Birding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

I am likely headed to Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia somewhere in the Sept-Oct timeframe, for a month or so with my partner and some family. I appear to have the time available to add as much as a month or two of dedicated birding (presumably after, so Oct/Nov timeframe, possibly into Dec). My thought is to go a bit slower, enjoying the best sites and targeting all the harder / special species, letting all the others comes as they may. Dragging into early Dec is particularly appealing in order to have a concerted go at African Pitta.

I'd love to hear opinions from people in terms of which countries are easier/harder to do independently, which are more enjoyable, etc. IE, if someone chimes in and says "Spend way more time in Zimbabwe and just go to Zambia and Moz at the end for what you're missing" or "clean up ZA first then do more targeted birding in the others" ... those are the sorts of opinions I'd love to hear.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any/all opinions/thoughts offered.

2nd week of December is peak for African Pitta in the Zambezi Valley - I would recommend the Zimbabwe side as they were 'easy' in December 2018. If there has been no rain you will struggle anywhere.

cheers, alan

Thanks Alan, my impression is definitely that Zimbabwe (Masoka I assume you're referring to) is the more reliable site the past few years with Mozambique being a touch behind, though I don't have a ton of info to go on thus far.

I'm also thinking about the Coutada 11+12 / Gorongosa area of Mozambique as well, not too far out of reach if you're already in N or NE Zimbabwe.

Still keen on other opinions in terms of where the birding, travelling, camping, etc are more and less enjoyable!

Hi Josh,

Ive been to southern Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana but not Mozambique. I found these countries ok to do independently, and if you have funds to hire a car, can be done as a road trip. Each country has its own different charms, but Zimbabwe is probably my favourite generally speaking.

Mozambique can also be driven into from the Zimbabwe highlands. You may want to do some reading on Mozambique, there was a fairly recent incident towards the Zambezi valley involving armed robbery. It may have been a one off, I don’t know whether birders are going back now.

Id probably split the countries fairly evenly; you are covering such a wide area that each locale will have a good range of species, but with some overlap. Botswana probably has fewest such 'specialties', especially if you have been to Namibia and/or South Africa previously and aren’t heading south into the Kalahari biome (great landscapes and wildlife, but requires lots of planning and off roading, and the birds can more or less all be seen in South Africa).

I would recommend the Southern African Birdfinder if you dont already have a copy, great for site gen and planning how many days at each site you are going to.


Re African Pitta, there are a number of options in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. The main sites at present seem to be:

Zimbabwe:
- Lower Zambezi, Masoka Village & Camp and Murara Camp (Murara can be organised through the Lukosi link below), Zimbabwe - 6 hours drive north of Harare (4x4 recommended) or there is a combination of shared minivans Harare to Masoka Village.
- Lukosi Camp, run by Derek & Deirdre Adams with Doug Kok, not far from Vic Falls (guaranteed there for last couple of winters BUT appears there is no activity this winter),
- Mana Pools (again part of the Lower Zambezi but you need to stay at the posh places so only for the high end budget - eg this place has territories near it this winter - Kavinga Safari Camp).
- Chizarira NP in Zimbabwe also has potential, I know nothing about this other than it is quite a remote site.

Mozambique:
- the Coutadas (Coutada 11/12), along the Lower Zambezi in Mozambique. The incident linked above probably put a dent in the growing stream of birders to this site, which may explain the lower output of news. I think the birds will still be there.

Zambia:
- Mutulanganga watershed & Lower Zambezi in Zambia - Birdquest seem to be favouring this area in 2019. It may be worth contacting Birdlife Zambia over potential sites here. The dry river valleys on the road north of Siavonga was the classic site, I think where Chris Gooddie went on his big pitta year.
- South Luangwa in Zambia is also said to have breeding birds at least on occasion, but birding there for that sp. is tricky as you are not technically allowed out of your vehicle.

