Introduction
We said our final goodbyes with my fellow Safari Guide classmates at the Emerald Guesthouse in Jo’burg. The sadness of closing out a very personal and impactful experience slowly gave way to the excitement of travelling and birding South Africa on my own for the next 25 days with the company of my wife. I was bubbling with happiness to spend time with her after a 10-week separation and to share my stories and my newly acquired knowledge with her and with the friends we planned to visit along the way.
Click here to read about my experience in becoming a Safari Guide.
I remind you of the family competition regarding how many different birds I would see in South Africa on this trip. At this point the number stood at 295 different species leaving only Aleeza and Patty in the running. I would need to run the number up to 410 for Patty to take the prize from Aleeza. A tall feat, too be sure.
The North-West Province
The first stop in our adventure would be to visit a friend from our days in Vietnam who lives in the North-West Province near Rustenburg. We left the guesthouse early to avoid rush hour traffic and headed up through Pretoria and across towards the west. There was a birding hot spot that reported some interesting birds that was not too far out of our way.
The Vaalkop Lake proved to be difficult to access due to road conditions; however, we were able to get to the area below the dam along the Eland River. The access passed through an industrial area that seemed to be related to city water treatment, or some type of water works. To be honest, as we drove through a couple of open gates past a yard with dilapidated heavy equipment it felt mildly sketchy. We drove the rugged road to the dam overflow area and parked. The birding was nothing short of amazing. Six new South Africa birds were found in short order, including a Goliath Heron. Standing at over 5’ tall, it is the largest heron in the world. There were also a few Lesser Striped Swallows still hanging around. Most of this species had already moved closer to the equator to spend the cold months.
We arrived at the historical farm property of our friends Lu and Seth near Rustenburg to big hugs, great conversation, a few drinks and a wonderful meal. The next day would be spent in Pilanesburg National Park. Driving their 4WD truck through the park reminded me of chasing birds in my F250 pick-up in Oklahoma. This was my first chance to use my new safari guide skills. Letting my Ecotraining instructors down was not an option. I commented on most anything that I could, from flowers to trees to birds and, of course, to mammals. Good value was added to our sightings and my guests seemed most entertained. I was proud of myself. We did have a close encounter with a bull elephant who was not too happy with our presence. He trumpeted and gave a short false charge. My guests were like, “Go!, Go!, Go!” but I was like, “Let’s just be calm and still and he will walk away. Driving away now, could provoke a charge”. My training paid off. After a few seconds, he shook his head one last time and turned and walked away.
Pilanesburg is amazingly beautiful and has tremendous wildlife diversity. Tallying 73 different species of birds in the park was my best day in a while and we left with my South Africa bird count at 314.
After three enjoyable days in the North-West Province, it would be time to move on. We had 5 nights booked in Kruger National Park.
The Limpopo Province - Iconic Birding South Africa
Kruger National Park in the Limpopo Province is the flagship park of South Africa. It is hard to imagine the size of this park. You cannot drive from one end to the other in a single day. At 7500 square miles the park is the size and shape of New Jersey. Add to that, the private game reserves that have taken down fences between the park and themselves and that brings the unfenced protected wilderness of the Greater Kruger National Park to 9000 square miles. Now, add to that the international transfrontier agreements currently in place with Zimbabwe and Mozambique and that brings the total protected wilderness to 13,500 square miles or about the size of Maryland and Delaware combined.
There are numerous rest camps (for overnighting) in the park with varying levels of facilities. For example, tent sites, RV sites, cottages, restaurants, grocery stores, organized activities, etc. All the rest camps are fenced and gated with the gate closing just before sunset and opening just before sun rise. If you miss the gate closing once, you will likely get a slap on the wrist, if you miss a second time there is a good chance you will be fined or possibly have your access revoked. Two reasons for this, I believe, 1) the danger of wild animals at night, 2) poacher/anti-poacher activity at night. Being misidentified as a poacher or an anti-poacher can be detrimental to your health.
There are also many picnic areas throughout the park, these are not fenced, and one must always be on the lookout for wild animals. Aside from the picnic areas, there are a couple of bridges and the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn where you can get out of your vehicle. Everywhere else, you must always remain in your vehicle. This point would be an adjustment for me. During the Safari course we would regularly hop out of our vehicle to examine tracks, poke a stick in some poop or have a morning coffee or evening sundowner beer.
We would start our stay in the north end of the park. We had three nights booked at the Punda Maria rest camp. Since this rest camp is the farthest camp from any transportation hub like Pretoria or Jo’burg, it is also the least visited. As birding South Africa goes, this area has some of the most iconic birding locations in the region including the Luvuhuv River Bridge, the Pafuri Picnic Site and Crooks Corner.
There are three famous target birds to find in the northern parts of Kruger, Arnot’s Chat, Pel’s Fishing Owl and the Racket-tailed Roller. I had some good intel on specific locations for these birds and was excited to give them a try. The Pel’s Fishing Owl was not very likely due to needing to be at the Luvuvhu River at dusk and dawn. Not really possible from the Punda Maria rest camp. The roller and the chat were, however, findable any time of day. So off we went to the specific mile posts past the Luvuvhu River and into Makuleke Reserve as described by Wesley, one of the Ecotraining guides. To my pleasure we got the Arnot’s Chat exactly where indicated. The Racket-tailed Roller will have to wait until next time.
