The Guide's Tale Blog. - Page 5

The idea for a blog on the birds of Nelspruit gardens and parks came when I needed to add in a day in Nairobi to our Birds & Wildlife of Kenya itinerary, as the clients wanted to come in a day early and relax at the hotel. So I wanted to mention some of the birds they may see in the hotel grounds. I did a Google search, consulted eBird, and did some digging on the internet, and in the end it wasn't too hard to thrown in a few common species that one could find in gardens in Nairobi, with the caveat that I didn't want to mention very common species such as Dark-capped Bulbul and Speckled Mousebird that are common garden birds here in eastern South Africa (which the clients would already have seen). And then I had the thought that there may be birders out there searching for common garden birds of my town (for some reason!), which is Nelspruit (also known as Mbombela), in Mpumalanga, South Africa....

During the first months of this year we ran three walking safaris ('Birding and Wildlife on Foot'), based at Mohlabetsi Game Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park. These were ably led by specialist walking guide Bruce Lawson, one of the 'big names' in trails guiding. The package comprised three nights at Mohlabetsi, with a combination of guided walks and game / birding drives, plus of course the top-class lodge experience that's provided by Mohlabetsi.

Here's a trip report covering the last trip, which ended at the beginning of March.

Anomalies. That’s what you are looking for in the bush when you are trying to find the hidden and hard to see creatures. You are looking for shapes, patterns, colours, anything that makes a creature stand out form the ‘hard’ part of the environment - the trees, bushes, leaves, branches, rocks etc…

Let’s face it, going on a safari in a big group is just not the way to do it. Small group tours are the hallmark of every good birding and wildlife tour operator out there, but if you really want exclusivity and flexibility, a custom safari is the way to go.

And here at Lawson’s we are specialists in the art of the custom safari…

For this week's blog post we're going to feature our five favorite Lawson's original birding safaris. Which is actually a tall order, as all of our safaris are outstanding. But this selection brings together five tours that cover a number of different countries, areas and habitats, offering birders exposure to an incredible range of species. Take a look!