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This tour combines
our popular Namibia and Botswana
itinerary with a healthy dose of
exciting forest and broadleaved
birding in Zambia. Together, these
destinations offer an incredible
and overwhelming diversity of birds
and mammals. The attractions include
pulse-quickening miombo bird parties,
the most southerly tracts of the
great Congolese forest belt, and,
in stark contrast, the arid and
spectacular sandscapes of Namibia
with its associated endemics and
the bird and mammal-filled panveld at
Etosha, one of
the world’s most famous national
parks.
Day 1: Lusaka.
After arriving in Zambia, we will bird
some nearby miombo woodland.
Days 2-3: Lusaka
to Forest Inn. The Forest Inn
provides some of the best miombo (Brachystegia
woodland) birding in Zambia. Walking slowly
and searching for bird parties we should
find the most sought-after specialty here,
the superb Black-collared Eremomela, best
detected by its trilling, slightly buzzy “trrrr-trrrrr” call. Similarly,
the localized Chestnut-mantled Sparrow-Weaver
and Sousa’s Shrike are also best
found by their distinctive calls while
they perch motionless in the mid-stratum.
Both Yellow-breasted and Mashona Hyliotas
occur, providing a nice opportunity to
compare these similar birds. Bird parties
often include Red-capped Crombec, Rufous-bellied
Tit, Violet-backed Sunbird, Miombo Gray
Tit, Spotted Creeper, White-tailed Blue
Flycatcher, Miombo Pied Barbet, Little
Spotted Woodpecker and Scaly-throated
Honeyguide. Denser vegetation, such as
on termitaria, often holds Central Bearded
Scrub-Robin. As we walk, we will keep
a watch at the path edges for feeding
Golden-winged Pytilia and Cabanis’s
Bunting.
Days 4-5: Forest Inn to Mpongwe (Kafue River Lodge).
After enjoying the Miombo around
Forest Inn we head towards the
Kafue River which holds a wonderful
array of habitats including a
riparian strip with Brown Firefinch
and Fawn-breasted Waxbill. The
scrub near the huts occasionally
holds African Broadbill, and we
may be lucky and find this little
gem. The remainder of the avifauna
is a great combination of Miombo
and Okavango-like specialties
and we may see Rufous-bellied
Heron, Western Banded Snake Eagle,
the regal Wattled Crane, Long-toed
Plover, and African Skimmer. Adjacent
woodland is home to White-backed
Vulture, Bateleur, Lizard Buzzard,
Dark Chanting Goshawk, Crested Barbet, and Bearded Woodpecker. After
dinner, we will search for nocturnal
birds on the lodge grounds, including
African Wood-Owl, African Barred Owlet,
and Fiery-necked Nightjar. A boat trip
may yield one of the main specialties
of the area, Pel’s Fishing Owl.
We eat in a "boma" with the
fire crackling and roaring in the African
night.
Day 6: Mpongwe to Solwesi.
Essentially a travel day. We
cross wet dambos searching for Fülleborn’s
Longclaw, Stout Cisticola, Marsh Whydah,
Fawn-breasted Waxbill, and Locust Finch.
Day
7: Solwesi to Hillwood.
We awake pre-dawn to arrive at
the Mutanda Bridge for sunrise.
This site is the most reliable
in Zambia for Red-throated Cliff
Swallow, a local south-central
African species. Leaving
Mwinilunga,
we will bird the Chitunta Plain.
This broad dambo is drained by
a perennial stream and holds the
local Grimwood's Longclaw as well
as the more widespread Rosy-breasted
and Fülleborn's Longclaws.
Other resident species include
Angola Lark, Sooty Chat, Stout,
Ayres's, Lesser Black-backed,
and Black-tailed Cisticolas, and
Black-chinned Quailfinch. We shall
also watch for the magnificent
Black-and-rufous and Angola Swallows
as well as Great Snipe and Short-tailed
Pipit.
Days
8-11: Hillwood. Stretching
between Angola and the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the far north-western
corner of Zambia provides some
of the best birding in the country
with its distinctly Congolese
avifauna. Based at Hillwood, a
private farm near Ikelenge, we
will explore the Luakera Forest
Reserve, the source of the Zambezi
and the Zambezi Rapids. Hillwood
is flanked by mushitu on one side,
miombo on another, and overlooks
a beautiful plain that, depending
on conditions, holds Denham's
Bustard, Blue Quail, Natal Nightjar,
Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Broad-tailed
Warbler, Marsh Widowbird, and
Red-headed Quelea. In
the rich mushitu beside the camp we will
look for Afep Pigeon, Ross's Turaco, Olive
Long-tailed Cuckoo, Green Malkoha, Blue-breasted
Kingfisher, Little, Cabanis's and Honeyguide
Greenbuls, Bristlebill, Rufous Ant-Thrush,
African Thrush, Gray-winged Robin-chat,
Laura's Warbler, Evergreen Forest Warbler,
Buff-throated Apalis, Red-bellied Paradise
Flycatcher, Bates's and Bannerman's Sunbirds,
and Splendid Glossy Starling. The highly
enigmatic prize bird at Hillwood is the
Black-collared Bulbul-Shrike, a bizarre
monotypic genus; it is not uncommon but
can be unobtrusive. Whistling Cisticola
and Moustached Warbler are typically found
in bracken brier, scrub, and long grass,
and White-chinned Prinias are rarely far
from forest edge. Marsh Tchagras and Black-bellied
Seedcrackers tend to be in rank, sometimes
swampy undergrowth, while Palmnut Vultures
regularly drift up and down the Sakeji
Valley. We may visit the Zambezi Rapids,
which support the seasonal Forbes's Plover
and Cassin's Gray Flycatcher. The dry
evergreen forest holds a fascinating combination
of miombo and mushitu species, so you
can be watching Bar-winged Weavers and
Red-capped Crombecs forage in the canopy
while Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrikes and
Western Least Honeyguides perch in the
mid-stratum, and Crested Guineafowl trot
about on the forest floor.
