NAMIBIA & BOTSWANA – A feast of Southern African endemics, near-endemics, scenery and wildlife, with Zimbabwe Extension

PRICE INFORMATION

Birdquest Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

We also include all tipping for local guides, drivers and accommodation/restaurant staff.

If you are taking the Zimbabwe extension, we also include these flights: Windhoek-Johannesburg-Harare.

Deposit: 20% of the total tour price. Our office will let you know what deposit amount is due, in order to confirm your booking, following receipt of your online booking form.

TO BOOK THIS TOUR: Click here (you will need the tour dates)

The single supplement will not apply if you indicate on booking that you prefer to share a room and there is a room-mate of the same sex available.

This tour is priced in US Dollars. Amounts shown in other currencies are indicative.

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency will be pleased to arrange your air travel on request, or you may arrange this yourself if you prefer.

NAMIBIA & BOTSWANA BIRDING TOUR WITH ZIMBABWE: DETAILED ITINERARY

Namibia & Botswana: Day 1  Our tour begins this morning at Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city, where we will overnight.

(There are daily flights into Windhoek from Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Addis Ababa and elsewhere.)

Today we will visit the nearby nature reserve at Avis Dam. There is sometimes little water in the dam itself, but the interesting species at this location are not waterbirds.

Here we should find such Namibian near-endemics as Rosy-faced Lovebird, Monteiro’s Hornbill (which cements its mate into rock crevices when breeding), Damara Red-billed Hornbill, Pale-winged Starling and the strange Rockrunner. With persistence, we also have a fair chance for the uncommon, restricted-range and rather shy Orange River Francolin.

In addition, we will have our first chances for such Southern African endemics and near-endemics as Red-billed Spurfowl (a species we see on no other tour!), White-backed Mousebird, Bradfield’s Swift, Acacia Pied Barbet, Pririt Batis, the stunning Crimson-breasted Shrike, African Red-eyed Bulbul, Black-chested Prinia, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Short-toed Rock Thrush, Marico Flycatcher, Great Sparrow, Scaly-feathered and Southern Masked Weavers, Violet-eared Waxbill, Nicholson’s Pipit, Yellow Canary and Cape Bunting.

More widespread birds we are likely to encounter for the first time are Gabar Goshawk, Rock Kestrel, African Palm, Alpine, Little and White-rumped Swifts, Grey Go-away-bird, Speckled Pigeon, Ring-necked and Laughing Doves, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Fork-tailed Drongo, Pied Crow, White-throated, Pearl-breasted and Greater Striped Swallows, Rock Martin, Long-billed Crombec, Yellow-bellied and Burnt-necked Eremomelas, Groundscraper Thrush, Familiar Chat, Marico Sunbird, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Blue Waxbill, Shaft-tailed Whydah, Cape Wagtail, Black-throated Canary and Cinnamon-breasted Bunting.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 2  We will set out early today and head for Walvis Bay. We will spend two nights in this former South African enclave that was handed over to Namibia not long after its independence.

The famous Skeleton Coast has a cool but almost rainless climate and as we head for the coast we begin to cross the open, featureless gravel of the Namib Desert – a desolate landscape, with little vegetation in sight, relieved only by the occasional convincing mirage.

This environment is not entirely birdless, however, and we can expect to encounter small groups of Namibian near-endemic Stark’s Larks skimming low over the ground, Burchell’s Coursers (a Southern African near-endemic that can be hard to find in South Africa) perhaps standing in the limited shade offered by the telephone poles and Namibian near-endemic Rüppell’s Korhaans striding slowly across the plains.

We shall search stark, white, unvegetated areas for the rather elusive, Namibian near-endemic Gray’s Lark, almost white itself and thus extremely hard to pick up unless it flies. Sometimes the larks utter soft piping calls which drift across the desert and make them easier to locate. The local race of Tractrac Chat (a Southern African near-endemic) is likewise almost white and looks very different from its southern counterpart. Even some mammals survive here and we can expect to see the restricted-range Mountain Zebra. Closer to the coast, we will stop to admire the apparently lifeless ‘moonscapes’ of the Namib Naukluft National Park.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 3  Early mornings in the coastal desert can be frustrating because of the cold, dense fog that blankets a strip up to 30 kilometres (20 miles) inland, reducing visibility and making it difficult to locate small passerines. Fortunately, it soon burns off and as the fog begins to lift this morning a massive dune system will come into full relief, the huge reddish dunes stretching away to the horizon. In the grassy gullies between the dunes and amongst the scrub in the dry river beds we shall look for the attractive Dune Lark, Namibia’s only strict endemic, as well as the Namibian near-endemic Orange River White-eye, the attractive Cape Sparrow (a Southern African near-endemic) and also Red-faced Mousebird and Common Waxbill.

