. Once we start transiting away from land the serious pelagic birding soon begins as we start seeing good numbers of Sooty, Great, and Cory’s Shearwaters, White-chinned Petrels, and the odd Storm Petrel (Wilson’s and European being most common). As we head farther out we will be on the lookout for trawlers, which attract huge numbers of seabirds. If we do find a trawler it normally has a cloud of seabirds behind it, particularly when the nets are being hauled in. Here we can expect to find Shy, Black-browed, Indian Yellow-nosed and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Northern and Southern Giant Petrels, Cape Petrel, Brown Skua, and occasionally Great-winged Petrel. We will always be on the lookout for Spectacled Petrel, Northern and Southern Royal Albatrosses, and Wandering Albatross which, although considered rare, are seen with some frequency off the Cape.
Day 3
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We stay one more night in Cape Town taking part in the spectacular birding around the area.
Today we plan to visit excellent sites such as the beautiful Hottentot Holland mountain range and Strandfontein Bird Sanctuary, one of Cape Town’s best waterbird sites. We start the day with an early departure (we’ll take breakfast packs along to enjoy later) heading east toward the Hottentot Holland mountains and particularly the small village of Rooi Els. To get to this picturesque village we have to traverse one of the most scenic drives in South Africa along the False Bay coast. First, we drive parallel to an extremely long white beach bordering the Cape Flats that separate the mountainous Cape Peninsula from the inland Cape Fold mountain ranges. Then we reach an area where impressive mountains meet the sea to begin a truly stunning marine drive. Our primary target for the day is Cape Rockjumper, which only occurs in the Cape Fold Mountains. Rooi Els is perhaps the easiest and most accessible spot to see the rockjumper, and our success rates are high. Other species to find here and nearby include Ground Woodpecker, Cape Rock Thrush, Victorin’s Warbler, Cape Siskin, Cape Grassbird, Cape Sugarbird, and many others. We may be lucky with a flyover of the pair of Verreaux’s Eagles that breeds in the area.
We then head to the small town of Betty’s Bay, where we visit the picturesque Harold Porter National Botanical Garden and enjoy lunch after a walk around the gardens. In the gardens we should find African Dusky and African Paradise Flycatchers, Black Saw-wing, Swee Waxbill, Yellow Bishop, and Brimstone and Cape Canaries.
We will also be sure to include a visit to the nearby Stony Point African Penguin colony. In addition to the penguins, Stony Point also has numbers of breeding Cape, Crowned, and Bank Cormorants – all offering excellent and close-up views!
On our way back to Cape Town we may visit Strandfontein Bird Sanctuary, which offers Cape Town’s best wetland birding. Species to look for here include South African Shelduck, Blue-billed, Red-billed, and Cape Teals, Maccoa Duck, Cape Shoveler, Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes, African Swamphen, and a number of other waterbird species.
Day 4
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Departing from Cape Town we make our wat to the West Coast
We will be leaving the picturesque city of Cape Town and make our way to the West Coast which is situated north of Cape Town about 2 hours drive. This area consists mainly of Strandveld Vegetation which is unique to the cape area. On the way to Langebaan which borders with the West Coast National Park we will have some birding excursions on the way. The area consists mainly of farmlands. We will be on the look out for Blue Crane which can be seen on the farms. Pied Starling flocks, Cape Clapper Lark, Capped Wheatear and Cape Longclaw. West Coast National Park will also be on our list of places to bird as the Langebaan Lagoon is a special site. Here we can see a number of birds including some stranveld specials like Bokmakiere, White-Backed Mousebird, Cape Penduline Tit, Grey Tit, Karoo Scrub-Robin, Yellow Canary, White-Throated Canary, Grey-Winged Francolin, Southern Black Korhaan and the Black Harrier that floats above the fynbos.
