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South Africa - Northern Birds & Big Game (Relaxed)

© Baillon's Crake by Rob Williams
South Africa - Northern Birds & Big Game (Relaxed) 2026

31 Mar 2026 - 11 Apr 2026 (12 days)

ZAR87,950 NO SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Quinton Paul Josop

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Tour Price (Per person): ZAR87,950 (USD5,432 * GBP4,139 * EUR4,720 * AUD7,837)

Single Supplement: ZAR9,100 (USD562 * GBP428 * EUR488 * AUD811)

Flight costs (Linked Tour): ZAR1,800 (USD111 * GBP85 * EUR97 * AUD160)

Pricing notes : Linked flight is for CPT - JNB flight necessary for guests participating on Southern Endemics (Relaxed) tour.

South Africa - Northern Birds & Big Game (Relaxed) 2027

01 Mar 2027 - 12 Mar 2027 (12 days)

ZAR93,500 3 SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Ryan Tyrer

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Tour Price (Per person): ZAR93,500 (USD5,775 * GBP4,400 * EUR5,017 * AUD8,331)

Single Supplement: ZAR9,500 (USD587 * GBP447 * EUR510 * AUD847)

Flight costs (Linked Tour): ZAR2,900 (USD179 * GBP136 * EUR156 * AUD258)

This tour pairs with: South Africa - Southern Endemics (Relaxed) 2027

Pricing notes : Linked flight is for JNB - CPT flight necessary for guests participating on Southern Endemics (Relaxed) tour.

South Africa - Northern Birds & Big Game (Relaxed) 2028

15 Feb 2028 - 26 Feb 2028 (12 days)

ZAR98,500 SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Quinton Paul Josop

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Tour Price (Per person): ZAR98,500 (USD6,084 * GBP4,635 * EUR5,286 * AUD8,777)

This tour pairs with: South Africa - Southern Endemics (Relaxed) 2028

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change* Linked flight is for JNB - CPT flight necessary for guests participating on Southern Endemics (Relaxed) tour.

South Africa is quite simply one of the most pleasurable countries in which to travel, offering fantastic birding, exceptional wildlife viewing, and breath-taking photographic opportunities, along with world-class infrastructure. This relaxed tour of northern South Africa takes us birding in the Highveld grasslands around Johannesburg, the open Acacia woodlands of Zaagkuildrift and cool montane forests of Magoebaskloof for a series of endemic and near endemic species.  

We’ll then head to the bird- and game-rich lowlands and the world-renowned Kruger National. Here we will enjoy several days in this spectacular reserve enjoying the classic African savanna and the many superb birds and mammals associated with this massive conservation area.

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

 

 

Top Birds

Johannesburg, Rust-de-Winter & Magoebaskloof: Fairy Warbler; Red-throated Wryneck; Black-faced & Violet-eared Waxbills; Chestnut-vented Warbler; Scaly-feathered Weaver; Cut-throat Finch; Green-winged Pytilia; Cape Parrot; Knysna Turaco; Orange Ground Thrush; Chorister Robin; Black-fronted Bushshrike; Kruger NP: Common Ostrich; Kori Bustard; Southern Ground Hornbill; Bateleur; Martial & Crowned; Eagles; Marabou & Saddle-billed Storks; Lappet-faced, White-backed, Hooded & White-headed Vultures; Double-banded Sandgrouse; Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl; Lilac-breasted Roller; Southern Red-billed & Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills; Brown-headed Parrot; Burchell’s Starling; Southern White-crowned Shrike; Red-headed Weaver; White-browed Robin-Chat.

Top Mammals

Johannesburg, Rust-de-Winter & Magoebaskloof: Blesbok; Black Wildebeest; Mountain Reedbuck; Yellow Mongoose; Cape Clawless Otter; Kruger: The ‘Big 5’ (Lion; Leopard; African Elephant; Black & White Rhinoceroses; African Buffalo); Cheetah, African Wild Dog; Side-striped Jackal; Greater Kudu; Southern Giraffe; Spotted Hyena; Nyala; Common & Central African Large-spotted Genets; Wild Cat; African Civet; Cape Porcupine; White-tailed Mongoose; Klipspringer; Plains Zebra; Common Warthog

Habitats Covered

highveld grassland, montane forest, acacia savanna, bushveld, terminalia woodland, riverine forest, grasslands, rivers, 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.

