Naturetrek private safari

15 March to 1 April 2014

Group participants:

Bob Deborah Sue Tony Neil MacLeod – [email protected]

Saturday, 15 March 2014

We meet at Livingstone airport and we proceed to drive to our lodge which is situated along the mighty river. Just out of the airport we see our first Flap-necked chameleon! We manage to get African finfoot on our list as we check in at the lodge. We do a sunset cruise and return to our lodge to do our list and have a wonderful meal of Zambezi bream.

Distance travelled: 50km

Sunday, 16 March 2014

We meet on the deck overlooking the river for early morning coffee and tea. A female finfoot shows up almost immediately with two youngsters and we enjoy their company for more than 20 minutes. Other birds seen from the deck include: Half collared kingfisher, Wire tailed swallow, Red billed firefinch, Trumpeter hornbills, Hadeda ibis, Swamp boubou, Scarlet chested sunbird, Meyer’s parrot, Bennet’s woodpecker, Black collared barbet, Diederick’s cuckoo, African paradise flycatcher, Red eyed dove, Spotted flycatcher, Yellow white-eye, Cape turtle dove, Spectacled- and Golden weavers, White faced duck, Brown hooded-, Pied- and Giant kingfishers.

We have breakfast and leave to see the magnificent Victoria waterfalls! We visit some ponds before our arrival at the falls and manage to see: Cattle egret, Black headed heron, Sacred ibis, Purple swamphen, Black crake, Purple indigo bird. After spending quite some time looking for the Schalow’s turaco at the falls we decide to head on without any luck. We drive to a lodge situated below the waterfall and overlooking the gorge and have lunch at this great location. We manage to see African black swift, Little swift, Red winged starlings, Rock martins, Black chested snake eagle, Verreaux’s eagle, Shikra, Red bishop, White winged widowbird. We return to our lodge at 17:00 and relax for a couple of hours before we meet again at 19:00 to do our checklist and have dinner.

Distance travelled: 90 km

Monday, 17 March 2014

Meet on the deck at 06:30 to have early morning coffee and tea before we do a short walk through the property and depart to Botswana’s great Chobe National Park. Whilst on the deck we have great views of Half collared kingfisher, Brown hooded kingfisher, Reed cormorants, African paradise flycatcher, Black backed puffback. We hear African emerald cuckoo and rush off into the general direction and see a mating pair of Emerald cuckoo’s, Yellow fronted tinkerbird, Black collared barbets, Southern grey headed sparrow, Ashy flycatchers, Jacobin cuckoo (dark morph), African goshawk, Lizard buzzard, Blue waxbill, Grey and Red billed hornbills.

We depart our lodge at about 10:30 and make our way over the Zambezi river and into Botswana. En-route we see, Bataleur, Tawny eagle, Black chested snake eagle, White backed- and Hooded vultures, Green woodhoopoe’s, African oriole, Yellow white-eye. Arrive at our lodge adjacent to Chobe National Park and we have lunch and a short siesta before we meet again at 15:30 to depart on a nature drive. A huge thunderstorm erupts just as we wish to leave, but this freshens up everything and the birds are out in “song” as we drive through the village of Kasane. We have wonderful views of Collared palm thrush, Marabou stork, Southern carmine bee-eaters, Water thick knee, Blacksmith lapwing, Black chested snake eagle, Black eyed bulbul, Tropical boubou, Black headed heron, White faced duck, Three banded plover, Egyptian geese, Broad tailed- and Long tailed paradise wydah, Magpie shrike, Diederik’s cuckoo, Jacobin cuckoo, Golden- and Village weavers, Cardinal woodpecker. We see Chacma baboons, warthogs, African elephants, Tree squirrel and Side striped jackal.

