Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe Overland
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Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe Overland Adventure III 23rd September to 10th October 2019 (18 days) Trip Report Victoria Falls by Andre Bernon Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: André Bernon Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe – Overland Adventure III 2019 2 Tour Summary From the Khomas Hochland Mountains and plateau, down to the Namib desert and surrounding coastline, up into the dry Etosha Pan and National Park, further west into the Caprivi Strip, a few well-spent nights on the Panhandle of the Okavango Delta and ending off in one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. This trip covered some fantastic areas, beautiful scenery, great bird and mammal sightings and enjoyable accommodation and food to boot. _______________________________________________________________________________ Top bird list (as chosen by participants): 1. Southern Ground Hornbill 5. Ruppell’s Korhaan 2. Southern Carmine Bee-eater 6. Blue Crane 3. Schalow’s Turaco 7. Dune Lark 4. African Fish Eagle 8. Lilac-breasted Roller ________________________________________________________________________________ Tour in Detail We started our long-awaited trip in the capital Windhoek, getting some tricky species such as Orange River Francolin, Chestnut Weaver, Bradfield's Swift and the beautiful Violet-eared and Black-faced Waxbills, before making our way south-west to the top of the Spreetshoogte Pass. Our accommodation was set amongst granite boulders, which played backdrop to some nice looks at Klipspringer, Mountain Zebra, and even Meerkat. Some good bird species here were Bokmakierie, Mountain Wheatear, Dusky Sunbird, White-throated Canary, and Great Sparrow. We then made our way down the Spreetshoogte Pass and enjoyed the most amazing views of the Namib Desert below. We stopped for a short while at Namibia's smallest town, Solitaire, right before spotting a small group of Rüppell's Korhaans. The drive further west to Walvis Bay was exciting with more great scenery and many Common Ostrich, Gemsbok, Springbok, Greater Kestrel, and Namaqua Sandgrouse. We reached the coastal town and were welcomed by a myriad of birds sifting through the waters of the lagoon, right on our doorstep. Walvis Bay produced soaking looks at Namibia's only endemic, Dune Lark as well as a small family of Gray's Lark. Scanning the Atlantic proved rewarding as we managed good looks at Northern Giant and Wilson's Storm Petrels, Sooty Shearwater and stunning Cape Gannets. Welwitschia plant by Andre Bernon The saltworks and lagoon gave us many Cape Cormorant, Chestnut-banded Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Terek Sandpiper, thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingo, Damara Tern and Cape Teals amongst thousands of Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint. After a great time on the coast, we pushed further inland towards Erongo. En route, we viewed the prehistoric Welwitschia plants which grow in the desert, living off moisture from the fog and can reach up to two-thousand years in age! We then visited the fantastic Spitzkoppe Inselberg which juts out of the surrounding flat landscape. Our main target here was the restricted Herero Chat and after some dedicated searching, we managed to find a pair in the cool shade within a thicket. We eventually made way for Erongo. We had a great time here in this scenic place. Rock Hyraxes, Dassie Rats, Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe – Overland Adventure III 2019 3 Monteiro’s Hornbills, Pale-winged Starlings, Pririt Batis and Rosy-faced Lovebirds were our neighbours but we had to work harder for Hartlaub's Spurfowl, Rüppell’s Parrot, Barred Wren- warbler, Rockrunner, and White-tailed Shrike before heading for Etosha National Park! Our first home within Etosha was Okaukuejo Rest Camp. This is by far the most attractive camp due to its' fantastic waterhole just outside the boundary of the camp. A huge array of mammals and birds were attracted to this watering hole and we got great looks at Black Rhino, African Elephant families, Gemsbok, Greater Kudu, and Springbok. We also stayed at Halali Rest Camp, which gave us the special Violet Woodhoopoe and Bare- cheeked Babbler. Other memorable mammal sightings in Etosha were definitely our sightings of Lion prides, Cheetah, Wild Cat, Common Eland, South Black Rhinoceros by Andre Bernon African Ground Squirrel, Steenbok, Common Warthog, Spotted Hyaena and Kirk's Dik-dik. Birds were everywhere and we enjoyed many vultures and raptors as well as Burchell's, Namaqua and Double-banded Sandgrouses, huge Sociable Weaver colonies, Rufous-eared Warbler, Martial and Tawny Eagles, Common Ostrich, Double- banded and Burchell’s Coursers, Saddle-billed Stork, Stark’s and Pink-billed Larks, Blue Crane, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Pale Chanting Goshawk, colourful Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, the outrageous Crimson-breasted Shrike, Black-faced Babbler, Kori and Ludwig's Bustards