South Africa: Kruger to Cape Town

January 18 - February 10, 2013

Day 1-2

African Elephant

Depart Toronto, travel to Johannesburg via London.

Day 3
Pick up rental car at OR Tambo International Airport. Travel to Kruger National Park. Night at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp.

Day 4

Full day birding in Kruger with guide Leon Marais. Night game drive at Lower Sabie Rest Camp. Night at Lower Sabie Rest Camp.

Day 5

Early morning birding along the Lower Sabie/Crocodile River Rd. Late morning birding along Lower Sabie/Skukuza Rd. Sunset game drive at Skukuza Rest Camp. Night at Skukuza Rest Camp.

Day 6

Early morning birding in Skukuza Rest Camp. Birding along Skukuza/Malalane Rd. Sunset game drive at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp. Night at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp.

Day 7

European Roller

Morning game hike at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp. Birding along riparian woods. Travel to Wakkerstroom. Evening wetlands birding. Night at BirdLife South Africa Wakkerstroom Centre.

Day 8

Highveld birding with our guide, "Lucky". Travel to Creighton. Night at Creighton.

Day 9

Afro-montane birding in Xumeni State Forest and environs. 1500 roosting Amur Falcons at dusk. Night in Creighton.

Day 10

All day birding in the Drakensberg Mountains via Sani Pass into Lesotho. Night in Creighton.

Day 11

Travel to East London.

Day 12

Zebra

Travel to Tsitskamma National Park. Afternoon zip-lining. Evening birding at Storm's River mouth. Night in Storm's River Rest Camp.

Day 13

Morning birding at Keurbooms estuary. Travel to Garden Route National Park - Wilderness Section. Night in Wilderness.

Day 14

Wetland birding at Langvlei and Reitvlei bird hides. Forest birding at the Woodville "Big Tree". Travel to Swellendam. Night in Swellendam.

Day 15

Morning grassveld birding on the Agulhas Plain. African Penguin colony at Betty's Bay. Night in Simon's Town.

Day 16

Morning birding at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Travelling the Cape Peninsula; Hout Bay, Chapman's Peak, Soetwater, Cape Point. Night in Simon's Town.

Drakensberg Rockjumper

Day 17
Searching for Cape Rockjumper at Sir Lowry's Pass. Night in Simon's Town.

Day 18

Birding with guide, Patrick Cardwell; Strandfontein sewage works, Perdokloof picnic site, Rooiels, Harold Porter Botanical Gardens. Night in Simon's Town.

Day 19

Birding the West Coast National Park and environs. Night in Simon's Town.

Day 20

Morning at Boulder's Beach. Travel to Cape Town. Exploring the V&A Harbourfront. Night in Cape Town.

Day 21

Orange-breasted Sunbird

Winery tours in Stellenbosch. Night in Cape Town.

Day 22

Sunrise on Table Mountain. Cheese dairy and chocolate making tours in Paarl. Drop off rental car at Cape Town airport (>5,000 km). Flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Pick up rental car. Night in Kempton Park.

Day 23

Birding in Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. Drop off rental car at OR Tambo International Airport. Depart Johannesberg.

Day 24

Arrive at Toronto via London.