Distance travelled: 120km

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

We meet at 06:30 and do a short walk within the property and manage good views of African goshawk, Terrestrial brownbul, Pied kingfisher and Giant kingfisher. We also have a brief view of Halfcollared kingfisher before breakfast. We depart the lodge on boat at 08:00 and head into the Chobe National Park. We see White backed night herons, Pied-, Malachite-, Giant-, Grey headed and Woodland kingfishers, , , Little-, Intermediate- and Great egrets, Black heron, Striated heron, Squaco heron, Grey headed bush shrike, Swamp boubou, Southern carmine bee-eaters, Blue cheeked bee-eaters, Levaillant’s cuckoo, Jacobin cuckoo, Pygmy geese, Egyptian geese, Spurwinged geese, African stonechat, Luapula- and Chirping cisticola, Red bishop, Brown throated weaver. Mammals seen are: Impala, Vervet monkeys, buffalo and waterbuck before we return to our lodge at around 11:20. We have a quick 5 minutes to refresh before we drive to another lodge in town where we see great views of Red faced cisticola, Burnt necked eremomela, Bearded woodpecker, Black collared Barbet, Black backed Puffback, Dark capped Bulbul, Yellow bellied Greenbul, African paradise flycatcher. We return to our lodge for lunch and meet again at 15:00 for our afternoon boat excursion back into the park. Elephants, elephants and more elephants, drinking, swimming, bathing and dust throwing! Southern giraffe, impala, Vervet monkeys, Chacma baboons, Puku, hippo were seen. Birds seen include : Yellow wagtail, Cape wagtail, Pied wagtail, Buffy pipit, African pipit, Open billed stork, African fish eagle, Bataleur, Tawney eagle, White backed vulture, Hooded vulture, African spoonbill, Sacred ibis, Glossy ibis, Black heron, Common sandpiper, Wood sandpiper, Ruff, Greenshank, African jacana, Allan’s gallinule, Willow warbler, Brown throated weaver, Red bishop, Black crake. We return to our lodge at 18:15 and meet to our day’s checklist at 19:15 followed by the extravagant buffet dinner spread.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Early morning game drive starts at 06:00 and returns back to the lodge after 09:00. We add Banded mongoose and Slender mongoose to our mammal list. We depart the lodge at 10:30 and drive to Katima Mulilo. We see Barred- and Pearl spotted owlets at the border crossing. We have a light lunch in town before we check into our next hotel. An afternoon gam edrive produces views of Schalow’s turaco and Crested barbets. We return to our lodge around 18:00 and have dinner and do the checklist at 19:00

Distance travelled: 140km

Thursday, 20 March 2014

Early morning get together with a cup of coffee before we do a walk through the gardens and see: Bronze mannikins, Golden weaver, Black collared barbet, Bennet’s- and Cardinal woodpeckers, Red eyed dove, Green pigeons, Long billed Crombec and end with splendid views of a single Schalow’s turaco, which we watched for several minutes, eventually leaving the sighting whilst the bird was still sitting, preening! Breakfast and we depart the lodge around 09:00 and buy some “packed lunch” before we leave for Katima Mulilo. We see several bird and mammal species en route but a few to mention is: Shelly’s- and Copper sunbirds, Roan antelope, Meve’s- and Burchell’s starlings, Purple roller.

We arrive at our camp in Botswana’s pan handle of the Okavango Delta after leaving our vehicle and been transferred to our accommodation by boat. We arrive and settle into our very comfortable rooms overlooking the Okavango River before we meet to do the checklist at 19:15 followed by a very good meal of fried mushrooms with feta cheese, stuffed chicken breast, rice, gem squash, carrot salad, mixed salad, beetroot salad followed by apple crumble and vanilla custard.

Distance travelled: 390km

Friday, 21 March 2014

We meet at the central dining area for coffee and tea at 07:00 and start with a bird walk shortly afterwards to look for Pel’s owl. We see Retz’s helmetshrike, White throated bee-eaters, Little bee-eaters, Red eyed dove, Emerald spotted dove, Terrestrial brownbul, Pel’s owl. After breakfast we depart with our local guide and boat to a different area to search for another Pel’s owl. We have very, very good views of a single bird and eventually decide to call it a day and to return to our lodge for lunch. En route on the boat we see Fan tailed widow, darter, Cattle egret, Little- and White fronted bee-eaters, Barn swallows, African jacana and followed two Spotted necked otters for 20 minutes, affording all a great view.