As Alan mentioned, the Pittas come with the first rains, and this arrival varies year on year. They are very vocal when first arrived, with high territorial activity for a period (can be short - 2-3 weeks), whereby they can be fairly conspicuous for a Pitta. This is the easiest time to see them, but predicting the rains is not easy. For the last couple of winters (2016/17 & 2017/18) they arrived in region around the third week of Nov. This winter the first individuals didn’t arrive until the very end of Nov.

I was in Zimbabwe end of last year, and drove to Masoka Village, staying overnight at the Masoka Camp. Here we saw 4 Pittas and heard 6-7 in just a couple of hours around dawn with Mackenzie. I also spent three nights at Lukosi - very nice, but the pitta hadnt returned.

Aside from the Pitta, you may be a little early for the rainy season species, but if you do Harare area last then that gives you the best chance if the rains are early you may get lucky with some of the Vlei and Dambo specials, but some of these species are usually a lot easier in Jan-March.

If you intend to go for Black-cheeked Lovebird in either Kafue NP or the Mutelo area (both 4x4 access only) you want to go before the rains as the roads can become impassable, they are both remote areas, and you dont want to get stuck. Some info here: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=331953

The other regional specialties are mostly resident so will be present, even if you are not at the best time. Miombo and Mopane birding is hot and dry before the rains and can be slow, but you can still see the birds with some effort. The eastern highlands of Zim are great. Id recommend Seldomseen, and the specialities are not too difficult.

Some eastern Zambian sites can also be combined with Malawi, worth considering/leaving for another trip, depending how far north west or north east you intend to go in Zambia.


Hope that helps,
Cheers

Thank you for the wealth of info Gareth! I had more or less figured the dates for the African Pitta and was planning on Harare last with hope that it would be wet enough to get something but expecting it not to... on top of that, though, I greatly appreciate the advice to go for the Lovebird earlier, and I greatly appreciate the head's up about the incident in Mozambique. I wasn't aware of that, and haven't done as much reading/research about Mozambique.

I do have the birdfinding guide and agree it is excellent - used it extensively in Western and Northern Cape and in Namibia.

I'm still just mulling options but it looks like it will be a family and partner trip to some combination of Hwange/Victoria Falls/Chobe/Moremi and then I'll probably stay after and try to do a good bit in Zambia then Zimbabwe. If time allows perhaps some of E ZA given that Mozambique looks like it's rather off the menu at the moment.

Cheers and should we ever cross paths beers are on me
Josh

Hi Josh,

Your plan sounds sensible. Do the most touristy bits (Botswana, Vic Falls etc) with the family and then do the rest in the remaining time.

On Mozambique, maybe seek the advice of local South African/Zim/Moz birders on the current situation there; that armed robbery may have been considered a one off, I don’t know. I don’t think Birdforum gets much traffic from those in the southern end of Africa. I know there are facebook groups for birders in SA and Zim to share sightings etc. but Im not on facebook myself, so cant give a link. You could try there.

The situation in Zim should also be monitored - especially if you are driving yourself - as their recent fuel crisis is still ongoing: Just yesterday the government hiked fuel prices up by double and it has sparked renewed protests.

Note the official statement is not trying to discourage tourism as tourists are exempt from the price increases at certain outlets: “These prices are predicated on the ruling official exchange rate of 1:1 between the Bond Note and the United States Dollar, and also on the need to keep fuel retailers viable. Guests of Government by way of foreign missions and other registered foreign bodies, and tourists will fuel and refuel at designated points at the price of $1.24 (R17.16) per litre for diesel and $2.32 (R32.10) per litre for petrol, upon production of proper identification documents,”

Whilst I was there last month, there were two petrol stations in Harare that only accepted international bank cards (so no queues as the majority of locals couldnt use them), we didnt see any elsewhere.

The country is desperate for foreign currency and at present you are recommended to bring sufficient US dollars with you for the duration of your stay. You may be able to exchange US with Zimbabwe Bond, but I wouldn’t do it at an official outlet as you will probably only get 1:1.

Of course your trip is just under a year away, so there is a lot of time for the issues to get resolved (or get worse), so keep monitoring!

Zimbabwe is a great country, I do hope they finally start to resolve these issues soon.

Cheers,