Day 5
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Departing from West Coast we make our way to the Karoo
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We often start this day by birding some of the farmlands north of Langebaan for a few more endemics that are unlikely to be found elsewhere on the trip. Our primary targets this morning will be Cape Long-billed Lark and Sickle-winged Chat; however, we should also find Large-billed Lark, Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark, Blue Crane, Ant-eating Chat, and perhaps Namaqua Sandgrouse. After our early-morning birding we head inland through some spectacular mountain scenery. But we have to get to the eastern (rain-shadow) side of the mountains to get to the famed (among birders) Karoo. The Karoo exhibits an amazing level of endemism, as the species need to adapt to the incredibly harsh conditions. This makes for spectacularly exciting birding for any serious birder who has never visited this particular semi-desert.
Day 6
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Departing from Birding in the Karoo
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Today we will have a full day of Karoo birding. Dry, rocky gorges will be explored for Cinnamon-breasted Warbler (a truly bizarre rock crevice skulker) as well as Layard’s Warbler, Grey Tit, Fairy Flycatcher, and Booted Eagle overhead. In the riverbed vegetation we will look for another special, Namaqua Warbler. The dry plains will be birded extensively for a range of exciting species such as Rufous-eared Warbler, Black-headed Canary, White-throated Canary, Karoo and Tractrac Chats, Karoo, Spike-heeled, and Large-billed Larks, Karoo Eremomela, Pririt Batis, Ludwig’s Bustard, Karoo Korhaan, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Namaqua Dove, and many others. The erratic Burchell’s Courser is seen from time to time however sightings of this desert nomad are unfortunately rare and unpredictable. Similarly, depending on unpredictable Karoo rains, Black-eared Sparrow-Lark may sometimes occur in large numbers, however it is only during exceptional years that we see this erratic species, here at its southern extent. We may then head out this evening to search for Freckled and Rufous-cheeked Nightjars and any other exciting nightlife we may encounter.
Day 7
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Departing from Tankwa we make our way back to Cape Town
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After some early-morning Karoo birding, searching for anything we have missed over the last couple of days, we head out of the Karoo and back toward Cape Town. On our way back we will stop on a beautiful mountain pass to search for Protea Canary and Victorin’s Warbler and may get lucky with a flyover Verreaux’s Eagle.
Once back in Cape Town we will have part of the afternoon to bird at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The gardens here are incredibly beautiful, complete with Table Mountain as a backdrop. In the beautifully maintained gardens we will look for Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Sugarbird feeding on Protea flowers, while Cape Spurfowl, African Olive Pigeon, Olive Thrush, African Dusky Flycatcher, Cape Batis, Southern Boubou, Cape Canary, Brimstone Canary, Swee Waxbill and Lemon Dove should all be seen while walking around the gardens.
Day 8
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Departure day.
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We may have time to do some final birding along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain before you catch your flight to Durban to join our Subtropical South Africa tour or your international flight to leave Cape Town.
For those joining both the Cape and Subtropical trips, the Birding Ecotours office plans to book the one-way flight from Cape Town to Durban for everyone (on this, the last day of the Cape trip, which is also the first day of the Subtropical trip). It is no problem at all, however, if you have already booked this flight. If Birding Ecotours books the flight the cost can just be added to the balance you owe – the flight usually costs R1000-R2000 (ballpark).
$2500 per person sharing
+$250 single supplement
Date : 10 - 18 October 2024
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Duration : 8 Days 7 Nights
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Group Size : 4 - 6
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Starts in Cape Town
Ends in Cape Town
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Spaces Available : 6
Most of the hotels and lodges are of a good or very good standard. Transportation is provided by a passenger transport vehicle and the roads are in good condition, although some areas have dirt roads.
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The walking effort required for our South African birding tour is generally minimal.
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The weather is usually hot, dry, windy, and sunny, but overcast conditions can occur, and it may rain occasionally. At higher altitudes, mornings are cool but the temperature increases later in the day.
Airport Transfers, Accommodation and Meals the entire tour (full-board), Conservation Fees & Entrance Permits, Mineral Water (Bottled), Ground transport, Expert birding guide and tour leader.
Included
International flights, Visas, other activities not included on the itinerary, soft and alcoholic drinks, personal travel insurance, gratuities, personal items.
Excluded
*Please be aware that the proposed itinerary is subject to change, as it serves only as a tentative outline. Variations may occur due to factors such as accommodation availability, updated conditions of accommodations, road conditions, or changes in birding sites.