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Africa birdwatching guides and tours
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Benji and Jean-Bernard Testimonials. I traveled through Cameroon with my friends, a group of five from Hungary, in November 2005. After a visit to the Eastern region we returned to Yaound' and headed to the West: Douala and on to Limbe. We met Benji (Benjamin Jayin Jomi) at the reception of the Limbe Botanic Garden. We wanted to visit Mt Etinde, Mt Cameroon, the Korup forest and Mt Kupe and Benji gave us a rough calculation of all expenses (transport, accommodation, porters, entrance fees) as one package. The prices were reasonable so we agreed and spent the next two weeks together with Benji in a very rich programme. The next morning we started off for Mt Etinde and climbed it in one day. Then we spent four days on Mt Cameroon, taking the "standard" route from Buea to the summit and descend to Bokwango. After some rest at Limbe we went to the Korup and spend three days there, then after a one-night stop in Kumba (Barombi-Mbo crater lake) we finally made a trip to Mt Kupe (two nights) and back to Limbe. We saw countless species of birds (including Turacos), flowers, animals like monkeys, chameleon etc. Benji had arranged for everything we needed for the trip: a Toyota van so that each of us had a seat, accommodation in hotels and lodges, tents for Mt Cameroon, food, porters, guides, everything. Benji has good local knowledge for Mt Etinde and Mt Cameroon. He knows many birds and plants. He was supportive for whatever we came up with. For example, he helped us save a young crocodile we bought on the road from a poacher - the riverside villagers did not like the idea but Benji helped us smuggling the crocodile back into the river. Benji has a very good personality: calm, reliable, decisive, friendly and caring but not pushy, all of these with a dignity. I recommend contacting Benji to everyone who plans to visit Cameroon South-West. Tamas Nemes, Hungary tamas_nemes(AT)hotmail.com Benji Jomi guided me for a 23 day birdwatching trip to Cameroon in Nov/Dec 2008. Benji coordinated and managed the entire trip for me, and I can recommend him as a reliable and competent guide, which one surely need to travel a country as diverse as Cameroon. Knud Rasmussen, Toronto, Canada
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Benji and Jean-Bernard Check out our year round birdwatching tours in Cameroon Cape Verde
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Herbert. Testimonials. Ich war vom 27.2 bis 3.3. im Ecotec-Projekthaus und wurde in dieser Zeit von Herbert und Eva hervorragend betreut und konnte mich von dem Projekt voll überzeugen lassen. Celeste sorgte im Haus mit ihrem gutem Essen für das leibliche Wohl. Während dem Tag wurde ich auf meinen Beobachtungstouren hervorragend durch Fredy und Andriu betreut. Sie waren sehr freundlich, hilfsbereit und gingen auch sofort auf Wünsche ein, kannten sich gut mit den örtlichen Gegebenheiten aus. Sie wussten auch wo man am besten beobachten geht und kannten auch die einheimische Flora und Fauna. Während der gesamten Zeit fühlte ich mich sehr wohl und sehr gut aufgehoben. Ich freue mich bereits jetzt auf meinen nächsten Besuch. Peter Zeller zellerpe(AT)bluewin.ch I was there from 27.2. to 3.3. and Herbert and Eva cared for me in the best possible way. I was fully convinced by this project. Celeste (the cook) supplied us with excellent food. Fredy and Andriu, the two guides, took care of me on the tours. They were friendly, always ready to help, answered to my wishes and knew the local conditions. They knew where to go birding and also knew the local fauna and flora. I enjoyed my stay very much and am looking forward to my next visit! Peter Zeller zellerpe(AT)bluewin.ch Check out my year round birdwatching tours in Cape Verde Djibouti
For birding in Djibouti please send a message to Houssein. Ethiopia
Testimonial. We would recommend Meseret Mekuria as your preferred guide in Ethiopia. His professionalism is outstanding. Beyond being simply reliable and punctual Meseret truly listens to the wants and needs of his clients and remains flexible and responsive in ensuring that their experience is a valuable one. His broad network across Ethiopia coupled with his sound knowledge of local culture and wildlife is fantastic. He is also a very personable individual who makes you feel very welcome in this beautiful country. It is obvious that he is well regarded locally in his field and that he has a particular talent when it comes to ornithology. I feel well qualified to make such statements given that I have travelled with Meseret extensively on 2 occasions - most recently in 2007 with my wife Sarah - and I have also recommended him to my 70 year old parents whom Meseret led a memorable cultural trip for in 2006. Shaun Bacon, Australia. sbacon(AT)wildframes.com During my March 07 Ethiopia trip, Meseret not only managed to show us 419 species of birds (incl. 23 endemics), but I also enjoyed his company very much, and he became a good friend. From his experiences as a former wildlife manager, Meseret is very familiar with all the best places for birds and wildlife and has lived in many of them. He speaks several tribal languages and is personally known to many village people throughout Ethiopia. This is important for successful guiding not only for finding birds but also for safety, when travelling the tribal areas. Doing my stay in Addis Abba I also had the pleasure of meeting Yilma, who impressed me with his knowledge of Ethiopia's wildlife. Knud Rasmussen, Toronto, Canada - krkr(AT)sympatico.ca Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Meseret.
