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.