After lunch we have a short siesta before we depart on our boat on our afternoon activity at 16:00. We head towards the “back channels” as this is where we can find slower running water and am looking for Lesser jacana. As we reach the back channels a huge storm sweeps up with great winds and the first few drops start to fall so we decide to rather head back to the safety of our lodge as there is also a huge electric storm sweeping across the waters of the Okavango Delta. We arrive back at camp having added Brown throated martin and Rufous bellied heron to our list and meet again at 18:30 to do our checklist followed by dinner. A nice warm fire is burning outside the lodge and on the bank of the Okavango river and is a welcome focus point just before dinner. Saturday, 22 March

We meet at 07:00 for breakfast and depart the camp via boat to Drotsky’s Cabins where our vehicle awaits our arrival. Just before breakfast we hear and call a Yellowfronted tinkerbird, but do not manage to see it. Golden weaver, Pied, Giant- and Woodland kingfishers, Western banded snake eagle with a fly over and then a great view as it perches, African goshawk, Dark capped bulbul, African green pigeon, Red eyed dove is seen.

We meet after breakfast and depart the lodge just after 08:30 and head downstream to search for a few warblers and cisticola’s en route to our vehicle. We do manage to have brief views of two separate Greater swamp warblers. We also see our first African marsh harrier as well as Pied- and Malachite kingfishers, Pied- and Cape wagtails, Reed cormorant, African darter, Green Pigeons. We eventually get on land and we have an unsuccessful hunt for the elusive Orange breasted bush shrike and Narina trogon. We leave and drive towards our next destination that borders the Mahangu core area of the Babwata National Park. En route we see Mosque swallows, Magpie shrikes, Lilac breasted rollers, Red backed shrikes, Marico flycatcher, Fork tailed drongo. As we approach our new lodge there is an extensive newly flooded floodplain and we see: Osprey, White faced duck, Egyptian geese, Collared pratincole, Grey headed gull, Three banded plover, Blacksmith- and Longtoed lapwings. We check in and have a light lunch on the wooden deck overlooking the Okavango river. We meet again at 16:30 and do a short drive into some nearby Miombo woodland and have great views of Marico sunbird, Purple banded sunbird, Yellow white-eye, Southern black tit, Acacia pied barbet, Southern white crowned shrike, Red billed spurfowl and Crested francolin. We head to our lodge at dusk and manage to see several Mozambique nightjars before we have dinner at 19:30 which is followed by our checklist.

Distance travelled: 90km

Sunday, 23 March

We meet on the deck for breakfast and depart the lodge to head into the Mahangu section of the Babwata National Park. Blue wildebeest, Impala, Greater kudu, Red lechwe, Hippo, Chacma baboons and Vervet monkeys are seen as we enter the park on a very nice open grazing area adjacent to the floodplain. Ostrich, Lesser striped swallow, Grey rumped swallow, Barn swallow and Wire tailed swallow, Goliath heron, Cattle egret, Great egret, White faced duck, Egyptian geese, Pygmy geese, Burnt necked eremomela, Marico flycatcher, African fish eagle, Bataleur, Shrika, Hooded vulture, Blue waxbills. Pied king- fisher, Common- and Wood sandpipers, Red winged pratincole, Blacksmith- and Long toed lapwings are seen before we return to the lodge for lunch at 12:30. We meet again at 15:30 for our afternoon game drive into the park. We see the same mammals as in the morning plus a lone Cape buffalo bull that has a brilliantly well marked Yellow billed oxpecker on his head as he wonders past our vehicle. We see Gymnogene, Bataleur, African fish eagle, White backed vultures, Cut-throat finch, Pin tailed-, Shaft tailed- and Long tailed paradise wydahs, Pygmy goose, White faced duck, Burnt necked eremomela, Long billed crombec, Icterine warbler, Southern black tit, Blue waxbill, Orange breasted bush shrike, Red backed shrike, Southern grey headed sparrow, Rufous naped lark, Nedicky, Tinkling cisticola, Lesser jacana, Grey rumped swallow. We return to the lodge at 18:30 and meet again at 19:00 and go in search of some nightjars on foot. As we exit the gate we hear the first Hippo and after seeing their footprints just behind and between our rooms, we decide not to wonder too far. We do see Mozambique nightjar as well as Fiery necked nightjars. We return to the lodge for dinner and do our checklist afterwards.

