Africa (1 Viewer)

Here is one for all you well travelled birders out there.

I am thinking of saving up my hard earned for a birding trip to Africa. I would be booking with a birding tour company and not independently. My question is which country/destination would be the best to visit based on the following criteria;

1. The quality of the birding. In other words a good cross section of the bird families found in that area.
2. The quantity of species seen. Lets be honest, whether you are a manic lister or you like to spend lots of time appreciating what you can find, we all love to add to our lists.
3. Budget/Value for money.

Surely depends on what your budget is. Best place for sheer number of birds would be Kenya.

Budget would be around £1600 to £2200 for a 10/14 day trip.

I've spent three years in various parts of Africa and it really comes down to two choices - Kenya and South Africa. For pure species total, and unrivalled mammal selcetion, Kenya pips the two, but for variety of birding and a cross section of families, South Africa is the winner in my book. Truly an amazing country with good and easy birding covering everything formthe pelagics (unbeatable) through to savannah, desert, lush forest and Afro-Alpine. Corking stuff on the mammal front too - Kruger or Kgalagadi both fantastic, the latter even more so if spelt correctly!