Republic of Botswana
Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It is connected by the Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, across the world’s shortest border between two countries. At over 580,000 km2 (225,000 square miles) Botswana is the world’s 48th-largest country. It is similar in size to Madagascar or France.
Botswana is predominantly flat, tending towards gently rolling tableland. It is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of its land surface. The Okavango Delta, one of the world’s largest inland river deltas, is in the northwest. The Makgadikgadi Pan, a large salt pan, lies in the north. The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins of its tributaries, the Notwane, Bonwapitse, Mahalapye, Lotsane, Motloutse and the Shashe, located in the eastern part of the country. The Notwane provides water to the capital through the Gaborone Dam. The Chobe River lies to the north, providing a boundary between Botswana and Namibia’s Zambezi Region.
Chobe National Park – Gorgo Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A country of just over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Around 12% of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone. Formerly one of the world’s poorest countries in the late 1960s, it has since transformed itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The economy is dominated by mining and tourism. Botswana is the world’s biggest diamond producing country. Its relatively high gross national income per capita (by some estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a relatively high standard of living.
Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat. In addition to the delta and desert areas, there are grasslands and savannas, where blue wildebeest, antelopes, and other mammals and birds are found. Northern Botswana has one of the few remaining large populations of the endangered African wild dog. Chobe National Park, found in the Chobe District, has the world’s largest concentration of African elephants. The park covers about 11,000 km2 (4,250 square miles) and supports about 350 species of birds.
The Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve (in the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations. Other reserves include the Central Kalahari Game Reserve located in the Kalahari Desert in Ghanzi District; Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and Nxai Pan National Park are in Central District in the Makgadikgadi Pan. Mashatu Game Reserve is privately owned, located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers in eastern Botswana. The other privately-owned reserve is Mokolodi Nature Reserve near Gaborone. There are also specialised sanctuaries like Khama Rhino Sanctuary (for rhinoceros) and Makgadikgadi Sanctuary (for flamingos). They are both located in Central District.
Over 50% of all households in Botswana own cattle, which is currently the largest single source of rural income. Rangeland degradation or desertification is regarded as the reduction in land productivity as a result of overstocking and overgrazing, or as a result of veld product gathering for commercial use. Degradation is exacerbatedby the effects of drought and climate change.
Okavango Delta Lions – ©Hp.Baumeler, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Okavango Delta is one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; it is a crucial ecosystem to the survival of many animals. It is drying up due to the increased grazing of livestock. However, the importance of conservation is recognised and some efforts are being made to tackle the issues.
Birding Botswana
There is no doubt about it – with nearly 600 bird species including over 500 regularly occurring species, Botswana offers some brilliant birding opportunities. The country is essentially a semi-desert, covered largely by dry tree, shrub and grass savanna (a fine example being the Central Kalahari Game Reserve). Only in the wetter north (Okavango Delta and, within it, the Moremi Game Reserve) and northeast sectors (Chobe National Park and the Kasane Forest Reserve); do tropical woodlands occur. In the extreme southwest the dunes of windblown sand form a transition between the Kalahari and Namib-Karoo zones (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park).
There are no endemic bird species in Botswana, and the country’s only near-endemic is the Short-clawed Lark with the major global stronghold in the grasslands of the southeast (Gaborone – Ramatlabama area). However, populations of globally threatened Wattled Crane and Slaty Egret in the north are of international importance. When flooded, Sowa Pan, to the east of the Makgadikgadi Pans, attracts globally significant numbers of Lesser and Greater Flamingos. Breeding occurs sporadically, every five or six years, depending on the water levels, such as after the rainy season of 1999-2000, when more than 200,000 flamingos concentrated to breed in the shallow saline lake formed in the pan.