Undemanding, perfectly suited for all birding / wildlife interest levels and most mobility capabilities. our Relaxed series of tours are designed to focus on having an enjoyable holiday with a bird and wildlife focus. Where possible; we have reduced or removed long drives, single night stays and poor/rustic accommodation. We have also sought to reduce or remove difficult hikes, narrow/muddy trails and otherwise oppressive environmental conditions. Early starts and night birding are mostly optional, and we will not spend much time searching for difficult and/or skulking species. These tours are not suitable for hardcore birders and listers, or dedicated photographers.

Accommodation

Good to comfortable.

Ease of Birding

Undemanding, most species provide good visuals. A small number of scare / tricky species.

Other Attractions

vast, pristine wilderness, huge numbers of African mega-fauna

Photographic Opportunities

Very good to excellent.

What our clients say about us

Daniel Danckwerts
TT - South Africa Rallid Quest 2019

There are not enough superlatives to describe Daniel Danckwerts! He is a superstar of a guide and I am glad I had the opportunity to tour with him, because he will be in great demand when the word gets out how amazing this tour was! Although he is one of your junior guides, he conducts himself with poise and confidence in excess of his years. His passion for birding, culture and history is unsurpassed and his laugh is absolutely infectious.  He knew all the hotspots for the notoriously difficult species on this tour and even when the birds weren't cooperating, he devised innovative means to ensure the group would have the best opportunity to see these very, very elusive birds. We learned a few lessons on this inaugural tour about patience and stamina.... it is certainly not for the faint-hearted because it requires a lot of hard work but the rewards certainly exceeded the effort.  Where else do you have the opportunity to see mythic flufftails and crakes all in one place? I will absolutely travel with Daniel again!

Keith Valentine
JT & LT - Birds & Wine

We are writing to say thank you for all you did for us on our recent Birds and Wine tour with you and Alvaro. We really enjoyed meeting you and spending two weeks touring with you around South Africa. The itinerary that you put together with Alvaro was great and all the arrangements worked out to give us a wonderful tour. Your knowledge of the birds and patience spent helping us find and see all the birds really helped us to enjoy our experience and increase our knowledge. We spent much of our time in the Manyoni Reserve in the vehicle with you and it was always exciting finding the wildlife and hearing your analysis of the situation. We also truly appreciated your selection of wineries to visit, the wines we tasted, and the wines you selected to take with us to Zebra Hills Lodge. Your knowledge of the wine and wineries greatly added to our pleasure on the tour. We live in the Northern California wine region and the opportunity to compare South Africa’s wine with the product we know was very enlightening for us. Both the wineries we visited and the wines we tasted convinced us that we were in an excellent wine producing region of the world.

Julian Parsons
RK, South Africa

The tour was fantastic. Julian Parsons is an excellent guide. Outstanding with both birds and people. Several times he was required to troubleshoot problems and issues and did so without distracting from the trip in any way. Our driver was also fantastic. Two flat tires, but he quickly changed out to the spare and arranged to have both fixed, after hours! He was very personable and incredibly safe driver. We always arrived on time (or early) without incident, including when we had the flat tires.

Keith Valentine
LAM, South Africa - Alvaro's Adventures 2025

I had the best time and found Keith Valentine the most knowledgeable guide. The trip was absolutely amazing and I would definitely travel with Rockjumper again. I particularly enjoyed the vast types of habitats we visited and the amazing numbers and diversity of the birds we observed. I look at my photos now and relive the trip. It was so much fun. The trip to Manyoni was utterly phenomenal. A trip of a lifetime observing the Big 5 in their native habitats. Thanks so much. The guides at Zebra Hills were very knowledgeable and all the extra info they gave us about animal behaviors was wonderful? I had no preconceived notions of what type of accommodations we would have, but I was very satisfied.

xHeinz Ortmann
JH, Cape & Kruger II 2015

Heinz was incredible. His knowledge and personality were wonderful. What a wonderful young man! We had an incredible time.

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