October 28-November 16, 2025 with Terry Stevenson
Our November 2025 tour to Namibia and Botswana went to all the main areas we usually visit but had a slightly different twist by returning to Erongo Wilderness Lodge (now known as Ondudu Lodge) and a new small exclusive camp in the Okavango Delta called Four Rivers by Kwando. Both changes brought us some really great birds and mammals.
The weather in south and central Namibia was as usual largely hot and dry, but in the north and in Botswana early rains had made many often-dry areas lush and green. The rains, however, didn’t affect our sightings, and we found virtually all our target birds including Hartlaub’s Spurfowl, Rüppell’s Bustard, Pel’s Fishing-Owl, Monteiro’s and Damara Red-billed hornbills, Rüppell’s Parrot, White-tailed Shrike, and Herero Chat. The mammals were outstanding too, with two groups of African Wild Dog, a big Leopard, a mother and young Cheetah, more than 30 Lions, African Savanna Elephant, Black Rhino, and several lesser-known species such as Roan and Sable antelopes, Southern African Springhare, and Honey Badger.
As usual we all met in Johannesburg, and then after a night there we flew to Windhoek and on to our small and very comfortable guesthouse at the edge of the city. An afternoon visit to the local sewage works gave us Eurasian Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot, African Swamphen, Black Crake, African Darter, Reed Cormorant, Little Bittern, and Squacco Heron. In the surrounding acacia woodlands, a few highlights included Gray Go-away-bird, White-backed Mousebird, Black-fronted Bulbul, and nest-building Southern Masked-Weavers. We finished off the afternoon with a visit to Palm Tree Park, giving us great views of the localized Bradfield's Swift and Rosy-faced Lovebirds—where one unlucky one was taken by a Peregrine right in front of us!
After a comfortable night in Windhoek, we headed southwest to Namib Naukluft Desert National Park, where we spent two nights birding this stark landscape and made a visit to the magnificent red sand dunes at Sossusvlei. Highlights during our time here included Common Ostrich, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Ludwig’s and Rüppell's bustards, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle, Pale Chanting-Goshawk, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Pygmy Falcon, Pririt Batis, Ashy Tit, the endemic Dune Lark, Black-chested Prinia, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Pale-winged Starling, Mountain Chat, Dusky Sunbird, Sociable Weaver (and their huge haystack-like nests), Red-headed Finch, Great Rufous Sparrow, and Yellow Canary. We also saw our first mammals, with Chacma Baboon, South African Ground Squirrel, Black-backed Jackal, Yellow Mongoose, Gemsbok, and Springbok all giving good views.
We then headed to the coast, stopping for Mountain Zebra, the Tropic of Capricorn, and a few strange Quiver Trees along the way. Our guesthouse for the night at Walvis Bay overlooked the famous lagoon, so after a quick check-in we were soon out again enjoying large flocks of Greater Flamingo, Pied Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, several thousand Curlew Sandpipers, hundreds of Little Stints, Hartlaub’s and Kelp gulls, and a large flock of terns, including Great Crested and the very localized Damara Tern. We finished our visit to Walvis Bay early the following morning, picking up Orange River White-eye at our usual spot. After breakfast we drove north along the coast to Swakopmund, seeing African Oystercatcher, Great White Pelican, many thousands of Cape Cormorants (on the guano platforms), and a few Crowned Cormorants at the mouth of the Swakop River. The cryptic Gray’s Lark was difficult this year, but we eventually found one on the barely vegetated gravel plains just outside the town.
Our next destination was to the northeast, at two different lodges in the Erongo Mountains. Here we were able to make several walks, birding a mixture of dry bush country, acacia-lined river beds, and rocky mountain terrain. New species we added were Helmeted Guineafowl, Hartlaub’s and Red-billed spurfowl, Double-banded Sandgrouse (coming to drink at dusk), Freckled Nightjar, Martial Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Green Woodhoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Southern Yellow-billed and Monteiro’s hornbills, Bearded and Bennett’s woodpeckers, Rüppell's Parrot, the striking White-tailed Shrike, White-crested Helmetshrike, Crimson-breasted Gonolek, Carp's Tit, Rockrunner, Barred Wren-Warbler, Southern Pied-Babbler, the difficult-to-find Herero Chat, Short-toed Rock-Thrush, Marico Sunbird, Violet-eared Waxbill, and Green-winged Pytilia. We also enjoyed our first Plains Zebra, Southern Giraffe, and sole member of the family Petromuridae—Noki—formerly known as Dassie Rat!
