Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Johannesburg. 

Day 2: We’ll take an early morning flight to Upington, collected our vehicle, and begin our drive north toward the Kalahari. We won't get far before we see the first of many massive Sociable Weaver nests perched atop roadside poles. Other species that could interrupt our journey include White-backed Vulture, Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, Pygmy Falcon, Southern Ant-eating Chat, Fawn-colored Lark, and possibly Short-toed Rock Thrush. Night near Kgalagadi Reserve.

Day 3: Sandwiched between Namibia and Botswana, the Kgalagadi Trans Frontier Reserve is one of Africa’s wildest and least-known national parks. We’ll be at the reserve gate when it opens, and once inside we’ll head for a small waterhole where we should be treated to flocks of Namaqua Sandgrouse coming to drink, hopefully joined by good numbers of Burchell’s Sandgrouse and hordes of other birds such as Namaqua Dove, Cape Sparrow, Red-headed Finch, and of course, those ubiquitous Sociable Weavers. We are allowed out of our vehicle in only a few designated places, so we’ll spend the morning slowly driving along a road that follows an old riverbed, using the vehicle as a mobile blind. Small birds that will be instantly obvious include Chat and Marico Flycatchers, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, and swarms of Scaly-feathered Finches, while special birds we’ll be looking for include the stunning Crimson-breasted Shrike, Ashy Tit, and Kalahari Scrub-Robin. 

The park is a great place for raptors, and we can expect to see Gabar Goshawk, Lanner and possibly Red-necked Falcon, Bateleur, and Martial Eagle. Both Spotted and Verreaux’s Eagle Owls might be found at roost, and in the more open areas we stand a chance of finding the striking Secretarybird or a Kori Bustard. Gemsbok are common here, as are Springbok and Blue Wildebeest, and an encounter with an endearing troop of Meerkats is always possible. We may also see a pride of the large, black-maned Kalahari Lions or a skulking Cheetah although the extensive dunes make these cats hard to find.

The countryside outside the reserve is also good for birds, and we’ll be on the lookout for Northern Black Korhaan, African Grey and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills, Pearl Spotted Owlet, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Southern Pied Babbler, Groundscraper Thrush, and vivid Violet-eared Waxbill, to mention a few. Night near Kgalagadi Reserve.

Day 4: We’ll retrace our steps to Upington, stopping on the way to look for Eastern Clapper and Pink-billed Larks. We may also encounter hundreds of Grey-backed Sparrow-larks and we’ll look out for a mighty Lappet-faced Vulture drifting by. Upington sits on the Orange River and we’ll spend time this afternoon birding in and around the grounds of our lodge overlooking the river as well as at some nearby locations. Birds should include African Black Duck, Giant Kingfisher, South African Cliff-Swallow, White-throated Swallow, White-backed and Red-faced Mousebirds, African Hoopoe, Crested Barbet, Red-eyed Bulbul, Orange River White-eye, and Black-throated Canary. Night in Upington. 

Day 5: After a final look around the lodge grounds we’ll begin our journey to Poffader, following the course of the Orange River. We’ll stop at Augrabies National Park where the river tumbles through a narrow gorge and over a spectacular waterfall. We’ll have time to admire the falls, and the brightly colored Cape Flat Lizards that chase each other around the boulders.  Alpine Swift and African Rock Martin buzz around the gorge and there is a chance of the rarer Bradfield’s Swift. Other birds we may encounter in the gorge include Black Stork, Peregrine Falcon, and Verreaux’s Eagle while around the wooded camp site we’ll look for Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Pririt Batis, Pale-winged Starling, African Reed Warbler, and the localized Namaqua Warbler. As we near Pofadder we may encounter our first Karoo Korhaan or a lone Double-banded Courser. Night in Pofadder.

Day 6: South of the Orange River lie the arid and semi-arid regions of Bushmanland, a primeval landscape where in the not-too-distant past, San tribes hunted the migrant herds of antelopes. The area is still sparsely populated, and it’s possible to travel through the stark wilderness all day without seeing another person. Driving along the endless dirt roads that service the remote farms, we’ll hope to see Great Kestrel, Karoo Korhaan, Ludwig’s Bustard, Tractrac and Karoo Chats, Layard’s Tit-babbler, Southern Grey Tit, and Lark-like Bunting, among others. In such an arid region, water is a great attraction, and we’ll stop at the many small drinking troughs to see what’s about. In particular we hope to find more of the region’s larks, including Sclater’s, Stark’s, Thick-billed, Karoo Long-billed, and Spike-heeled. Later we’ll travel to a specific area of red sand dunes to look for the rare Red Lark, which is found in only a few tiny areas of the Northern Cape. Night in Pofadder.

