What focal length would you guys recommend for birding and African Safaris
7 x 42
8.x 42
Or 10.x 42
The reason I ask is I've never used binoculars before but have just been offered a brand new Leica 10 x 42 HD for a really good price
I served as the Regional Director for Africa with my company for seven years and out of ignorance dragged around a pair of Steiner 7X50 for five then Zeiss 7X50 Marines for the last two years. The Zeiss were at least a couple of orders of magnitude better than the Steiners' and all around awesome, but I'm not in the Royal Navy

, and for air travel to Africa it would of been any alpha 8/8.5X42 that would of taken my binocular choice from great to best.
You can occasionally wish for 10x, and they will serve you very well especially in the South Africa and East Africa park drives; but just as readily, you'll see many things like African porcupines among others in dark dense foliage or at dusk/night making a bright 8X HT or HD Plus make the most sense. And, even the big game safari drives begin just before dawn and just before dusk. Bright 8X. You want to be able to see at night. As I've mentioned in other post, in April I'll be gorilla sighting outside of Kigali and I have bought an Ultravid HD Plus in 8X for that. I'll report back.
Lastly, safari drives tend to be two to three hours, and very rugged. Kruger National Park in South Africa is the only park I have ever been in that has any paved roads. And while you stop frequently, there are many times you want to use your glass on the move. We saw as much game the last few miles driving into the Kruger park as in it. 10X is tough sledding from a pitching vehicle crawling through ruts. Those were times I really appreciated the 7X Marines, and I think the much lighter and more compact 8X Leicas will still serve me well on the move. Of my small sampling of parks in Africa, my top five would be (spelling is suspect): 1. The Rhino Pak in Swaziland (can't call the name, but it's a very small country) 2. Ruaha in Tanzania 3. Rift Valley Kenya. 4. Voi West Kenya 5. Ambocelli Kenya.
Oh my goodness, Fed Ex just dropped off a box with my Leicas literally as I was writing this.
Pic 1: me and some new friends in Ghana after the Ebola crisis. Not saying which one is me.
Pic 2: a box that arrived from Fed Ex as I was writing this post with some UV HD Plus inside.