Distance travelled: 80km

Monday, 24 March 2104 The group meet at 07:00 and see a Bushbuck across the river before we depart on our breakfast cruise on the Okavango River at 07:15. A great breakfast and good views of several birds including Little bittern and Allan’s gallinule.

We return to the lodge at 08:30 and eventually depart just after 09:00 and head to Mahangu Park for a quick drive to possibly spot any of the mammals that we will not see once we leave the Caprivi area. We are very lucky and manage to have superb views of a group of 5 Roan antelope. We continue our drive towards Rundu where we will be staying for our next two nights. We have some stunning views of some great species such as Black cuckoo shrike, Racket tailed roller and Painted snipe. We arrive at our lodge just after 17:00 and book into our rooms before we meet again at 18:45 to do a short drive to try and find Marsh owl. Dinner is served at 19:30. No Marsh owl, but we manage to hear and see Rufus cheeked- and Fiery necked nightjars and a Barn owl.

Distance travelled: 270km

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

We meet on the deck at 06:45 for breakfast. We have several birds fly past over the river including: Hammerkop, Striated heron, Cattle egret, White faced duck, Fulvous duck. After breakfast we leave and do a slow drive towards the ponds. We experience a great toad crossing and assist a couple to get over the road before the next lot of traffic arrived. Great reed warbler is heard and seen at the toad crossing. Several other birds are seen along the road: Terrestrial brownbul, Marico flycatcher, Lilac breasted roller, Dark capped bulbul, Black backed puffback, Red eyed-, Mourning-, Ring necked- and Laughing doves, Shaft tailed wydah. At the ponds we see: Pied-, Grey headed- and Malachite kingfishers, Village weavers, Striated- and Black heron, Little egret, Little bittern, Red knobbed coot, Common moorhen, Lesser swamp warbler, Zitting cisticola, Blacksmith- and Wattled lapwings, Tawny eagle, Bataleur, African marsh harrier, Black chested snake eagle.

We return to our accommodation for lunch. A great lunch ……. Chicken kebabs with French fries! We have a short siesta and head out again at 16:30, back to the ponds. En-route we see our first Great spotted cuckoo, Black herons, Cattle egrets, White faced duck, Fulvous duck, Hottentot teal, African crake, Pied kingfisher, Malachite kingfisher. We wait around the floodplain for dusk and am not successful to see our target bird, Marsh owl. On the way back to our lodge we see and hear Fiery necked nightjar as well as Rufus cheeked nightjar. We return to our lodge and have dinner followed by our daily checklist.

Distance travelled: 80km

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

We meet on the deck overlooking the Okavango River at 07:00. We see African mourning dove, Red eyed dove, darter, Reed cormorant, Little bittern, Village weaver, Pied kingfisher and a few other birds common to the area before we have breakfast and depart the lodge after 08:30. We drive past the local ponds and continue our journey to our next destination, just outside Etosha National Park. Yellow billed-, Grey- and Red billed hornbills, Violet backed starlings, Acacia pied barbets, Brown crowned tchagra, Blue waxbill, African palm swift is seen along the route and we eventually arrive at our next destination after 18:00 and meet for the checklist and dinner at 19:00.

