Field Guides Birding Tours

ZAMBIA & MALAWI
Victoria Falls & Central African Endemics

From Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River to the world-famous Luangwa National Park, and the Cholo Mountains—all rich in central African endemics. 
2008
April 25-May 20 with Phil Gregory & Rod Cassidy		 2009
April 10-May 5 with Jay VanderGaast & Rod Cassidy
$12,375. 26 days
From Johannesburg. Limit: 12
Mostly good accommodations (some in fabulous wildlife reserves), easy to moderate terrain (with slow, steeper walks at two sites), climate cool to hot (the lowlands). Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.

See our triplist for 2007

Klamath Geese
Lesser Masked Weaver male at the nest
by participant Paul Thomas
South-central Africa is one of the most ornithologically neglected areas in the whole African continent, and yet it is home to a wealth of endemic birds and spectacular mammals.  We begin at the magnificent Victoria Falls where African Finfoot and Rock Pratincole may be seen alongside impressive numbers of hippos.  The falls themselves are fabulous, and it was here in 1855 that David Livingstone said, “On sights as beautiful as this, angels in their flight must have gazed.”

From our base at Livingstone (a small Zambian town right at the falls) we’ll make a special detour to look for the rare Black-cheeked Lovebird and then head north to Choma—the heart of Chaplin’s Barbet country.  Our journey continues to the floodplains at Lochinvar—for Wattled Cranes—and then the endemic rich miombo woodlands at Kafue where such wonderful and little-known birds as Boehm’s Bee-eater, Racket-tailed Roller, Anchieta’s Barbet, Miombo Rock-Thrush, Red-capped Crombec, Boehm’s Flycatcher, Souza’s Shrike, and Anchieta’s Sunbird are found.  We’ll also make a special visit to slightly different miombo including the Imanda forest for the extremely local Margaret’s Batis and Usnea forest for the strange Bar-winged Weaver.

Following a short flight to South Luangwa National Park, we’ll find ourselves among a variety of game on par with any reserve in Africa; varying from widespread species like African Elephant, Lion, Burchell’s Zebra, and Impala to more local ones like Greater Kudu, Puku, and Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest.  Francolins, lapwings, and the enormous Southern Ground-Hornbill walk the plains; colorful Lilian’s Lovebirds and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters perch in the bushes; and many of the 40-plus species of raptors can be seen overhead.

Leaving Zambia behind, we’ll head up into the poorly known Viphya mountains and try for some of the special birds such as Scaly Francolin, Bertram’s Weaver and Olive-headed Weaver—and then further south near Lilongwe for Stierling’s Woodpecker, Boulder Chat, and Shelley’s Sunbird.  We’ll conclude our tour in the far south of Malawi, visiting two forested mountain areas where many fabulous forest birds still cling to an existence in the remnant forest patches, the beautiful and extremely localized White-winged Apalis and the endangered Cholo Alethe could well be the highlights of this little-known region.
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