Almost 80% of the country falls within the Kalahari sandveld ecosystem – low shrubs and bushes interspersed with patches of woodland, inhabited by species such as Arrow-marked Babbler, Bradfield’s Hornbill, Barred Owl, Bateleur, Ant-eating Chat, Three-streaked and Black-crowned Tchagras, Plum-coloured and Cape Glossy Starlings. The more arid central and south-west areas (including the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) support Ostrich, Gabar and Pale Chanting Goshawks, Black-breasted Snake Eagle, Greater Kestrel, Kori Bustard, Northern Black Korhaan, Caspian Plover, Double-banded Courser, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Pied Barbet, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-capped, Sabota, Fawn-coloured and Rufous-naped Larks, Grey-backed Finchlark, & Capped Wheatear.
Botswana lies under the Tropic of Capricorn with temperatures reaching their highest levels from October to March with an average of 35-40C at midday and 26C overnight. In the winter, April to August, temperatures often fall to c. 27C at midday, and c. 6C overnight. November to February are not just the hottest, but also the wettest months – and the best time for a birder to visit the area since most of the intra-African and Palaearctic migrants are present and resident species are in breeding plumage. With a knowledgeable local guide you may expect over 100 species per day in winter, and over 200 species in summer.
This page is sponsored by Birding Ecotours
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Chobe National Park
Satellite ViewChobe National Park The Chobe National Park (with 450 species – Botswana's longest list) in the north-east provides a similar habitats on a much smaller scale: the Chobe River itself, seasonally inundated floodplains, covered with reeds; riverine woodland and further from the river, mixed broadleaved woodland. Special birds include: African Finfoot, White-backed Night and Rufous-bellied Herons, Slaty Egret, Bradfield's and Trumpeter Hornbills, Narina Trogon, Pennant-winged Nightjar, Racket-tailed Roller, Half-collared Kingfisher, Green-capped Eremomela, Angola Rock Thrush, Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah, Golden-backed Pytilia, Eastern Bearded Robin, Red-faced Cisticola, Collared Palm Thrush, Coppery and Purple-banded Sunbirds, and Pink-throated Longclaw. Getting there: The entry point to Chobe is the village of Kasane, reachable by tarred roads but, with exception of the Kasane – Ngoma Bridge (tarmac); all roads in the park are sandy tracks negotiable by 4x4 only. -
Makgadikgadi Pans
WikiSatellite ViewIn years of high rainfall, a shallow alkaline lake system, the Makgadikgadi Pans (16,000 square kilometres) are formed. The pans are famous for their large flamingo breeding colonies. Other special birds include: White Pelican, Secretary-bird, Montagu's and Pallid Harriers, Marshal and Tawny Eagles, Red-necked Falcon, Greater, Lesser and Red-footed Kestrels, Burchell`s and Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Wattled and Crowned Cranes, Ground Hornbil, Bronze-winged courser, Red-winged and Black-winged Pratincoles, Spike-heeled, Pink-billed, Rufous-naped and Clapper Larks, Chestnut-backed Finchlark, Capped Wheatear. Getting there: All roads in the Makgadikgadi & Nxai Pans National Park are negotiable by 4x4 only. There are several basic campsites in the park, lacking any facilities and without potable water. -
Okavango Delta
WebsiteSatellite ViewIn the northwestern corner of Botswana is the inland delta of the Okavango (18,000 square kilometres) where the Kavango River spreads out into a maze of channels, lagoons and backwaters, creating the largest Ramsar site in the world. Habitats range from open grasslands (seasonally flooded) and palm fringed islands with tall stands of mature woodland, to ample Papyrus and Phragmites which line the waterways and lagoons, and lush riverine forests along the riverbanks. The threatened Wattled Crane and Slaty Egret have their global stronghold in this area. Other special birds include: Pink-backed Pelican, Rufous-bellied and White-backed Night Herons, Pygmy Goose, African Skimmer, Pel's Fishing Owl, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Pink-throated Longclaw, Red-winged Pratincole, Chirping Cisticola, Long-toed Plover, Swamp Boubou, Bat Hawk, Western Banded Snake and Long-crested Eagles, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Narina Trogon and Brown Firefinch. Getting there: The entry point for most tourists is the town of Maun. While western Delta and Panhandle, as well as Moremi Game Reserve are reachable by car (4x2 and 4x4, respectively); light aircrafts are the best way to get around the most of the delta if time matters.