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Yilma. Testimonial. I have known and worked with Yilma for over fifteen years. You could not ask for a more knowledgeable and companionable guide. Yilma's understanding of Ethiopia's landscapes, cultures and wildlife stems from extensive fieldwork and a deep commitment to conservation, as well as a passion for birds and birding, while his training as an ornithologist and ecologist brings an extra dimension to his work. Dr. Leon Bennun, BirdLife International Yilma is an outstanding individual and I am pleased to consider him as a colleague, student, advisor, and friend. I first met Yilma in 1992 at a meeting for the conservation of Black Crowned Cranes in Kano, Nigeria, and was immediately impressed with Yilma's professional and personal qualities. Yilma is a serious, hardworking individual who strives for intellectual and spiritual depth in all his life and work. At the same time, he also has a wonderful sense of humor and endless enthusiasm for the natural world. Over the years, Yilma and I have met together on many occasions. Yilma attended several training courses I was teaching related to crane and wetland monitoring in southern Africa, and also participated in the Pan-African Ornithological Congress. In 2003 and 2004, I had the pleasure to work directly with Yilma in Ethiopia. During my first trip (with two colleagues from the German Crane Working Group) Yilma lead us to discover the most important breeding ground for endangered Wattled Cranes in Ethiopia (the Boyo Wetlands). We also observed the endangered Ethiopian Wolf up in the Bale Mountains, observed many thousands of European Cranes on wetlands and agricultural fields, and visited a number of wetland and waterbird sites in the Rift Valley that included the Vulnerable Black Crowned Crane and many other species. The following year, Yilma and I lead a "VIP" tour of eight trustees and donors of the International Crane Foundation. We had a spectacular trip, traveling all over the country from the Bale Mountains to beautiful Lake Tana and up north to Axum to Lalibella. Although our group was not composed of die-hard birders we nonetheless logged more than 250 bird species including many endemics, while experiencing the remarkable people and landscapes of Ethiopia. Yilma is deeply proud of his country, and enjoys showing off the rich cultural heritage of Ethiopia as much as he does Ethiopia's rich wildlife. Yilma is an excellent birder with a good working knowledge of the birds of Ethiopia. He knows his birds very well and knows the key birding haunts in Ethiopia for specialty birds and endemics. I recommend Yilma highly and without hesitation as a guide to the birdlife, landscapes, and diverse cultures of Ethiopia. Richard Beilfuss, Ph.D., Lic Prof Hydrologist, CEO of International Crane Foundation Check out our year round birdwatching tours in Ethiopia Gambia
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Musa. Ghana
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Kalu. Testimonials. Myself and a colleague, Ian Searle contacted Kalu via Birdingpals last year to organise a tour of Ghana. We wanted a reliable, knowledgable guide who could organise our trip, arrange transport and suggest places to stay. We also wanted to see as many species as possible including the Yellow-headed Picathartes. Kalu was a surperb guide as he was extremely knowledgable about the birds of Ghana including their calls and the best sites. We saw an amazing 253 Species in only one week including some of the most difficult species. Kalu knew many of the local reserve officials and was able to gain access for us outside normal visiting hours so we could make an early start some days. He also arranged excellent accommodation and engaged an excellent driver for our trip. In summary we were extremely happy with Kalu's service, and our journey was real fun. I would have no hesitation in recommending him to visiting Birders. Rob Rackliffe, robertr(AT)gryconsulting.org February 2008 I just wanted to feedback to you on a recent trip to Ghana. Marlin Jones and I had a terrific time with Kalu, who was an excellent guide. Everything went smoothly, with no glitches. I saw 80 life birds and Marlin saw 160. Thank you for setting up this terrific guide service. Cheers, Charles H. Trost, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of Ornithology, Idaho State University, Pocatello Idaho 83204 Dear Kalu. Thank you for your very nice email. Yes, I did have a cool and nice flight home. And thank you very much for an excellent trip. I was hoping for quite a lot of new birds, but it far exceeded my expectations. It was very successful and well organised. Your ability to find and instantly identify the birds by sight and sound was exceptional. I am very envious of your excellent vision. I can understand your frustration at my not being able to see the birds so quickly and by not being able to catch what you said. I saw 324 birds, over half of them new for me, including many special ones. Brilliant! I think you saw another 5 or 6 that I was not able to see. I would be interested to know the name of that animal we saw that was new for you, at the Forbes's Plover sight. You will see that I have copied Knud at Birdinpals with this email as I wanted him to know about your trip. I will also be telling my friends about the success of the trip, but not too many as I know you want to spend some time with your family. And please pass my appreciation to the driver, Cobby, for his reliability and dedication, especially in not wanting to leave the trip to join his wife at the time of the birth of their second baby. Thanks again Kalu and I wish you success in the future. Terry Boss, USA Check out my year round birdwatching tours in Ghana