Day 12: Hillwood
to Chingola. We begin our return
to Lusaka, stopping in miombo and mushitus
en-route. Birds may include Pale-billed
Hornbill, Whyte's Barbet, Trilling
Cisticola,
Black-eared Canary, Miombo Double-collared
Sunbird, Miombo Rock Thrush, and perhaps
the rare Sharp-tailed Starling.
Day 13: Onward
to Namibia. We transfer from
Zambia to Windhoek in Namibia via Johannesburg.
Joberg can often provide some surprisingly
good urban birding en-route.
Day 14: Windhoek
- Spreetshoogte. Leaving Windhoek
we make our way towards the dramatic Namibian
escarpment. Here we search for nomadic
species including Lark-like Bunting, Stark’s
Lark, and Chestnut Weaver. In the evening
we head for the spectacular Spreetshoogte
Pass.
Day 15: Spreetshoogte
- Walvis Bay. Descending the
escarpment, we comb the lower plains of
the Namib Desert. We should see some great
endemics, including Pale Chanting Goshawk,
Rüppell’s Korhaan, Gray’s
Lark, and Tractrac Chat. Heading into
the Kuiseb oasis, we will scramble up
a dune to search for Dune Lark. We finish
off at cool Walvis Bay watching Cape Gannets
dive into the Atlantic Ocean.
Day 16: Walvis
Bay. Today we explore the fascinating
and world-famous Walvis Bay lagoon at
high and low tide. One of Africa’s
most important wetlands, regularly supporting
over 100,000 birds in the austral summer,
the day will include the endemic African
Black Oystercatcher, Hartlaub's Gull,
thousands of flamingos, and waders and
terns galore. We will scan the dunes for
the scarce Damara Tern. The largest guano
platforms in the world should yield
Benguela-endemic
Cape, Bank and Crowned Cormorants. Night
in Walvis Bay.
Day 17: Walvis
Bay - Omaruru. An early start
will get us to Spitzkoppe at dawn. The
twin granite sentinels are Namibia’s
ambassadors and the desert’s guardians.
Spitzkoppe is a great site for Herero
Chat, though other birds occurring here
include Layard’s Tit-Babbler, Augur
Buzzard, and Chat Flycatcher. Later we
drive to Omaruru Mountain where we search
for Hartlaub’s Francolin, Violet
Woodhoopoe, and with luck we might see
the resident Bat Hawks.
Day 18:
Erongo.
Many of the special birds of the region
occur in the vicinity of this beautiful
lodge. We will be watching for Short-toed
Rock-Thrush, Rockrunner, Hartlaub’s
Francolin, and White-tailed Shrike in
the surrounding boulders. We can walk
down sandy riverbeds in search of Violet
Woodhoopoe and Rüppell’s Parrot.
Days 19-20: Etosha
NP. Today we move on to the legendary
Etosha National Park, where we will overnight
in chalets at three different camps, each
with a floodlit waterhole. We will spend
our days exploring the various habitats
of the park including the Etosha pan,
the Andoni plains, and the steppes. A
couple of our target birds are Meyer's
Parrot and Burchell's Sansgrouse, but
there is plenty more to see here including
a variety of bustards, francolins, coursers,
harriers, and vultures. After the sun
sets, the wildlife festival continues
at the waterholes, which are visited by
big game including Black Rhinoceros and
Elephant. At dusk, flocks of thousands
of Double-banded and Namaqua Sandgrouse
arrive in an unforgettable melodious downpour.
Owling can be productive and we will search
for White-faced, Scops and Pearl-spotted
Owls. Even birding around the camps are
productive, where we can see Southern
White-crowned Shrike, Pied Babbler, and
others.
Day 21: Etosha
NP - Windhoek. We drive back
to Windhoek, where the tour ends.
Tour
info:
CLIMATE:
Warm to dry, with some thunderstorms in
Zambia.
DIFFICULTY:
Moderate, some long walks are necessary.
ACCOMMODATION:
Good throughout.
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