After leaving Punda Maria we headed south in the park to the Letaba Rest Camp. Although the actual accommodations were not as nice as Punda Maria, the setting was insanely African. The restaurant was perched on the top of the Letaba River bank with a breathtaking panoramic view over the river and surrounding plains with wildlife continuously in view.
The next night we moved further south to the Pretoruskop Rest Camp. Each of the mornings we focused on birding by getting off the main two-lane paved roads and on to the narrower dirt tracks. This gave a more intimate feel with the bush, not to mention less traffic. The whole Kruger experience was one long, 5-day game drive and birding adventure. In addition to all the birds, we had close encounters with all the mammals one would expect. The highlights were the 3 male lions laying in the road blocking our way one morning, a large leopard walking down the road right past our stopped vehicle, and the spotted hyaena that walked into our picnic area while we were relaxing. We had to get up and slowly back away to reduce our risk of attack.
I think Mirka really loved having her personal safari guide explain all sorts of things that we were seeing in the bush. The bird count now had an additional 23 birds making the birding South Africa total 337.
The Kwazulu-Natal
With the savannah and bushveld part of the trip over we now had to make our longest drive of the trip. An 8-hr. run from Kruger National Park to St. Lucia. No, not the island. We left Limpopo Province with many new birds including the largest flying bird in the world, the Kori Bustard, the endangered Southern Ground Hornbill and the difficult to spot Greater Painted Snipe. St. Lucia is a town along the eastern coast of South Africa up near the Mozambique border. St. Lucia is mostly famous for its hippos that come into the neighborhoods at night to east grass, it’s crocodiles and its large natural areas that are teaming with wildlife, including birds.
The town had a very interesting feel. It clearly receives a fair bit of tourism and boasted several nice restaurants and bars that gave the place a tropical island feel. It also looked to be a place where South Africans with a little money to spare build second homes in very western style suburban neighborhoods.
Yes, we did encounter hippos in town at night. We kept our distance as recommended. Hippos are incredibly short tempered and will attack with little provocation. It is the deadliest mammal in Africa.
We had two full days to bird around St. Lucia. Early on the first day we went to one of the hotspots. A boardwalk through some mangroves that eventually led to the beach. Here we encountered a young man with his birding guide badge and binoculars. Longo Mthembu knows his birds. Although there are some guide companies that will organize whatever type of tour you want and they employ a few local birding guides, Longo is not a part of that group. He is working independently and gets business by word of mouth and by being in the right spot at the right time.
I chatted with him on the boardwalk about birds and what birds I was looking for and listened to him talk about birds. He is passionate and knowledgeable. Everything you want in a bird guide. He is also dedicated to his profession. He lives some distance from the St. Lucia hotspots and manages to get to town each day either on foot or managing a ride somehow. With limited job opportunities available, I respect that Longo sticks to his passion. I hired him for the boardwalk and then contacted him later to guide me the next morning.
On the boardwalk he found the most difficult kingfisher in South Africa, the Mangrove Kingfisher. We crawled and climbed through mangrove trees well off the boardwalk. There it was, he pointed into the mangroves. I didn’t see it at first but then saw it sitting in a classic pose: back to me and head turned sideways. It was motionless for at least 10 seconds. I looked at Longo and said jokingly, “Wait a minute, that is a stuffed bird that you put there!”. Of course, the bird eventually turned its head and then flew away.
The next day with Longo was about the Malachite Kingfisher. A common bird in the area but not yet seen by me. We picked him up with our rental at the prescribed time and location and went to a water habitat that I would have never seen without him. Here we got not only the kingfisher, but also the African Pygmy-Goose, White-faced Whistling Duck and White-backed Duck.
Longo’s character was on full display when we encountered a young boy in school uniform, not in school. Longo began questioning the boy as to why he was not in school in their language. Seems the teacher kicked him out of class because his socks did not match. Longo firmly told the boy to go back to school and tell that teacher that Longo said you cannot kick him out for mis-matched socks. The boy turned around and headed back to school.
Longo’s WhatsApp is +27790799523. He will be worth more than whatever you pay him, and you will be more directly helping a local person trying to make an honest living in a country that has far more people than jobs.
Birding South Africa in the St. Lucia area proved to be well worth the effort.
The Western Cape - The Garden Route
Our next step was to fly from Durban to Cape Town and immediately drive up towards Wilderness on the east coast along what is called the Garden Route. Before the flight we staged in the town of uMhlanga just north of Durban. This town is quite the contrast to the South Africa we had seen up to this point. The money in the town was obvious: luxury hotels, over-the-top homes, designer stores, pristine and clean streets and infrastructure, luxury cars and people dressed to kill. The population was dominated by Indians, but many cultures and races were represented. We ate in a nice restaurant and then went to bed. Early the next morning I birded in the uMhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve. It was a well-maintained boardwalk that looped around for a couple of miles. The birding was excellent, and I added a couple new birds to the list before heading to the airport. My total sat at 373 before boarding the airplane to Cape Town.