Distance travelled: 370 km

Thursday, 27 March 2014

We meet for early morning coffee before 07:00 and then do a short walk through the gardens before we have breakfast and depart towards Etosha! We have excellent views of several African paradise flycatchers, Brubru, Acacia pied barbets, Bare cheeked babblers, Cardinal woodpecker, Southern grey headed sparrow, Red eyed bulbuls, Marico sunbird and Willow warbler. We have breakfast and depart the lodge around 08:45. The drive to Etosha delivers Black kite, Cape vulture, White backed vulture, Lapped faced vulture, Grey headed kingfisher, Grey- and Yellow billed hornbills. Just before entering Etosha we have a great view of a steenbok that is very close to the road. (Thanks Sue!)

Once in the park we see Black faced impala, Burchell’s zebra, springbok, Red hartebeest, Blue wildebeest, Southern giraffe and have a good charge by a elephant bull! Birds seen: Red billed-, Cape- and Hottentot teal, Cape shoveller, Egyptian geese, South African shelduck, , Ruff, Wood sandpiper, Greenshank, Three banded plover, Kittlitz’s plover, Chestnut banded plover. We do a very nice drive to the Etosha lookout and on the way back to the main road we see two Honey badgers!

We arrive at our camp at around 17:00 and meet at the floodlit waterhole just before 19:00 for sunset. We see Double banded sandgrouse come to drink just after dusk as well as an African Scops owl. We do our checklist and have dinner at the Halali restaurant.

Distance travelled: 240 km

Friday, 28 March 2014

We meet for early coffee and head out to the bush just before 07:00. Just a few kilometres out of the gate we see two cheetahs lying in the road and watch them with their playful behaviour for at least half an hour before we continue our morning drive and see: Violet eared waxbill, Sabota lark, Rufus naped lark, Scaly feathered finch, Pale chanting goshawk, Golden breasted bunting before we return to our camp for breakfast at 08:30. We leave again on another drive at 09:30 and see springbok, gemsbok, Blue wildebeest, Black faced impala, Black backed jackal, Blue cranes, Kori bustard, Dusky lark, Red capped lark, Sabota lark, Eurasian bee-eaters, Pale chanting goshawk, Black chested snake eagle and return to our camp for lunch. We meet again at 16:00 for our afternoon drive but see Barn owl and African scops owl before we leave on our drive. The afternoon drive is very slow and we do not see much but have a great view of a single Martial eagle perched very close to the road. We see the usual customers and manage to add African rock python to our reptile list. We return to the camp just before 19:00 and meet at 19:30 to do our checklist and have dinner.

Distance travelled: 140km

Saturday, 29 March 2014

We meet for coffee and tea just before 07:00 and do a walk in the camp. We see Violet wood hoopoe, Grey- and Red billed hornbills, Fork tailed drongo, Shikra, Barn owl, Pearl spotted owlet, Red eyed bulbul and return for breakfast and depart the camp around 09:00. We head out west into the park and see Western banded spitting cobra, Dusky lark, Red capped lark, Sabota lark, Rufous naped lark, Spike heeled lark, Namaqua dove, Black chested snake eagle in the sky with a snake in its talons and eventually eating the snake, Blue cranes, Secretary bird also consuming a snake, Kori bustard, Northern black korhaan. We arrive at Okaukuejo at 12:45 and have lunch, check into our rooms that are situated around the waterhole. We hear and then manage to get a Barred wren-warbler in a scope and have great views before we have a short siesta and we meet again at 16:00 for our afternoon drive. A quick walk around the waterhole: Sociable weavers, Bataleur, Lapped faced vulture, Rock martin, House martins. The afternoon game drive concentrates on the Western dry zone of Etosha and we see: Thousands of springbok, wildebeest and zebra, Capped wheat-ear, Ant eating chat, Pink billed lark, Eastern clapper lark, Spike heeled lark, Sabota lark, Red capped lark, Grey backed sparrow lark, Banded martin, Rock martin, Pied crow, Greater kestrel, Double banded coursers. We return to the camp just before 19:00 and meet at the waterhole for dusk. Dinner and our checklist follows.

