South Africa - Western Bird Photography Tour 2025

11 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025 (13 days)

ZAR70,950 - 2 Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Quinton Paul Josop

Tour price (Per person): ZAR70,950 * USD4,025 * GBP3,047 * EUR3,617 * AUD5,962

Single Supplement: ZAR6,500 * USD369 * GBP279 * EUR331 * AUD546

Can be linked with: South Africa - Eastern Bird Photography Tour 2025

Flight costs (Linked Tour): ZAR1,800 * USD102 * GBP77 * EUR92 * AUD151

South Africa - Western Bird Photography Tour 2026

12 Jun 2026 - 24 Jun 2026 (13 days)

ZAR81,000 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: David Hoddinott

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Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*

Tour price (Per person): ZAR81,000 * USD4,596 * GBP3,478 * EUR4,129 * AUD6,807

Can be linked with: South Africa - Eastern Bird Photography Tour 2026

Southern Africa’s dry west is a unique and fascinating, yet under-visited land and offers exceptional opportunities for bird, mammal, and scenic photography. A hotbed of faunal and floral diversity, this area harbours two botanical regions found nowhere else on earth: the Cape Floristic Region and the Succulent Karoo. Our Western South Africa Bird Photo Tour showcases these areas and the range of special bird’s endemic to them; you can expect not only great birds, but some of the most dramatic scenery in Africa! Tour highlights include the stunning fynbos-clad slopes of the Western Cape, home to the stunning Cape Rockjumper and numerous other endemics; and the arid and semi-arid areas of the Karoo, which provide another great backdrop for a variety of bustards, larks and other endemics before we head back to Cape Town, taking in an impressive Cape Gannet colony and the West Coast National Park on the way.

Highlights

  • The pelagic trip into Cape Town’s Atlantic Ocean offers up some of the very best sea birding on the planet. The spectacle is something to behold and photo opportunities are extremely good
  • Visit one of only two land-based African Penguin colonies and enjoy exceptional viewing and photo opportunities of these special and highly endangered birds
  • Exploring and photographing the unique Fynbos and Karoo ecosystems
  • Visiting the spectacular Cape Gannet breeding colony at Lambert’s Bay
  • Opportunities to see and photograph some of South Africa’s most range-restricted and special endemic and near-endemic species including Southern Black Korhaan, Ludwig’s Bustard, Red and Sclater’s Larks, Karoo Eremomela, Cinnamon-breasted and Victorin’s Warblers, Orange-breasted Sunbird, and Black Harrier
  • 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 Rockjumper; Cape Sugarbird; Cape Siskin; Cape Bulbul; Protea & Black-headed Canaries; Orange-breasted & Southern Double-collared Sunbirds; African Penguin; African Oystercatcher; Crowned, Bank & Cape Cormorants; Hartlaub’s Gull; Southern Black & Karoo Korhaans; Ludwig’s Bustard; Cape Spurfowl; Victorin’s, Namaqua, Cinnamon-breasted, Layard’s & Rufous-eared Warblers; Fairy & Fiscal Flycatchers; Karoo Eremomela; Barlow’s, Red, Sclater’s & Cape Long-billed Larks; Cape Penduline Tit; White-backed Mousebird; Karoo & Tractrac Chats; Karoo Scrub Robin; Cape Grassbird; Karoo Prinia; Southern Boubou; Cape Batis; Verreaux's & Booted Eagles; South African Shelduck; Karoo Thrush; Forest & Cape Canaries. The pelagic could provide Indian, Atlantic Yellow-nosed, Shy & Black-browed Albatrosses; Cape Petrel; Southern & Northern Giant Petrels.

Top Mammals

Afro-Australian Fur Seal; Southern Right Whale; Common Eland; Blesbok (Bontebok); (Cape) Mountain Zebra; (Red) Hartebeest; Cape Grey Mongoose; Cape Grysbok; Springbok; Klipspringer; Grey Rhebok; Chacma Baboo; Meerkat.

Habitats Covered

Mountains, semi-desert, fynbos, coastal and pelagic waters, wetlands

Expected Climate

Temperate with occasional rain, can be cold in winter

Max Group Size

6 with 1 Rockjumper leader

Tour Pace & Walking

Moderate. Suitable for all birding / wildlife / photography 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

Comfortable lodges.

Ease of Birding

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

Photographic Opportunities

Good to very good. Some hides.

What our clients say about us

David Hoddinott
MO, South Africa 2021

Always a fantastic experience with Rockjumper from inquiry through to the end. Guides always the best of the best

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.

Daniel Danckwerts
MW, South Africa 2021

"We all immensely enjoyed this Tailor-made tour. Dan is an excellent guide: great ears, great eyes, persistent, patient, cheerful, and knowledgeable about all nature. He really went all out for us, and he succeeded in finding very elusive and range-restricted species. We hope to travel with him in the future. Other aspects of the trip: lodging, transportation, etc. were excellent too. We appreciate the behind-the-scenes efforts by Heinz and the rest of the Rockjumper team."

André Bernon
OS, South Africa 2018

Our leader, Andre Bernon, was very good and very knowledgeable, he was also good with general South African knowledge, which was a good thing.

David Hoddinott
RH, South Africa 2021

This was my first pelagic tour, and I loved every minute of it. The guides were excellent - informative, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and patient. Couldn't have asked for better, thank you.

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