After the four-hour scenic drive from Cape Town, we arrived at our new Airbnb in Wilderness. I was shocked at how the beauty of this area of South Africa exceeded my expectations. This area was a jungle/forest habitat and offered opportunity for a few new birds not available anywhere else. I didn’t have to go far to get my first new bird. The Knysna Turaco is a strikingly beautiful large turquoise bird with an odd-shaped head plumage and inquisitive personality. There was a nesting pair in the area and at least one of last year’s offspring. The most accommodating even has a name, “George” according to our host. George really likes bananas.
My favorite birding spot in the area was the Half-collared Kingfisher Trail. It is a lovely trail up a slow-moving stream, followed by a self-service, hand-pulled ferry crossing, followed by a rushing mountain stream trail to some lovely waterfalls. While there were no Half-collared Kingfishers, there were Giant Kingfishers, African Black Ducks and my favorite the Yellow-throated Woodland-Warbler. This little bird is another one of the phylloscopus leaf-warblers that I am so enamored to because of their ID challenge and underrated existence. Eight more birds were added in Wilderness to bring the total to 381. With only a few days of birding left in places I had already birded, things were not looking good for Patty. Finding thirty more new birds seemed unrealistic.
The Western Cape - Cape Town
We drove back to Cape Town, checked into our room in Sea Point and enjoyed the sunset along the promenade by the seashore. We were down to three full days left before jetting off to Qatar. I gave Mirka a tour of my favorite birding spots in Cape Town. We drove to the Cape of Good Hope including a stop at Boulders Beach for the African Penguins as well as a long day in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
Did I mention that we would celebrate Mirka’s birthday in Cape Town with Ids and Renske who were in my safari guide course? We had some excellent Syrian food and a nice time catching up on things.
The Western Cape - Langebaan
As the grand finale to our time in South Africa we drove to Langebaan to meet with Sonja. A friend from our time in Vietnam. We had a really nice time with Mirka catching up and I even left them alone the second morning to go birding in the West Coast National Park.
I surprisingly picked-up four new birds in the park.
The last bird I got while birding South Africa (Number 388) was the Black Harrier. It is an endangered raptor, and I felt blessed to see it flying low over the scrub looking for a meal. I had plenty of time to catch a photo, but I was so mesmerized by this observation that it didn’t even cross my mind until it was too late. What a great ending to an almost four-month birding and learning adventure!
And the Birding South Africa Winner is...
Aleeza won the pool and it was with great pleasure that I announced her as the winner while giving my speech at her wedding on July 19 on Quadra Island, British Columbia.
What amazing pictures!! What an experience! and so nice to see such dear friends’ face.
Thank you so much for sharing Joel and Mirka. This looks exactly like a dream trip!
Keep the good job, the experiences, and the sharing!
Lots of Love!
Thanks for the comments Mila. Good to hear from you!
What a nice story on your African adventure with Mirka.
Congrats to Aleeza.
Thanks Linda, see you and Jimbo in Bocas soon!
Joel, you outdid yourself again, as I have already said several times. Keep the wheels turning and keep writing.
And my congratulations to Aleeza for the bird prize and the wedding. See you all soon in Panama.
This trip was definitely the most memorable and adventurous trip we have done together so far.
Looking forward to our next adventures. Love
Mirka
What a great experience— made me want to start planning for birding in S Africa. My 2 week birding safari in Uganda wasn’t enough 😊. Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure. Fabulous photos, especially the competition winner.
WOW Joel, you did an Sterling Search of finding such Beautiful Birds on our African soil, even I’m flabbergasted by the beauty on our own doorstep 🐦 🐦⬛ 🦜 🪶
We are so proud of you showing and sharing with us your adventure’s and wonderful experiences in South Africa 🇿🇦 ❤️
It was absolutely AMAZING to see you and Mirka and share dinner, laughs and some Vietnam memories again ❤️ 🇻🇳
Jason and I look forward to seeing you both again very soon, so get your boots and binoculars ready and come back to Langebaan for a longer visit and then we can take a trip up the West Coast and explore and search for some more bird species 👀 🐦⬛ 🦜 👢 👢
Anyway, the Best Bird at the end of your capturing blog was the walk down the isle with your daughter Aleeza and her winning the Bird prize on her Special day, Priceless!
We wish you, Mirka and your family all the BEST and may your lives be filled with all of God’s blessings He has in store for you 🙏
We look forward to seeing you and Mirka again for another African Adventure 🐦⬛❤️🫶❤️🫶
Thanks Sonja, we are already trying to figure out when we can return!
Photos are breathtaking! Thank you for sharing, I can enjoy through your writing and pictures. Happy belated birthday to Mirka and beautiful bride! Keep birding.
What an amazing adventure! Happy to have won second to the bride. Proud of you always, dad!