and both Northern Black and Red-crested Korhaans. Waterholes were a big feature in this dry arid area and we enjoyed the vast number of bird and mammal species coming to drink. We had to, unfortunately, leave this special place as we made our way further up and east to Rundu. Rundu is known as the gateway to the Caprivi – a small strip of Namibia above Botswana which joins Namibia with the mighty Zambezi River. The Rundu area and the fantastic Hakusembe River Lodge, overlooking Angola, gave us many close- up looks at breeding Spotted Eagle-Owl, White-browed Robin Chat, Hartlaub’s Babbler, Little Bee-eater, Bateleur, Kurrichane Thrush and Swamp Boubou. We left here heading further east to the Divundu region, finding the rare Sharp- tailed Starling en route! The Mahango Game Reserve situated within the Bwabwata National Park was visited before heading into Botswana where we were to spend two nights on the pan-handle of the mighty Okavango Delta. This entire region was teeming with birds and mammals alike and we managed Pale Chanting Goshawk by Andre Bernon to find many African Elephants on the edge of the floodplain including some rarer mammals such as Roan Antelope, Sable, and Topi! The panhandle was great fun and we enjoyed many boat trips looking for our quarry. Special mention definitely goes to Pel’s Fishing Owl who came to visit every evening whilst doing our checklist, Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe – Overland Adventure III 2019 4 African Skimmer, African Pygmy Goose, Slaty Egret, Giant, and Pied Kingfishers, Chirping and Luapula Cisticolas, Greater Swamp Warbler, Wattled Crane, many White-fronted Bee-eaters and Saddle-billed Stork. We ventured back into Namibia and settled on the mighty Zambezi at Caprivi Mutoya Lodge. This region around Katima Mulilo gave us some good sightings and the colony of Southern Carmine Bee- eaters was a firm favourite. An estimated 5000 plus individuals breed here and this spectacle was most memorable! Other birds seen in the area included African Finfoot, Racket-tailed Roller, Bearded Scrub Robin, Arnott’s Chat, Bennett’s Woodpecker, Schalow’s Turaco, White- crowned Lapwing, African Barred Owlet, Retz’s Helmetshrike and Northern Grey- headed Sparrow which just creeps its range into the country here. We moved east once more and left Namibia, passing through Botswana once again and into Zimbabwe later on in the day. The Kazangula area is actually where the four countries meet; namely Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia! The Chobe National Park gave us more African Elephant sightings and a fantastic look at a small family of the bizarre Waterhole scene in Etosha by Andre Bernon Southern Ground Hornbill. We eventually made it into Zimbabwe and reached Victoria Falls and visited the Victoria Falls National Park that evening. We enjoyed this great natural wonder, taking in the scenery and deafening roar the crashing water creates. Birds in this region included more Bearded Scrub Robin, Jameson’s Firefinch, Natal Spurfowl, Hooded Vulture, Rock Pratincole and Collared Palm Thrush. The tour had unfortunately reached the end and we all parted ways after a very memorable journey through this stunning part of the world. Racket-tailed Roller by Andre Bernon Black-faced Babbler by Andre Bernon Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe Trip Report – RBL Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe – Overland Adventure III 2019 5 Annotated List of species recorded Note: Number in brackets ( ) indicate number of days on the tour the species was recorded. List powered through the report generator of our partner iGoTerra. Birds (369 in total: 365 seen, 4 heard) Nomenclature and taxonomy follows Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2019. IOC World Bird List (v 9.1). Status codes: E = Endemic, NE = Near-endemic, I = Introduced IUCN codes: CR = Critically endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable, EW = Extinct in the Wild, NT = Near Threatened, DD = Data Deficient Namibia Ostrich Struthionidae Common Ostrich Struthio camelus australis (7) Namibia 25.9, Namibia 27.9, observed Namibia 29-2.10 and Namibia 6.10. Ducks, Geese & Swans Anatidae White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata (2) Bwabwata NP--Mahango GR 5.10 and Caprivi Mutoya Lodge 8.10. Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis (1) Bwabwata NP--Mahango GR 5.10. Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca (6) Namibia 24.9 and observed Namibia 28-2.10. South African Shelduck Tadorna cana (2) Etosha NP 29.9 and Etosha NP 2.10. African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus (2) Caprivi Strip 4.10 and Caprivi Mutoya Lodge 8.10. Cape Teal Anas capensis (3) Namibia 26.9, Namibia 1.10 and Namibia 2.10. Red-billed Teal Anas erythrorhyncha (3) Observed Namibia 1-3.10. Guineafowl Numididae Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris (13) Observed Namibia 23-25.9, observed Namibia 27-4.10, Namibia 7.10 and Namibia 8.10. Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies Phasianidae Orange River Francolin Scleroptila gutturalis (1) Windhoek--Avis Dam 24.9.