Bird List

1. Ostrich
2. White-faced Whistling-Duck
3. White-backed Duck
4. Egyptian Goose
5. South African Shelduck
6. Spur-winged Goose
7. African Pygmy-Goose
8. African Black Duck
9. Yellow-billed Duck
10. Mallard
11. Cape Shoveler
12. Red-billed Duck
13. Hottentot Teal
14. Cape Teal
15. Southern Pochard
16. Maccoa Duck
17. Helmeted Guineafowl
18. Crested Francolin
19. Cape Francolin
20. Natal Francolin
21. Red-necked Francolin
22. Swainson's Francolin
23. Little Grebe
24. Great Crested Grebe
25. Eared Grebe
26. Greater Flamingo
27. Jackass Penguin
28. Rockhopper Penguin
29. Black Stork
30. White Stork
31. Saddle-billed Stork
32. Marabou Stork
33. Yellow-billed Stork
34. Cape Gannet
35. Great Cormorant
36. Cape Cormorant
37. Bank Cormorant
38. Long-tailed Cormorant
39. Crowned Cormorant
40. African Darter
41. Great White Pelican
42. Hamerkop
43. Little Bittern
44. Gray Heron
45. Black-headed Heron
46. Goliath Heron
47. Purple Heron
48. Little Egret
49. Cattle Egret
50. Striated Heron
51. Black-crowned Night-Heron
52. Glossy Ibis
53. Sacred Ibis
54. Bald Ibis
55. Hadada Ibis
56. African Spoonbill
57. Osprey
58. Black-shouldered Kite
59. African Harrier-Hawk
60. Lammergeier
61. Lappet-faced Vulture
62. White-backed Vulture
63. Cape Griffon
64. Bateleur
65. Black-breasted Snake-Eagle
66. Brown Snake-Eagle
67. Long-crested Eagle
68. Lesser Spotted Eagle
69. Wahlberg's Eagle
70. Tawny Eagle
71. Verreaux's Eagle
72. African Marsh-Harrier
73. African Goshawk
74. Black Kite
75. African Fish-Eagle
76. Common Buzzard
77. Jackal Buzzard
78. Stanley Bustard
79. White-bellied Bustard
80. Blue Bustard
81. Black Bustard
82. Black-bellied Bustard
83. African Rail
84. Black Crake
85. Purple Swamphen
86. Allen's Gallinule
87. Eurasian Moorhen
88. Red-knobbed Coot
89. Gray Crowned-Crane
90. Blue Crane
91. Water Thick-knee
92. Spotted Thick-knee
93. Blacksmith Plover
94. Black-winged Lapwing
95. Crowned Lapwing
96. Wattled Lapwing
97. Black-bellied Plover
98. Kittlitz's Plover
99. Common Ringed Plover
100. Three-banded Plover
101. White-fronted Plover
102. African Oystercatcher
103. Black-winged Stilt
104. Pied Avocet
105. African Jacana
106. Common Sandpiper
107. Common Greenshank
108. Marsh Sandpiper
109. Wood Sandpiper
110. Common Redshank
111. Whimbrel
112. Bar-tailed Godwit
113. Ruddy Turnstone
114. Red Knot
115. Sanderling
116. Little Stint
117. Pectoral Sandpiper
118. Curlew Sandpiper
119. Ruff
120. African Snipe
121. Hottentot Buttonquail
122. Gray-hooded Gull
123. Hartlaub's Gull
124. Kelp Gull
125. Little Tern
126. Caspian Tern
127. White-winged Tern
128. Whiskered Tern
129. Common Tern
130. Great Crested Tern
131. Sandwich Tern
132. Rock Pigeon
133. Speckled Pigeon
134. Rameron Pigeon
135. Red-eyed Dove
136. Ring-necked Dove
137. Laughing Dove
138. Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove
139. Namaqua Dove
140. African Green-Pigeon
141. Knysna Turaco
142. Purple-crested Turaco
143. Gray Go-away-bird
144. Pied Cuckoo
145. African Emerald Cuckoo
146. Dideric Cuckoo
147. White-browed Coucal
148. Spotted Eagle-Owl
149. Verreaux's Eagle-Owl
150. Pearl-spotted Owlet
151. Fiery-necked Nightjar
152. Alpine Swift
153. Common Swift
154. African Swift
155. Little Swift
156. Horus Swift
157. White-rumped Swift
158. African Palm-Swift
159. Speckled Mousebird
160. White-backed Mousebird
161. Red-faced Mousebird
162. Malachite Kingfisher
163. Woodland Kingfisher
164. Brown-hooded Kingfisher
165. Giant Kingfisher
166. Pied Kingfisher
167. White-fronted Bee-eater
168. Little Bee-eater
169. European Bee-eater
170. Southern Carmine Bee-eater
171. European Roller
172. Lilac-breasted Roller
173. Eurasian Hoopoe
174. Green Woodhoopoe
175. Common Scimitar-bill
176. Southern Red-billed Hornbill
177. Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
178. Crowned Hornbill
179. African Gray Hornbill
180. Crested Barbet
181. Pied Barbet
182. Black-collared Barbet
183. Rufous-necked Wryneck
184. Golden-tailed Woodpecker
185. Ground Woodpecker
186. Cardinal Woodpecker
187. Bearded Woodpecker
188. Eurasian Kestrel
189. Amur Falcon
190. Peregrine Falcon
191. Brown-necked Parrot
192. Brown-headed Parrot
193. Cape Batis
194. Chinspot Batis
195. White Helmetshrike
196. Retz's Helmetshrike
197. Black-backed Puffback
198. Southern Boubou
199. Bokmakierie
200. Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike