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to David. Kenya
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Moses. Testimonials. My wife and I hired Moses Kandie to lead us on a 8 day birding trip in Kenya. Our rough itinerary was Nairobi, Lake Nakuru, Kakamega, Lake Baringo, and Lake Naivasha, Crater Lake, with many stops in between. Moses did an excellent job of selecting hotels that were comfortable and safe for us. The food at all stops was excellent as well. Moses is a world class bird guide, and knows every bird by site and sound. He was quick with his spotting scope, and used bird calls with discretion. Due to his expertise, we were able to spot rare birds such as Great Blue Turaco, Africa Broadbill, Red headed malimbe, hairy chested barbet, white headed barbet, amethyst sunbird, three banded courser, white faced scops owl, blue headed bee eater, white headed wood hoopoe, Maccoa duck, white spotted flufftail, red chested cuckoo, rufous crowned roller, Hemprich's hornbill, red fronted barbet, double toothed barbet, red throated wryneck, Shelley's greenbul, African shrike flycatcher, and sulphur breasted bush shrike, just to name a few. Moses and his driver were patient and pleasant, and we had an amazing experience logging 350+ sp of birds with him. I highly recommend Moses for any east african bird trip you might be planning. Jason Westfall, Sonora, California Moses Kandie has an excellent knowledge of birds and habitats of where to find a wide variety of birds in Kenya. Moses birds by his ears as well as by sight! His repetoire of bird sounds is amazing and accurate ... we found so many great birds because Moses heard them first among the many other bird sounds that one hears in the habitats of Kenya. Moses is very patient, thorough and determined to find and identity birds observed. He does not mind checking the bird books, asking for field marks identified, etc., before calling the name of a particular bird. He is very open to debate and very easy to communicate with throughout the long days of birding. We started early in the am, took breaks at mid day or while travelling to other sites. And even during those times we stopped many times to confirm sightings along the road, etc. Moses loves sharing his birding expertise and his beautiful country ... a really great guy! Moses went to some extreme measures to find such rarities in very confined habitats such as the Sharpe's Longclaw, a globally threatened bird ... Senrgal Thick-knee, Kori Bustard, Malechite Kingfisher, and, owls such as African Scops, White-faced Scops, Verreaux's and Spotted Eagle Owls, and Slender-tailed Nightjar ... amazing craker birds! Some habitat sites we visited included Lake's Nakuru, Naivaisha and Boringo ... Moses's home area which he knew very well, Naiberi River Camp (7742 feet/2360meters) for some higher elevation birds such as Bush Pipit, Yellow-Rumped Tinkerbird, Long-crested Eagle, etc. We covered reedbeds, shorelines, escarpments, grasslands, streams, forests, islands, lakes, etc. In total we recorded 277 birds during the 6 days birding in Kenya. Thanks for a great birding experience, Moses! Greatly appreciated Birdingpal Gordon Saunders, Qatar. saunderstern(AT)gmail.com I visited Lake Baringo last year, and Moses came out for 3 days with me as a guide. He showed an excellent knowledge of local species, calls as well as location of some of the specialties of the area and he is a very nice person to boot. Our company is planning to run trips to Africa and for Baringo, we plan to use Mr Kandie - which I suppose sums up how much I enjoyed my time with him as my guide. Any questions, please feel free to email me. Vandit Kalia, Photo Safari India. vkalia(AT)photosafariindia.com Moses is a sympatic and responsible birding guide that I first met in his home village Kampi ya Samaki by Lake Baringo in 2004. He's especially familiar with the birds of the Rift Valley but has also travelled over much of the rest of Kenya. We've made one professional tour together and there are more to come. I can thus recommend Moses as your birding guide! Samuel Hansson, Heliangelus Nature Tours, Sweden. heliangelus(AT)telia.com Check out my year round birdwatching tours in Kenya Madagascar