Freshwater is at a premium in this desolate coastal region which stretches for more than 1600km. Wherever there is some seepage of water from underground rivers near the coast many thousands of waterbirds gather and during the course of a single day amongst the coastal lagoons, saltpans and sewage works around Walvis Bay and Swakopmund it is quite possible to see a huge number of birds. The majority consists of Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Great White Pelicans, cormorants, wildfowl, shorebirds, gulls and terns.

Amongst the additional species that we are likely to find here are such Southern African endemics and near-endemics as Cape and Crowned Cormorants, Cape Shoveler, African Oystercatcher, Cape Gull (sometimes split from Kelp Gull) and Hartlaub’s Gull, as well as the diminutive, restricted-range and endangered Damara Tern.

More widespread waterbirds include Black-necked Grebe, White-breasted Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Egyptian Goose, Cape and Red-billed Teals, Maccoa Duck (irregular in occurrence), Common Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot, White-fronted, Chestnut-banded, Kittlitz’s, Three-banded, Common Ringed and Grey (or Black-bellied) Plovers, Wood, Common, Marsh and Curlew Sandpipers, Little Stint, Sanderling, Ruff, Common Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Whimbrel, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Gull, and Caspian, Greater Crested, Sandwich and Common Terns. We may also see Cape Gannet (another Southern African near-endemic), Sooty Shearwater and perhaps White-chinned Petrel and Wilson’s Storm Petrel passing offshore.

During our time in the coastal zone of Namibia, we will have the chance to see the strange Welwitschia plant with its two long curled-up leaves shredded at the tips by wind and sand. These huge, primitive plants are thought to live for more than a thousand years!

Namibia & Botswana: Day 4  We will set off early this morning and drive northwards across the desert, en route to the dramatic, isolated Spitzkoppe mountain. Here we will be looking for the Namibian near-endemic Herero Chat (another species we only see on this tour). This is an uncommon and localized bird, but Spitzkoppe is surely the best place for finding it and we have plenty of time to achieve our goal.

Spitzkoppe is also an excellent site for the strange-looking, Namibian near-endemic White-tailed Shrike (also known as Ground Batis), which looks more like a giant terrestrial batis than a true shrike and which has in fact been found to share a genetic affinity with the latter.

Afterwards, we will continue northwards into Damaraland until we reach the Brandberg, Namibia’s highest mountain, where we will spend the night.

Along the way, we shall be looking out for several Southern African endemics and near-endemics, including South African Shelduck, the large-billed form of the Sabota Lark (sometimes split as Bradfield’s Lark), Karoo Chat and Red-headed Finch, as well as Southern Fiscal (of the white-browed ‘Latakoo’ form). We will pass through areas of rocky escarpments where we should easily find the localized, Namibian near-endemic Benguela Long-billed Lark.

Our stop at the Brandberg is not just about breaking up the journey to Ruacana, but also about Namibian near-endemic specialities. This is an excellent spot for both Rüppell’s Parrot and the attractive Violet Wood Hoopoe, and we should also see our first Carp’s Tits and Bare-cheeked Babblers.

Additional Southern African endemics and near endemics are likely to include Chat Flycatcher, Cape Starling, Dusky Sunbird, White-throated Canary and Lark-like Bunting.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 5  After some final birding at the Brandberg, we will head north to the remote Ruacana region for a two nights stay.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 6  In the Ruacana region, the Kunene River (which forms the border with Angola) flows turbulently through a series of dramatic, precipitous canyons, broken by several impressive waterfalls (including the Cinderella Falls, that gave their name to the eponymous waxbill). Along the river, among scattered stands of palms and other trees, we will search for three restricted-range specialities: Rufous-tailed Palmthrush (here at its southernmost limits), Bennett’s Woodpecker (the race here shows an unmarked breast and possibly represents a distinct species) and Meves’s Starling. We have even seen the rare, restricted-range Slaty Egret in the Ruacana area, although it is only regular in the Caprivi Strip and northern Botswana.

Our most important target here, a true mega-speciality, is the highly range-restricted Cinderella Waxbill. This species, which occurs only in northwesternmost Namibia and southwesternmost Angola, is a tough bird to find in Angola but easier here. With persistence, we have a good chance of finding a small group at one of their favoured drinking pools.

