South Africa’s Rare Mammals Naturetrek Tour Report 11 - 23 September 2017 Mountain Wheatear Gemsbok Fighting African Lion Southern White-faced owl Report & Images compiled by Marc Cronje Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E:
[email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report South Africa- The Cape & Kalahari Tour Participants: Gavin Sims and Marc Cronje (leaders) together with 10 Naturetrek clients Summary During the tour the temperature ranged from 5°C to 36°C. We recorded 57 mammal species, 185 species of birds and 13 species of reptiles. The species mentioned in the daily summaries are only some of those seen. A detailed list can be found at the end of the report. Day 1 Monday 11th September The group left London, en route to Johannesburg. Day 2 Tuesday 12th September Langberg, Kimberley. After a short flight from Johannesburg, clients Lois and Peter met with Gavin and Marc at Kimberley Airport and were slightly worried as they seemed to be the only Naturetrek clients on the flight; soon after meeting Gavin and Marc we learnt that the other eight clients had a flight delay and would be coming on a later flight in the afternoon. After a brief cool drink, we headed to Kamfer’s Dam just on the outskirts of Kimberley; here, we were treated to an amazing sighting of thousands upon thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingos at the dam. The noise they make is almost deafening. Kamfer’s Dam supports a large diversity of water birds and is recognized as a Natural Heritage Site and an Important Bird Area.