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Fano. Testimonials. In October 2008 I visited Madagascar for the first time and I was very fortunate to be able to hire Fano as my guide. Before my arrival, we corresponded through e-mails, and he even telephoned me in Japan two or three times to coordinate things! He is a very friendly and outgoing person, and his knowledge of the 'Red Island's' wildlife ' the endemic birds and the lemurs -- is very extensive. While my companion Ponny, from Thailand, and I flew from Tana to Majunga in an hour, poor Fano came all the way there -- and all the way back -- by taxi-brousse to make sure that we were taken care of at Ampijoroa. Without his help, I would have missed several key species, so I would definitely recommend him to any visiting birdwatcher or naturalist. An ways-smiling guide in the "Land of Smiles. Chris Cook (Tokyo, Japan) A friend and I spent a week with 'Fano' as our guide traveling all around central and southern Madagascar looking for birds, wildlife and culture. I have traveled independently in 120 countries and Fano turned out to be one of the very best guides/companions ever! He was fluent in Malagasi, German, French and his English was excellent! He seemed to know everyone wherever we went, and was extremely knowledgeable about the customs and wildlife - with an excellent eye for spotting birds and small reptiles that we missed. Moreover, and perhaps the most memorable part of the experience, was Fano's personality - he was always helpful, considerate, sensitive to our different personalities and, most importantly, always FUN! He understood the subtlties of jokes and humor and felt like a long-lasting friend after our one week. I can only give Fano the highest recommendation possible - as a human being, as a guide and as an expert on the flora and fauna of Madagascar. I would, of course, be happy to respond to anyone's further questions re my experience with Fano in Madagascar. Al Lunemann, Coupeville, WA, USA, techno-man(AT)coupeville.net Check out my year round birdwatching tours in Madagascar Morocco
For more information please send a message to Mohamed. Testimonials. On the 23rd of September of 2008, almost 3 years ago, we had the pleasure of being escorted into the Souss Massa National Park by our personal guide Mohamed Bargache. Not only was we impressed by his English skills, but also his birdwatching skills. Identifying all the different species in the Park and explaining the main characteristics and distinctions between them. We can only recommend visiting the Souss Massa National Park and hire the professional services of Mr. bargache, to truly discover the secrets of its natural beauty. All the best Christian Kaufmann,Switzerland Vous avez bien voulu le mercredi 16 Avril 2008, nous accompagner et moi pour une visite de la réserve de Souss Massa. Nous tenions personnellement a vous exprimer notre gratitude pour la qualité de vos explications tant au niveau ornithologique qu'environomental,grace a votre experience et connaissance du terrain nous avons pu observer plusieurs espèces d'oiseaux; qui sans vous nous seraient passés inaperçus. Nous tenons aussi à souligner votre amabilité et gentillesse tout au long du parcours et votre empressement à répondre à nos questions sur la vie de votre village, l'environement ecologique. Nous sommes coutimiers de visites du parc, en France mais aussi en Espagne, l'Italie, nous pouvons vous certifier que vous vallez bien beaucoup de guides professionels. Nous ne manquerons pas de donner vos coordonneés à nos amies et connaissances venant à votre région et désirant visiter la réserve. Bonne chance et amicales salutations et merci. Serge et Rejane Vayr, France I am a retired biology teacher from a university in Texas, U.S.A. I traveled to Agadir for three days in May, 2011, during which time I was guided by Mohamed Bargache for birds and general sightseeing. Mohamed is an excellent bird guide, very knowledgeable with recognizing birds and where to find almost all species, particularly those most desired by foreign birdwatchers. He is a friendly person and easy to travel with. I am so happy to recommend him as a guide. Charles Dean Fisher, USA Rwanda Burundi
For more information please send a message to Akim. Testimonials. Hopefully, you have been busy with clients. Rwanda has been getting lots of good press coverage in the U.S. Friends of mine are going to Rwanda next year and I recommended your company to them. How are you? Your family? When do you go on holiday? Have you had nice clients? I look at these pictures and wish to thank you again for such a special time in your country. I send you all my very best wishes. Kristine Kershul kris(AT)bbks.com Seychelles
For more information please send a message to Steve. Sierra Leone
For more information please send a message to Modu. Somaliland
For birding in Somaliland please send a message to Abdi. Uganda
Testimonial. I had to chance to have Deo as a bird-guide while in Uganda for work in February 2012. As I was very time-constrained, we did some early morning birding on the campus of Makerere University in Central Kampala - it yielded over 30 species in a few hours, including Black-Headed and Paradise Flycatcher, Green-headed Sunbird, Grey Woodpecher, Brown and Grey Parrot, a very close Lizard Buzzard, African Harrier Hawk etc. Deo is an excellent guide, and I look forward to discover more of Uganda's birdlife in future trips! Jean Hugé, Ghent, Belgium Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Deo. Check out my year round birdwatching tours in Uganda Zambia
Should you only need a guide for a day please send a message to Leslie. Last update 12/05/2013
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