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Day
1: Johannesburg -
Kruger Park -
Letaba Camp (D)
Departing Johannesburg or
Pretoria at 7.00 - 7.30am, you travel East
through Mpumalanga Province. Along the way you have an
opportunity to do some shopping, to
stock up the cooler box with drinks, film, snacks, insect
repellent etc.
After passing through a
well known trout fishing town called 'Dullstroom' you then head North
through the Northern Drakensberg Mountains for a few more hours
eventually dropping down the escarpment into the Northern
Province's 'Lowveld'
region.
We continue driving to
the central 'bird rich' region of Kruger
National Park and enter the park at
Phalaborwa Gate. Close
to Phalaborwa Gate you may view
Yellow-throated
Sparrow, Mocking Chat and Redheaded
Weaver.
Arriving at
'Letaba' camp just before the entrance
gates close for the evening,
you check in, visit the camps shop to
stock up with drinks, move into your chalet
or guesthouse
and freshen up ready for dinner.
Letaba is
particularly good for viewing
and hearing Owls: Pearl-spotted,
Barred,
Scops
and
Giant Eagle Owl.
Your dinner is prepared, cooked and served
outside under the stars. A traditional South African meal
is prepared giving you a taste of our
countries delicious,
barbeque cuisine.
Day 2: Kruger Park -
Letaba Camp (B D)
You
will have an early morning departure making
your way north through Mopane
woodland and open Savannah to the
Shingwedzi region. Given time
these areas may yield: Pallid Harrier,
Lesser Moorhen, Secretary Bird as well as
Double-banded Sand grouse.
We will stop for breakfast at a picnic site.
In the
Shingwedzi region you will have several more birds to add to our
list: Bennett’s Woodpecker,
Red-capped Robin-Chat, Grey Penduline Tit,
Dusky and
Village Indigobirds,
Green-capped Eremomela,
Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Saddle-billed Stork and if we are
lucky we may get a glimpse of the resident Collared Palm
Thrush.
Eventually returning back
to camp you
enjoy dinner out in the open listening to the African night
sounds whilst we
discuss the next day's exciting events,
relaxed and enjoying a little beverage.
Day 3: Kruger Park - Satara Camp (B D)
The day starts early with a wake up call at
5.30am. At 6.00am the camp gates open. We leave
Letaba and head towards 'Satara' camp.
Satara is your
camp for your last night. Apart from the
birdlife it's also well known for its Lion population and for
being one of the better areas in the park to see Cheetah.
The landscape in this
area is quite open with large Marula trees scattered across the
open Savannah. You will be keeping our eyes open for:
Martial Eagle, Lappet-faced Vultures, Acacia Pied Barbet and
Brown-crowned Tchagra. The open plains to the
north of camp are perhaps the best place in the park to record
Montagu's
and Pallid Harrier.
You arrive at camp
for
approx 2.00pm for
lunch with a siesta after or to stock up with drinks
for a quick afternoon game drive.
You see so many different animals
- Elephant, Buffalo, Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Impala,
Kudu and Waterbuck; just to name a few common species.
Finally arriving back at camp,
meeting up with others who had decided to stay in camp for the
afternoon, before embarking on an open
vehicle night drive at 6.00pm. A SANParks ranger
in an open sided truck conducts the night drive, which lasts for
approx three hours.
On your return from your night drive at
9.00pm your dinner would have
been prepared, cooked ready
for you to enjoy dinner whilst we
discuss the last day's exciting events.
Day 4: Kruger Park - Johannesburg (B)
Leaving the Kruger National Park in the
early morning we make our way back to Johannesburg via the J.G.
Strydom Tunnel, where we will hope to see one of only a few
breeding pairs of Taita Flacons
within southern Africa. Scanning the skies we may also be lucky
enough to see both Cape Vultures
and Verreaux’s Eagles soaring
above.
From here our next stop will be the
spectacular Blyde River Canyon – 3rd largest in the
world. Keep your eyes open for Jackal
Buzzard, Cape Bunting and Mocking
Cliff-Chat.
Returning to the main road our next
diversion will be through the Verloren Vlei Valley. This is a
protected area and being at an altitude of 2000m is home to a
few very select species. Here we will hope to find
Cape Rock Thrush, Yellow-breasted Pipit,
Southern Bald Ibis, Gurney’s Sugarbird
and if we are lucky some Wattled
Cranes.
Our lunch stop will be in the town of
Dullstroom and then we push on to Johannesburg, but make one
last stop at a roadside pan where we will hope to find
Cape Shoveler, Lesser and
Greater Flamingo’s and provided it
is the summer a host of other waders too.
We will arrive back in Jo'burg at approx 6.00pm
with drop off at Jo'burg Int Airport or at any hotel.
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Note
Interested in this 4 day itinerary, send us an email right now - we'll check availability and reply within 48 hours.
(B L D) refers to the meals included - Breakfast,
Lunch and Dinner.
Our Birding Tours
generally run at a slower pace than our wildlife safaris. Time
is often spent at the camps as there are
birds in abundance. You
do also spend time at waterholes as they make
for excellent birding.
Itinerary may vary slightly due to
accommodation availability, gate opening times, weather
etc....
Bird Watching South Africa | Bird Watching Kruger Park
Bird 4 Day
Birding Tour | 4 Day Bird Watching Holiday | Birdwatching 4 Day Safari
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