The Ruacana area also offers more chances for the near-endemic Carp’s Tit and Bare-cheeked Babbler.

[Note: Angolan Cave Chat, an Angolan near-endemic that just extends into northwesternmost Nambia, occurs in the area west of Ruacana but visiting this area is decidedly difficult and, once there, involves lots of time climbing up and down on very loose boulder slopes, so it is not for anyone not extremely fit and agile. This species is much easier to see in Angola, where one can drive to its habitat!]

As well as its specialities, the Ruacana area holds African Openbill, Augur Buzzard, Red-necked Spurfowl, Square-tailed Nightjar, Mourning Collared, Red-eyed and Namaqua Doves, African Hoopoe, Green Wood Hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Malachite, Giant and Pied Kingfishers, African Grey Hornbill, Cardinal and Golden-tailed Woodpeckers, Brubru, Swamp Boubou, White-crested Helmetshrike, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Rattling Cisticola, Grey-backed Camaroptera, African Paradise Flycatcher, Wire-tailed Swallow, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Chestnut Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Red-billed Firefinch and African Pied Wagtail. Olive Bee-eater is an intra-African migrant that typically arrives in the area by late October/November.

We should also see Vervet Monkey and Chacma Baboon.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 7  After some final birding in the Ruacana region if need be, we will head for Etosha National Park for a three nights stay. We will arrive in time for some initial birding and mammal watching.

Namibia & Botswana: Days 8-9  Etosha National Park, covers nearly 23,000 square kilometres (roughly 8,800 square miles) and is justly famous as one of the finest game reserves in Africa. (The name ‘Etosha’ means ‘Big White Place’ in the language of the local San or Bushmen people.) Covering such a large area, the park naturally encompasses a varied selection of habitats and a high diversity of birds and mammals. For most of the year, the area is very dry, ranging from near-desert in the west to dried-out lake beds in the central sector and well-developed woodland in the moister east, but the many waterholes act as a magnet for mammals and birds during the drier months. Several small forts were built in the area in the late nineteenth century to house the German troops patrolling Ovamboland and one of these, at Namutoni, has been converted into part of a park lodge.

The open plains and wooded areas teem with game, including large herds of Gemsbok (or Southern Oryx), Springbok, Plains (or Burchell’s) Zebra and Blue Wildebeest, while other mammals that we are likely to encounter include African Savanna Elephant, the highly endangered Black Rhinoceros, Southern Giraffe, Red Hartebeest, Steenbok, Impala (of the distinctive local ‘black-faced’ form), Greater Kudu, Common Eland, the delightful Damara Dik-Dik, Common Warthog, Cape (or South African) Ground Squirrel, Slender Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Spotted Hyaena, Black-backed Jackal and Lion. With luck, we will encounter Leopard and even Cheetah or Honey Badger.

Birds are equally varied. Common Ostrich and the striking Northern Black Korhaan (a Southern African endemic) are common, whilst the stately Kori Bustard strides amongst the herds of game. The elegant Blue Crane, a Southern African endemic that has an isolated population at Etosha, can be found in the grassier, damper depressions. In areas of open country or around waterholes one can come across groups of Pink-billed, Spike-heeled and Red-capped Larks, and Chestnut-backed and Grey-backed Sparrow-Larks (the first two and the last of these are Southern African near-endemics). During the hotter hours, large raptors, such as Lappet-faced, White-headed and White-backed Vultures, Brown and Black-chested Snake Eagles, Martial and Tawny Eagles, Bateleur and African Hawk-Eagle ply the thermals overhead.

A key bird speciality of Etosha is the localized, near-endemic Black-faced Babbler. This restricted-range speciality is shared only with western Botswana and southern Angola, but in practice is only seen on birding tours in Namibia, so is a prime target for us. The park also holds the near-endemic Violet Wood Hoopoe, so is a useful backup locality.

Other Southern African endemics and near endemics that are usually seen in the park and its surroundings include Pale Chanting Goshawk, Namaqua and Double-banded Sandgrouse, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, the handsome Rufous-eared Warbler (surviving here in an isolated population), Ant-eating Chat, Southern Pied Babbler, Burchell’s Starling, Southern White-crowned Shrike and Sociable Weaver.