Day 7: We’ll leave early to travel west to Namaqualand and the world-famous wildflower region. Turning south, we’ll drive into the hills following a maze of dirt tracks that weave through a mosaic of agricultural land where we may be treated to some fabulous wildflower displays. Whether or not there are flowers - they are dependent on there having been good rains - we’ll still have many birds to see, including Ground Woodpecker, Mountain Wheatear, Bokmakierie, Malachite Sunbird, and Black-headed Canary. 

Dragging ourselves away from what we hope was a botanical extravaganza will not be easy, but an ornithological one awaits us farther south at the thriving fishing port of Lambert’s Bay. We’ll arrive in the evening, just in time to sample the delights of an excellent open-air fish restaurant on the beach with the Atlantic waves crashing just a few yards away. Night at Lambert’s Bay.

Day 8: We’ll start with a visit to the famous Cape Gannet colony which will be teeming with tens of thousands of birds well into their breeding season. The sight, sound, and, it must be said, smell of all these birds packed together is arresting. In the throngs of Cape Gannets we should also find Cape and Crowned Cormorants jostling for space, and we’ll watch Cape Fur Seals basking on the rocks. Leaving Lambert’s Bay, we’ll head inland, stopping first at a location for the very elusive Protea Canary before driving further south, then back to the coast at Velddrif where the Berg river flows out to the sea. Swift Tern will be much in evidence along with Caspian Tern, Cape and Hartlaub’s Gulls, and a variety of waders including Pied Avocet and Marsh Sandpiper. There should also be flocks of both Greater and Lesser Flamingos and thousands of Cape Cormorants. At some small salt pans we hope to find a number of smart looking Chestnut-banded Plover, a habitat shared with Kittlitz’s Plover and flocks of Eared Grebes. Night in Veldriff.

Day 9: Depending on the tide, we may start by exploring the Berg River estuary for a variety of waterbirds. Later we’ll head south, travelling through agricultural land on the lookout for Cape Long-billed Lark and Sickle-winged Chat before entering the West Coast National Park. Here we’ll be alert for the striking Black Harrier quartering the flower-strewn coastal fynbos, and we should get good views of African Marsh Harrier as well.  Cape Weaver will be much in evidence and we’ll look for Southern Black Korhaan and Cape and Grey-winged Francolins along the roadside. Other typical fynbos species we’ll look for include Karoo Scrub Robin, Karoo Prinia, Grey-backed Cisticola, Cape Penduline Tit, and Bar-throated Apalis. There should also be some superb flower displays here. Having driven the length of the National Park, we begin our drive inland to the vast Karoo, stopping at a small wildflower reserve to look for Orange-throated Longclaw and the tiny Cloud Cisticola. Night in the Karoo.

Day 10: The Karoo is an endless stony plain covered in a beautiful array of small euphorbias but, it must be said, not exactly full of birds.  However there are some real gems lurking in this landscape and we’ll begin with a visit to a rocky gorge to look for Cinnamon-breasted Warbler as well as Fairy Flycatcher, Pririt Batis, and Layard’s Tit Babbler. If there has been rain, we may find flocks of Black-eared Sparrowlarks displaying, while Karoo Korhaan and Burchell’s or Double-banded Courser could turn up anywhere. This is good “chat” country, and we’ll have time to compare Karoo and Tractrac Chats. Elsewhere we’ll search for Karoo Lark, Rufous-eared Warbler, Karoo Eremomela, and the localized Namaqua Warbler. Night in the Karoo.

Day 11: We’ll have time this morning to search for any species we may have missed yesterday before setting out for Swellendam. The route we take depends on what birds we still need to see in this area but whichever route we follow, we are assured of some fantastic scenery before we reach the quaint town of Swellendam and the Bontebok National Park, where we’ll spend the night. 

Day 12: The Bontebok National Park comprises some extensive fynbos, and driving along the tracks we should find Stanley’s Bustard, possibly with some males performing their impressive display. Elsewhere we expect more Black Harriers along with Pearl-breasted Swallow, the local race of Cape Clapper Lark, Yellow Bishop, Malachite Sunbird, and African Stonechat. Fiscal Flycatcher is common here, and we may encounter Greater Double-collared Sunbird, just on the western edge of its range. Some substantial winter floods in early 2026 severely damaged much of the river’s gallery woodland which is going to take some time to recover. Nonetheless an early walk around our cabins may reveal Southern Tchagra, Olive Bushshrike or Southern Boubou. Later we’ll head south, driving through undulating arable fields where we’ll look for Agulhas Long-billed Lark among the many Red-capped and Large-billed Larks and where we should find large groups of Blue Cranes. We’ll cross the Breede River on the Malgas ferry and drive down to Potberg, a towering hill that is one of the last strongholds of Cape Vulture. We should have good views of these magnificent birds circling overhead. Moving on we’ll drive to the coastal town of Hermanus where we’ll spend the night. 