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Other material - Andrew Hester
| shoebill@yebo.co.za
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Dragan Simic
| birdingserbia@gmail.com
http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/botswana/gaborone/Gaborone.htm
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Number of bird species: 589
(As at September 2018)National Bird: Lilac-breasted Roller Coracias caudatus (Sometines the national bird is said to be Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori
- There are no endemic bird species in Botswana, and the country's only near-endemic is the Short-clawed Lark Certhilauda chuana with the major global stronghold in the grasslands of the southeast in the Gaborone - Ramatlabama area with the rest of the population across the border in South Africa.
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iGoTerra Checklist
iGoTerra ChecklistFatbirder Associate iGoTerra offers the most comprehensive and up to date birds lists on the web
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Bird Atlas of Botswana
By Huw Penry | University of KwaZulu-Natal Press | 1994 | Paperback | 320 pages, 25 colour photos, maps | ISBN: 0869808958 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Birds of Botswana
By Peter Hancock & Ingrid Weiersbye | Princeton University Press | 2015 | Paperback |398 pages, 177 plates with 1200+ colour illustrations; colour photos, colour maps, 597 colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780691157177 Buy this book from NHBS.com -
Southern African Birdfinder
By Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode & Jonathan Rossouw | New Holland Publishers | 2006 | Paperback | 456 pages, 80 col photos, 100 maps, pull-out route map | ISBN: 1868727254 Buy this book from NHBS.com
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National parks and game reserves bookings
Bookings aren't available at the park gate, and without one you will be denied entry to the park. Book through Department of Wildlife and National Parks (phone +267 580-774, fax +267 580-775, e-mail dwnpbots@global.bw or dwnp@gov.bw, PO Box 131 Gaborone) in the Government enclave in Gaborone. When booking include the name of the park, the campsites requested, the dates of arrival and departure, the total number of campers and whether they are citizens, residents or visitors to Botswana.
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African Bird Club
WebsiteWith a good tourist infrastructure, friendly people and over 500 regularly occurring species, Botswana offers many opportunities for the birdwatcher. It also contains the Okavango delta, one of the jewels of Africa and home to an amazing variety of wildlife. Birdwatching however, can start in and around the capital, Gaborone. -
BirdLife Botswana
WebsiteCurrently BirdLife Botswana remains active providing services to its members, which are the valuable mainstay of BLB. It is also heavily involved in education and outreach, and continues to undertake research and be involved in conservation. Kabelo Senyatso, who was sponsored by BLB to undertake an MSc in Conservation Biology at the University of Cape Town, works for the Society as it's Conservation Officer and Director. -
Kalahari Conservation Society
Facebook PageWelcome to the home page of the Kalahari Conservation Society. The aims of the KCS are simple but of prime importance to the future of Botswana, to the conservation of the natural heritage, and indeed to the economy
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*List of protected areas of Botswana
InformationSatellite View -
BS Nata
InformationSatellite ViewThe Nata Bird Sanctuary, the only protected reserve in Botswana in the northeastern periphery of Sowa Pan, is a community-managed project, with assistance from the Nata Conservation Committee and national and international organizations. The prominent wildlife species in the sanctuary are reported to number 165 bird species. The sanctuary is of international importance due to its population of 250,000 lesser flamingo Phoenicopterus minor and greater flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus, which visit the sanctuary every year during the winter period to breed, after the rainy season, when the water sources are full. -
IBA Okavango Delta
InformationSatellite ViewThe Okavango Delta is home to a prosperity of wildlife and attracts thousands of visitors a year… -
NP Chobe