Etosha is a good place to catch up on some additional Southern African endemics and near-endemics including the sparsely-distributed Burchell’s Courser, the stately Ludwig’s Bustard and Burchell’s Sandgrouse (the latter is usually uncommon but occasionally numerous).

Additional widespread birds include Secretarybird, Black-winged Kite, Shikra, Lanner Falcon, the attractive Red-necked Falcon, Greater Kestrel, Helmeted Guineafowl, Crested Francolin, Red-crested Korhaan, Spotted Thick-knee, Crowned and Blacksmith Lapwings, Double-banded Courser, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, African Scops Owl, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Lilac-breasted and Purple (or Rufous-crowned) Rollers, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Eastern Clapper Lark, Pied and Cape Crows, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Barred Wren-Warbler, Desert Cisticola, African Pipit, Wattled Starling, Marico and White-bellied Sunbirds, Lesser Masked Weaver, Blue, Violet-eared and Black-cheeked (or Black-faced) Waxbills, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah and the gaudy Golden-breasted Bunting. More uncommon species include Black-headed Heron, Little Sparrowhawk, Rufous-naped Lark and Capped Wheatear.

Seasonal Palearctic and intra-African visitors (generally from late October/November onwards) include African Cuckoo, Common Swift, European Bee-eater, Willow Warbler and Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrikes. Caspian Plover is also a possibility. If we are very lucky indeed we will also come across the rare Dusky Lark, another intra-African migrant.

We can go night driving outside the park boundary as there we are not subject to restrictions. A night drive may well turn up Bat-eared Fox, Small-spotted Genet and Rufous-cheeked Nightjar. There is also a chance of Cape Porcupine and Cape Fox.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 10  This morning, we head northeastwards to Rundu, situated at the western end of the narrow Caprivi Strip, for an overnight stay.

Along the way, the dry mopane woodland (where the trees have distinctive, butterfly-shaped leaves) gradually gives way to tropical palm savanna and finally a climax teak forest which closely resembles the miombo woodlands further north in Africa and indeed harbours a rather similar avifauna.

Our lodge at Rundu is situated along the Okavango River that forms the border with Angola. Reed-fringed pools with abundant vegetation and the marshy floodplain around Rundu hold such waterbirds as Little Grebe, Reed (or Long-tailed) Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Purple, Squacco and Striated Herons, the secretive Rufous-bellied Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Little Bittern, Hottentot Teal, African Rail, the surprisingly bold Black Crake, African Swamphen, African Jacana, Greater Painted-snipe, African Snipe, Water Thick-knee and Whiskered Tern.

In the waterside reeds, thickets and grassy patches by the Okavango we may well find the restricted-range Coppery-tailed Coucal, Hartlaub’s Babbler and Brown Firefinch as well as Dark-capped Bulbul, Lesser Swamp, African Reed and Little Rush Warblers and Tawny-flanked Prinia.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 11  The Caprivi Strip is a narrow finger of Namibian territory bordered to the north by Angola and to the south by Botswana. It is still relatively unknown ornithologically and comprises a virtually untouched mosaic of extensive swamps, rivers and pristine forests. The Cubango and Cuito Rivers that drain the highlands of Angola join to form the Okavango River which widens and slows as it meanders southwards until it dissipates in a vast inland delta in northern Botswana. The Okavango has a special magic and we shall all enjoy this charismatic region with its rich diversity of birds and game.

Large expanses of open woodland can be found away from the Okavango River itself, and later today we shall travel eastwards through this habitat to Ndhovu near Popa Falls for an overnight stay.

Dark Chanting Goshawks keep a wary eye on us from exposed boughs and the calls of Striped Kingfishers carry through these miombo-like woodlands. Fast-moving mixed-species flocks hold such birds as Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Black Cuckooshrike, the attractive Rufous-bellied Tit, Southern Black Tit, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-headed Weaver and Yellow-fronted Canary. An important species we will be on the lookout for is the uncommon, restricted-range Souza’s Shrike.

We have a good chance of finding the lovely White-backed Night Heron along a quiet stretch of the Okavango River and a rocky, fast-flowing stretch holds the attractive Rock Pratincole. The stunning Southern Carmine Bee-eater nests in colonies along its banks (from here to Mahango and Shakawe) and this species is sure to be a trip highlight.

