phone-icon 1-888-990-5552 email-icon info@rockjumper.com
user-icon
Log in / Register

South Africa - Eastern Bird Photography Tour (Small Group)

© Drakensberg Rockjumper by Adam Riley
South Africa - Eastern Bird Photography Tour (Small Group) 2025

27 Feb 2025 - 11 Mar 2025 (13 days)

ZAR78,950 - No Spaces Available

Wait List
client-img

Tour Leader: Quinton Paul Josop

Tour price (Per person): ZAR78,950 * USD4,300 * GBP3,402 * EUR4,103 * AUD6,761

Single Supplement: ZAR7,250 * USD395 * GBP312 * EUR377 * AUD621

Can be linked with:

South Africa - Eastern Bird Photography Tour (Small Group) 2026

31 May 2026 - 12 Jun 2026 (13 days)

ZAR89,950 - Spaces Available

Book Now

client-img

Tour Leader: David Hoddinott

Tour price (Per person): ZAR89,950 * USD4,899 * GBP3,876 * EUR4,675 * AUD7,703

Single Supplement: ZAR7,500 * USD408 * GBP323 * EUR390 * AUD642

Can be linked with: South Africa - Western Bird Photography Tour (Small Group) 2026

The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga on South Africa’s eastern seaboard offer up some of the finest photographic opportunities on the continent and boast some of the country’s best birding as well as exceptional mammal viewing. The regions incredible natural diversity, coupled with a modern infrastructure well suited to the needs of the modern traveller, makes travelling here an absolute delight. Focusing on a variety of the country’s very best sites including the endemic-rich mist-belt forests of the Natal Midlands, the lofty peaks of the magnificent Drakensberg and the classic African savanna of the world-renowned Kruger National Park this unique bird photo tour of eastern South Africa offers the very best of southern African photography, birding, and game viewing!

Highlights

  • Spending time exploring Kruger National Park in open air safari vehicles. Kruger is one of Africa’s, and indeed the world’s, largest wildlife havens
  • Enjoy an exhibition of big mammals with the likes of Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, African Wild Dog, African Elephant, African Buffalo, White Rhinoceros, and Southern Giraffe all likely.
  • Visit a dedicated vulture hide offering incredible photo opportunities, where Cape and Bearded Vultures regularly attend
  • Exploring Sani Pass, one of the most dramatic passes in Africa with incredible scenery throughout the day and a plethora of unique endemics to enjoy
  • Opportunities to see and photograph a variety of South Africa’s rarest endemic, near-endemic and range-restricted species including Cape Parrot, Yellow-breasted Pipit, Bush Blackcap, Southern Bald Ibis, Blue Korhaan, Drakensberg Rockjumper, and Gurney’s Sugarbird
  • Excellent chances of seeing the two endemic bird families to Southern Africa – Rockjumpers & Sugarbirds

Please note: these prices are subject to foreign exchange fluctuations.

Top Birds

Cape Parrot; Yellow-breasted Pipit; Bush Blackcap; Southern Bald Ibis; Blue Korhaan; Drakensberg Rockjumper; Gurney’s Sugarbird.

Top Mammals

Lion; Leopard; Cheetah; African Wild Dog; African Elephant; African Buffalo; White Rhinoceros; Southern Giraffe.

Habitats Covered

Mist-belt forest, acacia savanna, high elevation grasslands, mountains, wetlands

Expected Climate

Subtropical and dry, warm to hot. Can be cold to very cold in the early mornings and evenings

Max Group Size

5 with 1 Rockjumper leader

Tour Pace & Walking

UNDEMANDING: This tour is ideal for birders and wildlife enthusiasts of all experience levels. It’s suitable for most mobility levels and offers a relaxed pace, ensuring an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Moderate. Suitable for all photography / birding / wildlife interest levels and most mobility capabilities. Can be a little tiring due to travel distances. Our Bird Photo Tours are a hybrid between our Classic birding tours and dedicated photographic tours. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have the biggest lens; this is for everyone with an interest in photography and birding. Whether you’re using a bridge camera or the latest body and prime lens, our aims are the same. • These tours are not aimed at seeing the most species possible on the route, rather taking time to photograph key targets and any other interesting species we may find. Naturally, the overall species list will be lower than a comparable birding focused tour. • Whilst we may use blinds, feeders and hide setups on some of these tours, we will not be spending an entire day nor even several hours fixed in one spot. • These tours are suitable for photographers who prefer opportunistic photography over entire days in a hide. • Our leaders will assist in helping everyone secure good photographic opportunities and advise as much as they can on camera setup. However, they are not professional photographic tour leaders.

Accommodation

Good to comfortable.

Ease of Birding

Undemanding, most species provide good visuals. A small number of scarce/rare species.

Photographic Opportunities

Good to very good. Some hides will be visited.

What our clients say about us

Gregory de Klerk
KB, Best of South Africa: Cape & Kruger I 2016

Since our trip left right after Easter, and the office was supposed to be closed, I REALLY appreciated Lorna responding to my questions in such a timely fashion. She was right there with answers. Accommodations were very very nice, esp Whale View Manor (within walking distance of penguins). The food was fabulous. Greg de Klerk is the best guide I’ve ever travelled with. He is very knowledgeable, kind, and has a great sense of humour. He did his best to make sure everyone saw as many birds as possible, and that we knew what we were seeing. He continually checked in with us, to make sure everyone was having a good time. He made a good trip into a great trip.

Daniel Danckwerts
EL, South Africa 2022

Daniel Danckwerts was excellent—great hearing and eyesight and was excellent at pointing out exactly where the skulky bird was lurking. He was able to find the group many birds that various members of the group had missed on previous trips to South Africa. And more importantly, he was a store of information about the birds, animals and Kruger. Teamed up with Daniel was our most excellent Kruger driver-guide Dirk who knew where everything was and could find it. We navigated this very complicated trip (flight to Skukuza, travel in south Kruger, flight to Cape Town, testing for covid, boarding the MSC Orchestra and off on our cruise around the Cape of Good Hope only with Daniel’s help and guidance. I am hoping to return to Kruger (for the third time) to bird with Daniel and Dirk on the Kruger Challenge. More than the birds, the trip was fun.

David Hoddinott
G, South Africa Mega

I would like to add my thanks to you, Crystal, and all the other people associated with Rockjumper for making this the best birding tour in which I have participated. David's leadership was superb as our trip bird count shows. I would be happy to go with Rockjumper on future trips. Thanks again for your assistance during the Mega South Africa trip.

Daniel Danckwerts
AC & MJ, South Africa 2019

Thanks to Rynart Bezuidenhout and Daniel Danckwerts for an unforgettable tour. Their effort to give us the very best experience was sublime. Not only was our ambition to see the wanted birds, animals and nature much more than fulfilled – our competent, friendly and openminded guides also managed to give a perspective into the life and culture in South Africa of today. This we appreciate a lot.

Gregory de Klerk
CG, South Africa

Greg de Klerk worked hard to get us the sightings, to ensure everyone got a "good look" and to keep us as safe and as comfortable as possible. I especially appreciated his additional information about field marks, behaviour, the habitat/area, history and culture.

  • Your details

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

  • Contact permission

    We would love to send you Newsletters (twice yearly).via Type a message, Promotions/Discounts (weekly), Blog Articles/Image of the Month (monthly) and other content that we think you would find interesting. If you are happy with this then please select your preferences below. If you would like to unsubscribe from previous subscriptions, or leave our mailing list entirely, then please do so by visiting the Preference Centre link at the bottom of these emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Route Map

Tour Route Map

map-direction-img
Download Tour Itinerary