Distance travelled: 120km

Sunday, 30 March 2014

We meet at the restaurant for coffee and tea and leave on our morning game drive at 07:00 as the gates open. We see Southern masked weaver and Red headed finch at the gate before leaving on our game drive. The mission is to cover as much ground as possible in a short as possible timeframe to try and catch any nocturnal that might still be wondering around. We see Blue wildebeest, springbok, zebra, gemsbok, steenbok, Black faced impala, Northern black korhaan, Pale chanting goshawk and have great views of Rufous eared warbler before we return to the camp for breakfast at 08:30. We meet again to go on yet another drive at 09:30. We see a thousand plus Abdim’s storks, White backed-, Cape- and Lapped faced vultures, Tawny eagle, Pale chanting goshawk, Double banded courser, Southern masked weavers, Sociable weavers, Pink billed-, Red capped-, Sabota-, Spike heeled- and Eastern clapper larks, African pipits, Ant eating chat. Return to our accommodation for lunch at 12:45. We retire to our rooms in the heat of the day and go out on another drive at 16:00. We see many, many springbok, gemsbok, steenbok, Blue wildebeest and most if not all the regular birds. We manage to add Common fiscal to our bird list and have a great sighting of two cheetahs (mother and sub adult) on a kill. We return to the camp and have an unsuccessful look for Pygmy falcon. We have dinner, do our checklist and retire to our rooms and the floodlit waterhole.

Monday, 31 March 2014

We meet at the waterhole at 07:00 and do a short walk to breakfast before we pack up and head south out of Etosha National Park. We see Chestnut vented tit- babler, Cape glossy starling, Acacia pied barbet, Crimson breasted shrike, Wattled lapwing before we enjoy breakfast. We pack up and leave the camp at 09:00. On the way out of Etosha we see: Southern pied babblers, Violet eared waxbill, Marico flycatcher, Acacia pied barbet. En route to our next destination, along the main road we see Pygmy falcon ……. at last! We visit the local ponds at Otjiwarongo and see Little stint, Sanderling, Ruff, White rumped swift, Little Swift, Three banded plover, Blacksmith lapwing, Common waxbill, Zitting cisticola. We have lunch and continue our journey to Waterberg. Before Waterberg we see a perched Martial eagle, Eurasian bee-eaters, Greater striped swallow, White rumped- and Little swifts. We check in at Waterberg and see our first African hoopoe! A bird that Bob really wanted to see since day one and one that we should have seen since day one. We also see Rosy faced lovebirds, Grey go away birds, Burchell’s starlings, Pale winged starlings, Red billed spurfowl. A relaxing walk up the plateau gives us stunning views of the surrounding area as well as: Rockrunner, Little sparrowhawk, Familiar chat, Pale winged starlings, Speckled pigeon and we hear Hartlaub’s spurfowl. Verraux’s eagle, Owambo sparrowhawk, Little-, Bradfield’s-, White rumped-, Palm- and Alpine swifts, Black chested snake Eagle.

We return to our rooms and drive to dinner at 19:00. We do our checklist and have a great dinner of very tough kudu steaks, followed by Ssrawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce! Most of the group decide to walk back to the rooms and to look for Lesser bush-baby and any other nocturnal creatures. Deborah and I drive back and see a great sighting of Lesser spotted Genet. A great day!

Distance travelled: 320km

Tuesday, 1 April (no jokes!)

We meet in the road in front of our rooms just before 07:00 and do a walk to look for Hartlaub’s spurfowl. We have a glimpse of two African hawk eagles, Hartlaub’s spurfowl, Short toed rock thrush, Rock kestrels and Ruppel’s parrots. We have breakfast and depart Waterberg at 09:07 driving pretty much straight to the airport in Windhoek. We do see several bird species as we drive and manage very fast and bad views of two separate flocks of Chestnut weavers. (views are not good enough to go onto our list) Arrive at Windhoek airport just before 13:00 for the BA flight that departs to Johannesburg at 15:00. We say our goodbyes!

Distance travelled: 290 km

I would like to thank each and every participant for making the tour so enjoyable

No road is long with good company! (Chinese proverb)

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