WebsiteSatellite ViewThe natural unspoiled environment of the Chobe, makes one to wonder whether there is any other place in the world where the sun rises and sets in its own peculiar way like it does in Chobe region… -
NP Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
InformationSatellite ViewKgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa and Gemsbok National Park in Botswana -
NP Makgadikgadi Pan
InformationSatellite ViewThe Makgadikgadi Pan, a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up several thousand years ago. -
NP Nxai Pan
InformationSatellite ViewNxai Pan is a large salt pan topographic depression[1] which is part of the larger Makgadikgadi Pans in northeastern Botswana. It lies on the old Pandamatenga Trail, which until the 1960s was used for overland cattle drives. The area is speckled with umbrella acacias and is said to resemble the Serengeti in Tanzania. This landform is a major part of the Nxai Pan National Park, and is a seasonal home to large herds of zebra and wildebeest. In the rainy season between December and April the pan becomes grassy and attracts these animals in their tens of thousands, along with smaller numbers of gemsbok, eland and red hartebeest. -
NR Mokolodi
WebsiteSatellite ViewThe Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation was formed in 1991 with the aim of promoting wildlife conservation and environmental education for the children of Botswana. The first project of the Foundation was the creation of the Mokolodi Nature Reserve in 1994 on 30 square km of donated land outside Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. In addition to naturally-occurring animal species such as warthogs, steenbok, kudu and a variety of snakes, several species have been re-introduced e.g. zebra, giraffe, eland, ostrich, hippos and rhinos. -
NR Selinda
InformationSatellite ViewThe Selinda Reserve is a 300,000 acre private wildlife sanctuary in the northern part of Botswana. Although there is a lot of hype which goes with eco-friendly projects nowadays, this project is serious about its conservation and unique in that it is shared by a maximum of 32 guests split between three camps and managed by a very experienced team of conservationists.
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BirdLife Botswana
An interactive forum for sharing information on Botswana’s birdlife - This blog has been established as an interactive forum for BirdLife Botswana to share information on the birds of Botswana. Check regularly for news updates, interesting sightings, training opportunities and upcoming events.
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African Big 5 Safaris
Tour OperatorTo experience Botswana at its most authentic and wild, it is hard to beat a mobile camping safari like African Big5 Tours and Safari. Our tented camps have a low environmental impact and offer a true African safari feeling. The beautiful accommodations and scenery are secondary to the art of service and wildlife experience that we share with fellow travellers from all walks of life. -
Birding Botswana
Tour OperatorSuperb birding in Africa’s greatest wilderness areas: -
Birding Ecotours
Tour OperatorThis truly marvelous birding adventure samples three countries and spectacular, diverse scenery - the coastal Namib Desert (inhabited by desirable, localized endemics) and Namib Escarpment (a whole suite of birds occurring ONLY in Namibia and southern Angola), Etosha National Park, Caprivi Strip and adjacent panhandle of the Okavango Delta. Please contact us for more tours that are run in Botswana. -
Birding Safaris
InformationA listing of various safaris for birders… -
Rockjumper Birding Tours
Tour OperatorBotswana is without a doubt one of the greatest safari nations in Africa, and while it doesn’t offer any endemic birds, the sheer volume and diversity of birds and wildlife, especially in the Okavango Delta, makes this a thoroughly worthwhile destination. -
Siyabona Africa
Tour OperatorThis 13 day Botswana Birding Safari Tour presents the greatest bird safari in Africa with some of the best birding guides in Botswana accompanying you. The tour departs only in January, February and March. -
Wilderness Safaris
Tour OperatorForget big lodges with large numbers of tourists . They are not for anyone who wants to capture the heart and soul of Africa. We learned this from the guests we guided over twenty years ago and it is even more relevant in today`s fast moving and crowded world. When we created Wilderness Safaris in 1983 we had this obsession for privacy ingrained in our philosophy and it is an integral part of our culture today
