Blog | African Bigyear

16 January 2019: Larking it in Wakkerstroom

HMS Daai Dêng sailed majestically through a massive cloud-burst and unending sheets of water near Volksrust to reach port at the Birdlife...

Jan 16, 20191 min read

Three exhausting days of hard-core birding in the Gauteng area bagged 154 new species, bringing my total up to 380. Etienne’s refrain of...

Jan 13, 20193 min read

The “Long and Winding Road” by Paul McCartney became an earworm in my head as I drove the nearly 800km from the Bavumba Highlands in...

Jan 8, 20191 min read

The Bavumba mountains in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe is a twitcher’s heaven, and Seldomseen is one of Southern Africa’s premier...

Jan 6, 20191 min read

Today I had a mind-blowing, totally awesome CMF (see Birding Terms for Dummies). Who ever, but ever, sees 6 Streaky-breasted Flufftails...

Jan 5, 20192 min read

Some people are a true blessing to others. I was blessed to meet up with birding guide Tony Wood and his delightful wife Janet at their...

Jan 4, 20192 min read

This morning the target birds were the Arnot’s Chat and the Racket-tailed Roller. While looking for them we were attacked by squadrons of...

Jan 2, 20191 min read

My African Birding Big Year commenced with a beautiful duet by a pair of African Wood Owls - at 02:45 in the morning – directly above my...

Jan 1, 20191 min read

I am the only occupant of Pitta Camp. All the staff have gone home to celebrate the coming of 2019. The sun is setting over the Angwa...

Jan 1, 20192 min read

When it’s nearly impossible to accurately determine the number of countries in Africa, making sense of traveling through Africa is a...

Dec 25, 20182 min read

I don’t have head lice – at least not yet. But when an unknown bird calls in the bush I squirm and I feel my scalp begin to crawl. When a...

Dec 25, 20182 min read