Other species we are likely to encounter in the Caprivi Strip or in adjacent northern Botswana include Yellow-billed Kite, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Temminck’s Courser, African Green Pigeon, Senegal and White-browed Coucals, Broad-billed Roller, White-fronted and Little Bee-eaters, Lesser Honeyguide, Brown-throated and Banded Martins, Red-breasted and Mosque Swallows, Fawn-coloured Lark, African Golden and Black-headed Orioles, Kurrichane Thrush, White-browed Scrub Robin, Tinkling and Zitting Cisticolas, Neddicky (or Piping Cisticola), Southern Black and Pale Flycatchers, Chinspot Batis, Arrow-marked Babbler, Southern Yellow White-eye, Violet-backed and Greater Blue-eared Starlings, White-browed Robin-Chat, Brown-crowned and Black-crowned Tchagras, Black-backed Puffback, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Magpie Shrike, Red-billed Oxpecker, Collared, Amethyst and Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow, Village, Spectacled and Holub’s Golden Weavers, Southern Red Bishop, Green-winged Pytilia and Cut-throat Finch.

More uncommon species include the restricted-range Arnot’s Chat as well as African Cuckoo-Hawk, Bat Hawk, Temminck’s Courser, Marsh Owl, African Barred Owlet, Buffy Pipit, Pin-tailed Whydah and the furtive Quailfinch.

Palearctic migrants include Western Osprey, Steppe Eagle, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Hobby, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Spotted Flycatcher and sometimes Lesser Spotted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon and White-winged Tern, while intra-African migrants likewise present from late October/November onwards include Woodland Kingfisher and Levaillant’s, Jacobin, Klaas’s, Diederik, Black and Red-chested Cuckoos.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 12  Today we will explore the small but bird and mammal-rich Mahango Game Reserve, keeping a lookout on the approaches for Sharp-tailed Starling, a largely Angolan speciality that sometimes turns up in this area or closer to Rundu.

The reserve consists mainly of dry deciduous woodland, but at its edge, the mighty Okavango has created a wide floodplain with marshes of reeds and papyrus and old meanders filled with water lilies. Here we have a very good chance of finding the mega-speciality of this part of the world, the rare, restricted-range Slaty Egret, while handsome Long-toed Lapwings can be seen skipping across the lily pads. Another special bird of the area is the stately but fast-declining Wattled Crane, which can often to be seen with young at this time of year.

In the climax teak forests south of the river we will search for the restricted-range Bradfield’s Hornbill (a species we do not usually see on any other Birdquest tour, so a key species).

The Mahango area offers another chance for the restricted-range Burchell’s Sandgrouse, although this is a bird of rather unpredictable occurrence.

Other species frequently seen in the Mahango area include African Darter, Great and Intermediate Egrets, Black and Goliath Herons, Hamerkop, African Sacred Ibis, Hadada and Glossy Ibises (uncommon), African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed, Woolly-necked and Marabou Storks, Spur-winged Goose, White-faced Whistling and Knob-billed Ducks, African Pygmy Goose (uncommon), African Fish Eagle, African Marsh Harrier, Swainson’s Spurfowl, African Wattled Lapwing, Collared Pratincole, the bizarre African Skimmer, Meyer’s Parrot, Crested Barbet and Terrestrial Brownbul.

There are many mammals to be seen in this superb area and new ones for the tour are likely to include Hippopotamus, Red Lechwe, Common Reedbuck, Topi (or Sassaby) and the magnificent Roan and Sable Antelopes.

After exploring the Mahango reserve, we will drive into adjacent northern Botswana for a two nights stay at Shakawe.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 13  The Shakawe area comprises dense gallery woodland alongside the papyrus-fringed banks of the Okavango River. It is an attractive spot and we have further chances here for many of the birds already mentioned for Mahango Game Reserve and elsewhere in the Caprivi.

Our prime motivations for a visit, however, are because Shakawe has long been recognized as the best place in the region to find the huge, marmalade-coloured Pel’s Fishing Owl and because it is also a prime area for finding Slaty Egret.

The attractive papyrus swamps and reed marshes fringing the Okavango River at Shakawe hold African Stonechat, Greater Swamp Warbler, Southern Brown-throated and Thick-billed Weavers, Fan-tailed Widowbird and in particular the restricted-range Chirping and Luapula Cisticolas.

Around our lodge, handsome Black-collared Barbets utter their duet from the higher branches waterside trees that provide habitat for Ashy Flycatchers, while with luck we will also see the lovely Narina’s Trogon. After dusk the hooting calls of African Wood Owls should allow us to locate this species and we may also see Fiery-necked Nightjar.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 14  We will spend some time in Mahango Game Reserve (or other sites in the Caprivi) this morning and then drive to Grootfontein for an overnight stay.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 15  This morning we will head south to the beautiful Erongo Mountains near Omaruru for an overnight stay. This is yet another very scenic area, comprising granitic hills and mountains with areas of mopane woodland.