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2006 [10 October] - Bo Beolens
PDF ReportThis leg was a truly marvellous 2-week multi-nation birding safari. The adventure first sampled one of the richest birding regions in Africa, the Victoria Falls/Caprivi/Okavango region. This is one of the greatest bird (both water birds and woodland species) and mammal havens on earth. The itinerary then took us westwards into increasingly dryer habitats and eventually into the very heart of the Namib Desert with its beautiful, rugged mountains, gravel plains, camelthorn-lined dry riverbeds, dunes and more. The stunning, scenically diverse Namib Desert (which extends into southern Angola) is inhabited by a host of endemic bird species. Finally, this leg ended on the Namib Coast. Here, Namibia’s only true endemic (Dune Lark) displays above sparsely vegetated red sand dunes, the diminutive, endangered Damara Tern reaches its highest densities anywhere, the beautiful Chestnut-banded Plover runs over the sand, and an amazing spectacle of flamingos, pelicans, waders and grebes work the Walvis Bay Lagoon… -
2014 [03 March] - Terry Stevenson - Namibia & Botswana
ReportAs we touched down in Windhoek for our 2014 Namibia and Botswana tour, we knew things would be different. Instead of a barren semi-arid landscape, we headed towards town with four-foot-high grass all along the roadside. There were similar scenes throughout much of the tour, and far more actual rainfall than we've ever had before… -
2014 [04 April] - Birding Africa
Report...On this trip we managed to see most of Namibia's endemics and near-endemics and enjoyed some exciting big game viewing in the world-renowned Etosha National Park. Our tour began in the scenically beautiful Erongo Mountains, where we had Roadrunner, Hartlaub's Francolin and Monteiro's Hornbill; then on to Walvis Bay, with its elegant flamingoes and myriad shorebirds. We visited the rocky Spitzkoppe massive and searched for Herero Chat, before a storm overtook us near the Brandberg and we were shocked to find the normally dry Ugab River in flood.... -
2015 [03 March] - Justin Nicolau - Namibia & Okavango Delta
PDF ReportFrom the outset, photography was our goal, and so it was expected that the total number ofspecies seen would be lower than on previous trips to these destinations. We still had a verysuccessful birding tour, recording 309 species of birds (including seven that were heard only),10 species of reptiles, and over 40 species of mammals, including all of the sought after “Big 5”,which consisted of countless black rhinoceros, African elephant, and African buffalo, half adozen lion sightings, and a male leopard on a kill, which was outshone by a mother cheetahand her cubs attempting to hunt at a waterhole.Most of the country had recently received good -
2015 [06 June] - Andy Hurley - Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe
ReportA list of bird seen is not yet fully sorted, but I have been adding the new ones add and when to my year list I will endeavour to add a complete list at the end of this report. -
2015 [12 December] - Jason Boyce - Okavango & Victoria Falls
PDF Report... not only one of the only two trueendemics of Namibia, the Dune Lark, but a couple of other excellent species as well. Someof the first species that made their way onto the trip list at Rooibank included DuskySunbird, Namaqua Dove, Cape Sparrow, Bokmakierie, and Rock Martin. The first fortyfiveminutes of the walk did not produce any sign of the lark, but soon enough we had anindividual displaying and calling 20 meters above some dunes in the distance... -
2016 [03 March] - Terry Stevenson - Namibia & Botswana
ReportAfter an easy crossing into Botswana, we spent two nights at Xaro Lodge. This small camp is only accessible by boat, and is undoubtedly the best place to look for Pel's Fishing-Owl -- which for many birders is the highlight of a visit to the Okavango. We were not disappointed, with good views our first afternoon, and then a second bird (right in the open!) during a boat trip the following day. Other memorable sightings included Hamerkop, Little Bittern, Slaty Egret, the shy White-backed Night-Heron, African Marsh-Harrier, Allen's Gallinule, Lesser Jacana, African Wood-Owl, White-fronted Bee-eater, Crested Barbet, Retz's Helmetshrike, Chirping Cisticola, and Southern Brown-throated Weaver. -
2016 [10 October] - Cuan Rush - Okavango
PDF Report -
2016 [11 November] - Jason Boyce