201. Gray-headed Bushshrike
202. Gray Cuckooshrike
203. Red-backed Shrike
204. Southern Fiscal
205. Magpie Shrike
206. White-crowned Shrike
207. Eurasian Golden Oriole
208. African Black-headed Oriole
209. Fork-tailed Drongo
210. African Paradise-Flycatcher
211. House Crow
212. Cape Crow
213. Pied Crow
214. White-necked Raven
215. Drakensberg Rockjumper
216. Rufous-naped Lark
217. Cape Clapper Lark
218. Agulhas Lark
219. Red-capped Lark
220. Large-billed Lark
221. Plain Martin
222. Banded Martin
223. Rock Martin
224. Barn Swallow
225. White-throated Swallow
226. Blue Swallow
227. Greater Striped-Swallow
228. Lesser Striped-Swallow
229. Rufous-chested Swallow
230. Common House-Martin
231. Black Sawwing
232. Fairy Flycatcher
233. Southern Black-Tit
234. Sombre Greenbul
235. Terrestrial Brownbul
236. Common Bulbul
237. Black-fronted Bulbul
238. Cape Bulbul
239. Cape Crombec
240. Cape Grassbird
241. African Yellow-Warbler
242. African Reed-Warbler
243. Lesser Swamp-Warbler
244. Little Rush-Warbler
245. Barratt's Warbler
246. Fan-tailed Grassbird
247. Bar-throated Apalis
248. Yellow-breasted Apalis
249. Green-backed Camaroptera
250. Red-faced Cisticola
251. Rattling Cisticola
252. Red-headed Cisticola
253. Wailing Cisticola
254. Tinkling Cisticola
255. Piping Cisticola
256. Zitting Cisticola
257. Cloud Cisticola
258. Pale-crowned Cisticola
259. Tawny-flanked Prinia
260. Karoo Prinia
261. Drakensberg Prinia
262. Bush Blackcap
263. Layard's Warbler
264. Rufous-vented Warbler
265. Cape White-eye
266. Arrow-marked Babbler
267. Gurney's Sugarbird
268. Cape Sugarbird
269. Fiscal Flycatcher
270. Dusky-brown Flycatcher
271. Karoo Scrub-Robin
272. Red-backed Scrub-Robin
273. Cape Robin-Chat
274. White-throated Robin-Chat
275. White-browed Robin-Chat
276. Sentinel Rock-Thrush
277. Cape Rock-Thrush
278. African Stonechat
279. Buff-streaked Bushchat
280. Southern Anteater-Chat
281. Sicklewing Chat
282. Familiar Chat
283. Mountain Wheatear
284. Capped Wheatear
285. Orange Ground-Thrush
286. Olive Thrush
287. Common Myna
288. European Starling
289. Cape Glossy-Starling
290. Greater Blue-eared Glossy-Starling
291. Burchell's Glossy-Starling
292. Violet-backed Starling
293. African Pied Starling
294. Red-winged Starling
295. Red-billed Oxpecker
296. Collared Sunbird
297. Orange-breasted Sunbird
298. Amethyst Sunbird
299. Scarlet-chested Sunbird
300. Malachite Sunbird
301. Southern Double-collared Sunbird
302. Greater Double-collared Sunbird
303. Mariqua Sunbird
304. Cape Wagtail
305. African Pied Wagtail
306. African Pipit
307. Mountain Pipit
308. Yellow-breasted Pipit
309. Orange-throated Longclaw
310. Lark-like Bunting
311. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
312. Cape Bunting
313. Golden-breasted Bunting
314. Cape Siskin
315. Drakensberg Siskin
316. Cape Canary
317. Yellow-fronted Canary
318. Forest Canary
319. Brimstone Canary
320. Yellow Canary
321. Streaky-headed Seedeater
322. House Sparrow
323. Cape Sparrow
324. Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
325. Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver
326. Spectacled Weaver
327. Cape Weaver
328. Lesser Masked-Weaver
329. Southern Masked-Weaver
330. Village Weaver
331. Forest Weaver
332. Red-billed Quelea
333. Red Bishop
334. Yellow-crowned Bishop
335. Yellow Bishop
336. White-winged Widowbird
337. Red-collared Widowbird
338. Fan-tailed Widowbird
339. Long-tailed Widowbird
340. Grosbeak Weaver
341. Common Waxbill
342. Blue-breasted Cordonbleu
343. Green-winged Pytilia
344. Red-billed Firefinch
345. Bronze Mannikin
346. Pin-tailed Whydah
347. Village Indigobird
348. Variable Indigobird

Mammal List

1. Chacma Baboon
2. Vervet Monkey
3. Bat spp.
4. Scrub Hare
5. Squirrel spp.
6. Crested Porcupine
7. Mouse spp.
8. Sloggett's Ice Rat
9. Brown (Cape) Fur Seal
10. Black-backed Jackal
11. Meerkat
12. Dwarf Mongoose
13. Slender Mongoose
14. Spotted Hyena
15. Large-spotted Genet
16. Leopard
17. Rock Hyrax
18. African Elephant
19. Common Zebra
20. White Rhinoceros
21. Hippopotamus
22. Common Warthog
23. Giraffe
24. African Buffalo
25. Bushbuck
26. Nyala
27. Greater Kudu
28. Eland
29. Common Duiker
30. Cape Grysbok
31. Steinbuck
32. Klipspringer
33. Mountain Reedbuck
34. Southern Reedbuck
35. Waterbuck
36. Springbuck
37. Impala
38. Bontebok
39. Red Hartebeest
40. White-tailed Gnu (Black Wildebeest)
41. Sable