Day 13: We’ll start early searching the nearby rocky escarpments for the wonderful Cape Rockjumper, along with more common species such as Cape Rock Thrush, and Neddicky. We will make one stop at some botanical gardens where we should get our first glimpses of Cape Sugarbirds, Swee Waxbills, and, if we are lucky, the elusive Victorin’s Warbler. We’ll also stop to look at a colony of African Penguins and some nesting Bank Cormorants, an increasingly rare species. Later we’ll continue to Cape Town following a wonderfully scenic coastal road. Night in Cape Town.

Days 14-16: We’ll have three days to sample the delights that birding around the tip of Africa has to offer. The weather here is notoriously fickle, but if conditions allow we’ll venture out one day on a boat into the South Atlantic in search of seabirds. Our objective is to find a deep-sea trawler, which is likely to be followed by thousands of seabirds, mostly albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters. If we find one, binoculars will hardly be necessary as many of the birds will be almost too close to focus on. The mix of birds is variable with a wide range possible, but we should see Shy, Black-browed, and with luck both species of Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Southern and Northern Giant, Pintado, and White-chinned Petrels, Sooty and Great Shearwaters, Sub-Antarctic Skua, and Wilson’s Storm-petrel. Less common possibilities include Antarctic Fulmar, Northern and Southern Royal and Wandering Albatrosses, and Soft-plumaged Petrel. All of these will be mingling in the feeding frenzy with thousands of Cape Gannets, Cape Gulls, and Cape Fur Seals.

Back on land, we’ll explore the Cape’s verdant mountains, passes, and valleys looking for special birds such as Cape Grassbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, and Cape Siskin. We’ll take time to visit the world-famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, lying in the shadow of Table Mountain. These gardens are not just a wonderful place for plants as there are as well plenty of birds to be seen. A resident Spotted Eagle Owl can usually be found at its daytime roost, Cape Batis and Forest Canaries feed among the undergrowth, while Cape Sugarbird, Cape White-eye, and Lesser Double-collared Sunbird buzz around the masses of flowers and Sombre Greenbul call loudly from the undergrowth. Black Saw-wings skim overhead, and we have a good chance of seeing a majestic Verreaux’s Eagle or a Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk soaring around the slopes of Table Mountain. 

A visit to the famous Strandfontein Sewage Farm should give us close encounters with Glossy Ibis, Pied Avocet, and a number of ducks including Southern Pochard and Maccoa Duck, and there is always the chance of a rarity such as Allen’s Gallinule. We will of course travel down to the Cape of Good Hope to the most southwesterly point of Africa and also explore the wooded areas around Constantia where Forest Buzzard is possible. Nights in Cape Town.

Day 17: We’ll have time during the morning to explore any nearby areas we feel warrant a second visit before we travel to the Cape Town airport where the tour concludes around midday.

2026 Narrative

After gathering in Johannesburg, a short flight to Upington marked the start of our Kalahari to the Cape tour. Driving north we soon started to notice the red dunes so typical of that region. Stops along the way gave us a very obliging Fawn- Coloured Lark, Southern Anteater Chat, Dusky Sunbird, Pearl spotted Owlet, the ubiquitous Sociable Weavers (and their huge nests), Red-billed Buffalo Weavers, Lilac breasted Rollers, Groundscraper Thrush, and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills.

Our full day inside the National Park was fruitful and started really well with a male and female lion as soon as entered the park. We went on to see an amazing 10 raptor species including 3 Red-necked Falcons, Greater and Rock Kestrels, Lanner Falcon, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Tawny Eagle, and Booted Eagle. The spectacle of both Burchell’s and Namaqua Sandgrouse coming to drink never fails to impress while other highlights included lots of Northern Black Korhaans, Kori Bustard, some great encounters with Secretarybirds, lots of Kalahari Scrub Robins, several Violet-eared Waxbills, Sabota Larks, Ashy Tit. Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, Marico and Chat Flycatchers, and Common Scimitarbill.

Retracing our steps south, we found Southern Pied Babbler, Brubru, and Lappet-faced Vulture before we reached Upington. Here birding along the Orange River produced a nice selection of birds including Goliath and Little Green Herons, Hamerkop, African Black Duck, African Fish Eagle, Crested Barbet, African Hoopoe, and Red-faced and White-backed Mousebirds.

The wide-open landscape of Bushman land was alive with Lark-like Buntings, and Grey backed, Black-eared and a single Chestnut-backed Sparrow-larks. The elusive Sclater’s Lark appeared briefly at a water trough, while the fabled Red Lark performed nicely for us, song flighting and perched up on a bush. Both Ludwig’s Bustard and Karoo Korhaans put in an appearance. Other highlights here included Karoo Long-billed and more Sabota Larks.