PDF ReportBoth White-browed Robin-Chats and Woodland Kingfishers that were shouting at us from the tops of large trees were group favorites. Coppery-tailed Coucal showed incredibly well, walking along the ground toward us, and Goliath Heron watched us from the far banks. -
2017 [03 March] - Birding Ecotours
PDF ReportDuring the course of the day we saw Giant Kingfisher, African Pygmy Goose, Greater Swamp Warbler, Malachite Kingfisher, Sedge Warbler, African Reed Warbler, Chirping Cisticola, Lesser Jacana, African Paradise Flycatcher, African Green Pigeon, Whiskered Tern, Squacco Heron, Swamp Boubou, Retz’s Helmetshrike, Meves’s Starling, Cape Wagtail, Village Indigobird, African Barred Owlet, Willow Warbler, Southern Black Tit, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, White-backed Vulture, and the most sought-after of targets for the area, Pel’s Fishing Owl, its large ginger form sticking out in the dense woodlands along the river’s edge while we were on foot -
2017 [10 October] - Steve Braine
PDF ReportFor most of the country the previous three years drought had been broken and although too early for the migrants we did however do very well with birding generally. We searched and found all the near endemics as well as the endemic Dune Lark. -
2017 [12 December] - Wian van Zyl
PDF ReportA trip that started in Zambia covered a wide variety of habitats in Namibia and crossed a little into Botswana’s Okavango Panhandle, where the water life is incomparable. We had a great time birding with a small group of only six clients. The scenery, roads, food, and everything in between left us with great memories and stories to go with the amazing birding that took place over the next 18 days. -
2018 [08 August] - Daniel Keith Danckwerts - Namibia , Botswana & Zambia
PDF ReportOur epic overland adventure through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia began on the outskirts of the bustling city of Windhoek... -
2018 [09 September] - Dominic Rollinson
PDF ReportThis 21-day trip of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia was a customized trip for Susan and Aileen from the Republic of Ireland, which started in Walvis Bay, Namibia, on 20 August 2018 and ended in Livingstone, Zambia, on 9 September 2018. -
2018 [10 October] - Tony Benton
ReportThis report describes in diary form my experiences of a 17 day safari covering Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. The report mostly notes the new birds seen at each stage of the safari (ie, the first sighting). Many species were seen at multiple sites, but I have used this approach to avoid repetition and for the sake of brevity. -
2018 [11 November] - Jason Boyce
PDF ReportThis was a Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia birding adventure to remember. Starting in the iconic and well-known Walvis Bay we would thereafter traverse the diversity of Namibia: the escarpment, then north to the Kunene River, through Etosha National Park, and finally into the Caprivi Strip. -
2019 [01 January] - Nature Travel Birding
PDF ReportWe started in Namibia’s Eastern Caprivi where we had a fantastic two days of birding along the Zambezi River. From here we spent two nights on the Okavango River and Botswana’s northern Okavango Delta before heading to Etosha, Namibia’s flagship wildlife reserve. -
2019 [09 September] - Dominic Rollinson
PDF ReportToday we had a morning and afternoon boat trip along the Okavango River, which proved to be a real highlight of the tour. The morning trip started well with views of White-backed Night Heron hiding in some dense riverside vegetation. A little farther upstream we had fantastic views of a small colony of breeding African Skimmers with Sanderling and African Wattled Lapwing seen on exposed sandbanks nearby. In the dense reeds and papyrus lining the river we found Chirping Cisticola and Little Rush and Greater Swamp Warblers along with the occasional Coppery-tailed Coucal. -
2019 [09 September] - Ewan Masson - Ultimnate Botswana
PDF ReportDespite there being almost no water in the river, we saw over fifty species of birds, many new for the group. A bird party, with Yellow-breasted Apalis, Green-backed Camaroptera, Pririt Batis, and a Fork-tailed Drongo which was mimicking a Pearl-spotted Owlet... -
2019 [09 September] - Peg Abbott - List
PDF Report...we did well on the regional specialties including Wattled Crane, Slaty Egret, Rufous-bellied Heron, Lesser Jacana, Allen’s Gallinule, Coppery-tailed Coucal, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Bradfield’s Hornbill, Chirping Cisticola and Southern Pied Babblers... -