Here amongst the rocky crags and gullies, scrub and riverine vegetation, there is a wonderful selection of Namibian near-endemics. We could have seen all of them already, but the Erongo provides valuable insurance just in case any have been missed so far. Here, in particular, we can find Rüppell’s Parrot, Violet Wood Hoopoe, White-tailed Shrike and the interesting Rockrunner. The Erongo is the key site for Hartlaub’s Spurfowl, a species that can usually be located by its characteristic duetting calls.

The Erongo is also a good spot for the impressive Verreaux’s Eagle, Ashy Tit (a Southern African endemic) and the rock-loving Freckled Nightjar.

Mammals are few in number but we should see Klipspringer, Rock Hyrax and the rather hyrax-like Dassie Rat.

Namibia & Botswana: Day 16  After some final birding in the Erongo Mountains we will drive to Windhoek airport, where our tour ends this afternoon.

ZIMBABWE EXTENSION

Zimbabwe: Day 1  We will take an early evening flight from Windhoek to Johannesburg in South Africa, where we will stay overnight.

Zimbabwe: Day 2  Morning flight to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. From Harare, we will head for the Vumba (or Bvumba) Mountains, part of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, for a three nights stay.

The drive passes through a mosaic of open grasslands, fertile agricultural areas, well-wooded hills and valleys and attractive conglomerations of enormous, well-weathered rocks. Abdim’s Stork may be observed during the Austral summer. Eventually, we will climb up into the Vumba Mountains. We will commence our exploration of the area following our arrival.

Zimbabwe Extension: Days 3-4  The Vumba (or Bvumba) Mountains rise to just over 1900m, astride the Mozambique border and are still partly covered in lush montane evergreen forest. Large areas have been transformed into banana, tea and tobacco plantations, but in these ‘mountains of the mist’ several large chunks of forest have been rigorously protected.

Here we will search for two near-endemics (shared only with adjacent Mozambique), Chirinda Apalis and Roberts’s Warbler (formerly Roberts’s Prinia), as well as the restricted-range Stripe-cheeked Greenbul and Swynnerton’s Robin. All four are fairly easy to find.

On the forest floor, we may chance upon a shy Lemon Dove and the handsome Orange Ground Thrush, while the skulking Barratt’s Warbler calls from the densest thickets. We even have a fair chance of seeing the secretive Buff-spotted Flufftail.

We shall also have time to visit an interesting area of miombo where we shall look for such interesting birds as Whyte’s Barbet, Gorgeous Bushshrike, Cinnamon-breasted and Miombo Tits, the very patchily-distributed African Spotted Creeper, Lazy Cisticola, Miombo Rock Thrush, Eastern Miombo Sunbird and Streaky-headed Seedeater.

Other species we may well find in the region include African Black Duck, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Livingstone’s and Purple-crested Turacos, Speckled Mousebird, African Black Swift, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, White-eared Barbet, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Cape Batis, White-necked Raven, the handsome Black-fronted and Olive Bushshrikes, White-breasted and Grey Cuckooshrikes, Square-tailed Drongo, Sombre and Yellow-streaked Greenbuls, Black Saw-wing, Cape Grassbird, Wailing and Singing Cisticolas, Bar-throated Apalis, African Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Red-winged Starling, Grey Tit-flycatcher, African Dusky Flycatcher, Cape and Red-capped Robin-Chats, White-starred Robin, Olive Thrush, Variable and Bronzy Sunbirds, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Dark-backed Weaver, Yellow Bishop, Red-collared Widowbird, Red-throated Twinspot, the secretive Red-faced Crimsonwing, African Firefinch, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Striped Pipit and Cape Canary.

More uncommon species include Little Sparrowhawk, Tambourine Dove and Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher.

Mammals are inconspicuous but are likely to include Blue Monkey.

Zimbabwe Extension: Day 5  This morning we will return to Harare. Our tour ends in the late morning at Harare airport.

(There are various options for international flights out of Harare to Europe and elsewhere. One of the simplest is to take a flight to Johannesburg, from where there are various onward connections the same evening. Even if you are arranging your own flights to and from the tour, we will be happy to arrange a Harare-Johannesburg flight for you if you would find this more convenient.)