Sadly there was none of the usual spectacular wildflower displays in Namaqualand this year – very early and heavy rains hard brought everything into bloom far sooner than usual and pretty much everything was over by the time of our visit. However the wonderful spectacle of the Cape Gannet colony at Lambert’s Bay was a real highlight. We encountered our first Swift Terns, Hartlaub’s and Kelp Gulls here, along with many thousands of Cape Cormorants and dainty White-fronted Plovers. Moving inland we had good views of the elusive Protea Canary before we returned to the coast and the Berg River estuary. Here we caught up with Chestnut-banded and Kittlitz’s Plovers, hundreds of Curlew Sandpipers and a flotilla of Black-necked (Eared) Grebes on the salt pans and a variety of shorebirds out on the estuary including several Greenshanks and many thousands of Red-knobbed Coots. Heading south we picked up Cape Long-billed Lark before reaching the West Coast National Park. Out on the blue lagoon we were surprised to see a Eurasian Oystercatcher in amongst the resident Black Oystercatchers while birding in the extensive fynbos gave us Bar-throated Apalis, White-throated Canary, Lesser Double Collared Sunbirds, the gorgeous Black Harrier and Southern Black Korhaan. 

Leaving there we headed inland to the wide open spaces of the karoo where our rustic accommodation was located in a sheltered gorge or kloof. We soon found one of the most sought after birds of this habitat, Cinnamon breasted Warbler, as well as Layards Tit Babbler. Out on the dry karoo birds were not easy to find but we did locate some of the specialities including Karoo Lark, Karoo Eremomela, Rufous-eared Warbler, Namaqua Warbler, Pririt Batis, Fairy Flycatcher, lots of Tractrac Chats, and some more Secretary Birds. The heavy rains earlier in the year created some serious flooding and Bontebok National Park was particularly badly hit. Much of the wooded habitats along the river had been washed away and many of the chalets at the rest camp were out of action. Nethertheless we managed to find a nice selection of birds including Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Brown hooded Kingfisher, African Stonechat, Cape Grassbird, displaying Cape Clapper Larks, Neddicky, Pin-tailed Whydah, an Pearl-Breasted and Greater-striped Swallows.

The journey from Bontebok to Hermanus took in a variety of habitats. The undulating crop fields held some stately Blue Cranes, Agulhas Long-billed Lark, lots of Red-capped Larks and a single Stanley’s Bustard. We watched Cape Vultures soaring over Potberg and then explored the extensive wetlands of the Agulhas plains where we found Marsh Sandpiper and African Marsh Harrier amongst other species. 

After covering so many kilometres and a series of one or two nights stops it was nice to arrive in Cape Town for four nights at the same hotel. A Cape Town pelagic is always a highlight and this year was no exception. We needed to travel some distance out though before we connected with a trawler but once we did we were treated to an amazing spectacle. Along with the hundreds of White-chinned Petrels, Wilson’s Storm Petrels, Pintado Petrels, Shy and Black-browed Albatrosses, Sooty Shearwaters, and both Northern and Southern Giant Petrels there were also some scarcer species in the form of two Northern Royal Albatrosses, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Manx and Great Shearwaters, two Sabines Gulls, a smart Antarctic Tern in breeding plumage, Arctic Terns en route to their wintering grounds and several Brown (Sub-Antarctic) Skuas.

Back on dry land we visited all the usual birding hotspots. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens not only provided a wonderful display of plants but also gave us Cape Batis, Black Saw-wing, Forest Canary, Olive Thrushes, some obliging Cape Sugarbirds posing on protea flowers, Spotted Eagle Owls at their nest, skulking Southern Boubou, Swee Waxbill and close Malachite and Lesser Double-collared Sunbirds. Cecelia Forest gave us 3 African Harrier Hawks while the Betty’s Bay area was productive for good views of a striking Cape Rockjumper, Cape Siskin, Cape Rock thrush, endearing African Penguins at Stony Point along with some nesting Bank Cormorants, and a Victorin’s Warbler that played hide and seek with us. The birding at Strandfontein Water Treatment Plant was so good that we made three visits there. The presence of both Allen’s and American Purple Gallinules attracted a lot of local birders and we joined them to see both birds. Away from the twitch the place was alive with birds and highlights included Maccoa Ducks, many hundreds of Cape Shovelers, Cape Teal, a single Blue-billed Teal, Southern Pochard, Purple Heron, Purple Swamphen, many thousands of Sacred Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Little Rush and Lesser Swamp Warblers, Grey-headed Gulls, Black-winged Stilts, Pied Avocets, and hordes of Greater Flamingos. And of course we went down to Africa’s most southwesterly point for the obligatory group photo at the Cape of Good Hope, where two oceans meet and where we marked the end of our Kalahari to the Cape tour.

                                                                                                                                                                                           -          Steve Rooke

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