2019 [09 September] - Peg Abbott - Report
PDF ReportThe lodge has a large deck at the back, with tables and chairs in the shade, welcoming us to gather for birding. A White-browed Robin Chat joined a noisy batch of Hartlaub’s Babbler and a lone Holub’s Golden Weaver. -
2019 [11 November] - Birding Ecotours - Dominic Rollinson
PDF ReportOur Namibia, Botswana and Victoria Falls set-departure tour is always a popular one. We cover a large distance from west to east, which means we get to enjoy a broad range of habitats; consequently, this tour usually yields a high bird list. Besides the large numbers of special birds the tour also normally boasts good numbers of large and charismatic mammals and some of the smaller, lesser-known species too. -
2021 [10 October] - Peg Abbott
PDF ReportXaro Lodge is on an island the river near the head of the Delta, so it provides a super introduction to the watery realm of this famous delta. Goliath Heron and Pel’s Fishing Owl were to highlights for the group, shown by Thomas a local guide. Brenda posted a Facebook photo of cocktails with the river and its tall papyrus in view at sunset, hats off as a great adventure begins! -
2022 [11 November] - Dominic Rollinson - Namibia, Botswana and Victoria Falls
PDF ReportThis 18-day birding and wildlife safari covered a vast distance and variety of habitats, from the coastal Namib Desert at Walvis Bay, in Namibia, to the subtropics of Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Due to the diversity of habitats visited on this tour, we usually record a high list of birds, and this tour was no different, with an impressive 438 bird species recorded. -
2023 [09 September] - Bryan Shirley - Botswana-Namibia
PDF ReportWe had an outstanding time in the Okavango Delta and Northern Botswana. The sheer number of mammals was incredible. We had amazing, unforgettable experiences with Lions, Leopards, and lots of other wildlife every time we went out. Of course birds were great as well with good birding right around the camps and on our safari drives. Wended the Botswana portion of the trip with 180 species of birds, 33 mammals, and 3 reptiles/amphibians. -
2023 [11 November] - Albert Voigts von Schütz - Namib-Zambezi
Report...Giant Kingfisher, various Bee-eaters, and Hammerkop, as well as numerous waders, but also skilfully approached the birds correctly—no easy feat against the current of the Okavango...
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Cresta Mowana Lodge
AccommodationIt is easy to see why Cresta Mowana Safari Resort & Spa near the Chobe Game Reserve was named after a baobab tree. This luxury Chobe lodge was built around a majestic 800-year old specimen of Adansonia digitata. Legends about baobabs abound, one being that God uprooted the baobab and flung it to the ground upside down, because it kept walking when He first planted it into Chobe soil -
Mowana Safari Lodge
AccommodationA deluxe hotel, the Mowana is the finest safari lodge in the Chobe National Park. This spectacular park is home to over 45,000 elephants. The hotel features early morning game drives and sunset river cruises. Enjoy spectacular river views from your private balcony. Rooms offer all the modern luxuries. Other amenities include air conditioning, airline desk, bar, car parking, conference rooms, direct-dial telephone and free transfer to and from the airport. The hotel offers free game viewing. -
Sandibe Safari Lodge
AccommodationSandibe Okavango Safari Lodge is set within a private concession of 8 000 hectares (19 800 acres) along the southeastern border of the Moremi Wildlife Reserve within the Okavango Delta….
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Southern Africa Birding
WebsiteBirding Resources for Southern Africa. This site is about birds and birding in South Africa and the Southern African region, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Zambia. The region`s best birding sites are featured under Birding Spots, together with birding resources under Bird guides, tours and Accommodation. The latest rare bird sightings are posted on our Twitchers Tales page, What`s On highlights major events, and Birding Organisations puts you in touch with other birders and organisations working towards bird conservation.
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BirdLife Botswana
BLOGThis blog has been established as an interactive forum for BirdLife Botswana to share information on the birds of Botswana. Check regularly for news updates, interesting sightings, training opportunities and upcoming events.