Continuing still farther north, we then spent three nights at different lodges in and just outside Etosha National Park. We traversed the park from the central area to the east, and with mammal sightings now a priority to add to our list we were soon enjoying Spotted Hyena, three separate groups of Lions, our first African Savanna Elephants, no fewer than five Black Rhinos (in the Okakuejo area), Common Warthog, the newly split Southern Giraffe, and many herds of Plains Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Impala, and Springbok, as well as smaller numbers of Greater Kudu, Gemsbok, and Tsessebe.
New birds at Etosha included Crested Francolin, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Kori Bustard, Dideric and Black cuckoos, Rufous-cheeked Nightjar, Double-banded Courser, Secretarybird, White-headed Vulture, Spotted Eagle-Owl, Violet Woodhoopoe, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Greater Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Spike-heeled and Red-capped larks, Gray-backed Sparrow-Lark, Icterine Warbler, Bare-cheeked Babbler, White-bellied Sunbird, Plain-backed and Buffy pipits, and Cinnamon-breasted Bunting.
We finished the Namibia section of our tour in the far north at Hakusembe—stopping along the way near Grootfontein, at our special spot for Black-faced Babbler. As always, Hakusembe brought us many new birds, as does Mahango NP, which we visit the following morning. It’s a complete change of habitat here, with farmlands, the tree-lined Okavango River, giant fig and baobab trees, and a whole variety of green leafy bushes and shrubs giving us many new birds. These included White-faced Whistling-Duck, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Wattled Crane, Wattled Lapwing, African Jacana, Collared Pratincole, African Skimmer, African Sacred Ibis, Rufous-bellied Heron, African Fish-Eagle, Little and Southern Carmine bee-eaters, Woodland and Pied kingfishers, Black-collared Barbet, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Gabon Boubou, Magpie Shrike, Red-chested Swallow, Hartlaub's Babbler, Meves's Starling, and Kalahari Scrub-Robin. New mammals included Hippo, Southern Lechwe, and Southern Reedbuck.
We then made the relaxed and simple crossing into Botswana and began with two nights in the pan-handle near Shakawe, on the banks of the Okavango River. Here we took morning and afternoon boat trips and also walked in the woodland around our lodge. It was a delightful change of pace that we all enjoyed, with just some of the highlights being; African Green-Pigeon, White-browed Coucal, Water Thick-knee, Long-toed Lapwing, good looks at a Greater Painted-snipe, a breeding colony of African Skimmers on a sandbar, African Openbill, two different sightings of the secretive White-backed Night-Heron (including an adult with a large juvenile), Goliath Heron, Hamerkop, Western Banded Snake-Eagle, Western Barn Owl, a pair of enormous Pel's Fishing-Owls, African Barred Owlet, White-fronted Bee-eaters, Giant Kingfisher, Retz’s Helmetshrike, Chirping Cisticola, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Terrestrial Brownbul, Arrow-marked Babbler, White-browed Robin-Chat, Southern Brown-throated Weaver, Southern Cordonbleu, and both Red-billed and Brown firefinches. New mammals included Vervet Monkey around our rooms and Sitatunga from the boat.
Leaving our lodge behind, we took a charter flight deep into the Okavango Delta for a three-night stay at a wonderful camp called Four Rivers by Kwando (or more simply just ‘Four Rivers’). Here, using a specially adapted 4x4 safari vehicle, we made morning and afternoon drives across the 'sandveld'—a mix of wooded glades, palm trees, acacia bush, pools, and of course four rivers. Major attractions here are the big cats, and we had marvelous views of more than 20 Lions, a mother Cheetah with a young one, and (on the very last drive) a fabulous big Leopard. We also saw two different groups of very rare African Wild Dogs (three and then eight), Black-backed and Side-striped jackals, and about 70 African Savanna Elephants (including large bulls and herds of females with young). We saw a herd of more than 200 Cape Buffalo, plus many smaller groups of giraffe, lechwe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, and tsessebe, and we even had good looks at the much rarer Roan and Sable antelopes. Another special treat was staying out for a ‘sundowner’ and then driving back in early darkness, adding Southern African Springhare and Honey Badger. New birds in this area included Spur-winged Goose, Blue-billed Teal, Swainson's Spurfowl, Black-bellied Bustard, Senegal and Black coucals, African Woolly-necked and Saddle-billed storks, the almost endemic Slaty Egret, Black Heron, African Harrier-Hawk, Hooded Vulture, Bateleur, Striped Kingfisher, Broad-billed Roller, Crested Barbet, Greater Honeyguide, Dickinson’s Kestrel, Meyer’s Parrot, Southern Black-Tit, and both Yellow-billed and Red-billed oxpeckers.
