Important Note: AS OF JUNE 12, COVID TESTING IS NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR AIR PASSENGERS ARRIVING IN THE US FROM ABROAD. That's one less thing to worry about, and we look forward to birding with you! To see the most recent update of our pre-tour and on-tour protocols and our requirements for travel, please visit our tour protocols page.
This new Field Guides tour features incredible birding, game viewing, and photographic opportunities in prime wildlife destinations across three southern African countries: South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana.
The southern African sub-region offers some of the most diverse and prolific wildlife on the continent. It is home to the largest elephant, rhino and lion populations on the planet and is home to close to 1000 bird species. On this exciting itinerary we will concentrate on the large savannah and woodland habitats of the region, yet we'll also visit South Africa's great eastern escarpment with its forests and grassland, and we'll spend several days around two of the area's greatest tropical rivers, the Chobe and Zambezi. Our itinerary includes visits to some iconic southern African destinations such as Kruger National Park, the Blyde River Canyon, Botswana's Chobe National Park, and Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. So far as the wildlife is concerned, this tour will produce well more than 50 mammal species, including the much vaunted "Big 5" (Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant, and Cape Buffalo) plus a surprising variety of antelope, small carnivores, and impressive numbers of Zebra and Giraffe.
The tour should produce a species list of more than 300 bird species, including most of the large terrestrial species (Ostrich, Secretary-bird, Kori Bustard, and Southern Ground-Hornbill) plus a variety of kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, barbets, sunbirds, hornbills, starlings, and shrikes. The Zambezi and Chobe waterways provide some of the finest birding on the continent in terms of diversity and density. Our game-viewing and birding activities will be conducted from open safari vehicles and flat-hulled boats, both ideal for wildlife viewing, while travel between South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana will be by road transfer and scheduled flights. Excellent field guides and other reference material make preparation for the tour a breeze and fieldwork a pleasure.
Select the KEY INFO tab or click here for our itinerary plus space requests, status, fees, limits, and guides for any departure.