Finally, we ended our tour with another charter flight to Maun, where we reminisced about all the wonderful things we’d seen, said our farewells, and then took our flights to Johannesburg and various destinations beyond.
MAMMALS SEEN ON THE TOUR
Southern Lesser Galago (Galago moholi) At least 4 at Drotsky’s.
Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) About half a dozen in the Drotsky’s area.
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)) Common and widespread, with a total of about 400.
South African Ground Squirrel (Xerus inauris) Also known as Cape Ground Squirrel. We saw about 8 in the Solitaire area, and then several other singles as we headed north to Etosha.
Smith’s Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus capapi) Common from Etosha to the north and then east throughout northern Namibia and Botswana.
Southern African Springhare (Pedetes capensis) Two on the late evening drive near Four Rivers.
Noki (Petromus typicus) In its own family and formerly known as Dassie Rat; we had great looks at about 14 in the Erongo Mountains.
Black-backed Jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) Widespread in small numbers, but perhaps the most interesting were a group of 7 puppies along the shore at Walvis Bay lagoon.
Side-striped Jackal (Lupulella adustus) Three in the Four Rivers area.
African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) Just fabulous this tour, with 3, and then a second pack of 8, both in the four Rivers area.
Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) Fifteen at Okaukuejo Rest Camp, and then about 20 in the Four Rivers area.
Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) Small numbers from Windhoek to the Erongo Mountains, and then 1 near Four Rivers.
African Civet (Civettictis civetta) Two of our group saw 1 at Four Rivers Camp.
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) One seen and others heard at Etosha.
Leopard (Panthera pardus) Great looks at 1 relaxing in a tree on our final morning in the Okavango Delta.
Lion (Panthera leo) Just fabulous this tour, with 14 at Etosha, and various groups totaling 24 in the Okavango Delta.
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) Wonderful close views of a mother and her young one in the Okavango Delta.
Honey Badger (Melivora capensis) Also known as Ratel, we had brief but good looks at 1 near Four Rivers.
Afro-Australian Fur Seal (Acrtoephalus pusillius) About 15 along the coast in the Walvis Bay to Swakopmund area.
African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana) We saw a single large bull at Etosha, and then a couple at Mahango, and about 65 in the Four Rivers area.
Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis) About 90 in the Erongo Mountains.
Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) We saw about 14 near the Tropic of Capricorn.
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) Formerly known as Burchell’s Zebra, they were very common and widespread from the Erongo Mountains, north through Etosha, and then throughout the Okavango Delta; in all we saw about 1000.
Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) We all had various views of up to 5 in Etosha NP.
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) One near Windhoek, and then very common in Etosha and the Okavango Delta; in all we saw about 80.
Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) Twenty at Mahango, 2 at Drostky’s, and about 110 in the Okavango Delta.
Southern Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) Scattered in small numbers from the Erongo Mountains to Etosha and the Okavango Delta; with a total of about 60.
Southern Bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) One in the Erongo Mountains, and about 20 in the Drotsky’s area.
Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) About 20 at Etosha, another 20 at Mahango, and almost 30 in the Okavango Delta.
Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) We saw a single male from the boat near Drotsky’s.
Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) We saw a herd of about 200 in the Okavango Delta.
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) About 30 in the Four Rivers area.
Southern Lechwe (Kobus leche) About 50 at Mahango, and then at least 125 in the Four Rivers area.
Southern Reedbuck (Redunca arundinum) Two and Mahango, and 4 in the Okavango Delta.
Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) Really nice looks at 3 in the Four Rivers area.
Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) We saw about a dozen of these gorgeous antelopes in the Okavango Delta.
Gemsbok (Oryx gazelle) Also known as Southern Oryx; we saw about 15 in the Sossusvlei area, a dozen at Etosha, and 45 at Four Rivers.
Tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus) About 80 in the Four Rivers area.
Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) We saw a total of 22 in the eastern side of Etosha.
Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) Two near Sossusvlei, about 25 in the Erongo Mountains area, 300 at Etosha, and 25 in the Okavango Delta.
Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris) Seven in the Etosha area.
Kirk's Dik-dik (Modoqua kirki) Six in the Ondudu Camp area, and 2 at Roy’s Camp.
Impala (Aepyceros malampus) Very common and widespread from Etosha (Black-faced) and on throughout the Okavango Delta (plain-faced). In all we saw about 750.
Springbok (Antidocas marsupialis) Widespread from the Namib Naukluft Desert NP to Etosha, with a total of about 2000.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link:
—Terry Stevenson