Jambo Tanzania Birding Team,

Our Trip to Victoria Falls, Botswana and Namibia was excellent, exceeding our expectations!

“Buzzy” – Alex our guide took great care of us and was a pleasure to travel with. His knowledge of most things “wild” is exceptionally broad and deep.

The accommodations, food, transportation, safety—all well above average.

And of course the wildlife and geography were beyond measure!

Thanks for helping to arrange this tour!

Warmest regards to you and the staff at Tanzania Birding.

The Trip went very well. On time. Well experienced guide. January worked hard to guide me around. Pleasant personality. Good spotter too.

We started around 7 am and finished about 5:30 pm. We did see around 40 species which is about what I expected. But I realize it always remains uncertain.

Not surprisingly we spotted most birds in the first few hours and in the last hour. We took a break at the little lake in the hills.

My only suggestion is to equip your guides with a simple laser pointer so it is much easier to identify the precise location of birds – Especially in the Forest Birding.

My wife and I went on a 21-day birding expedition across northern Tanzania from Lake Victoria to Pemba Island in January 2025. The company we selected, Tanzania Birding and Beyond, ran a professional operation with good communication before and during our time there. We were very, very happy with our trip and this company. Carol is a photographer and a birder primarily, but our interests span other biota, their behaviour and ecology, landscapes, and the country’s people and history. Our guide (Anthony) was very accomplished and good at explaining all these aspects. Also, Anthony and our driver (Roger) gave us plenty of unhurried time to observe and photograph. Roger is a skillful and careful driver, and kept Carol at ease (unlike my driving back home). Roger made sure the safari vehicle was properly maintained during the safari to minimize the chance of breakdowns, and he kept the vehicle clean and organized for a fresh start each day. It was a great trip! We really got attached to Anthony and Roger, and found it hard to say goodbye. Kombo (our guide on Pemba) was the same. Good people!

More specifically, Anthony has excellent, advanced observation skills. His knowledge of the biota is unsurpassed. At one stop, several young birding guides flocked to him for advice. He obviously is a respected authority and teacher. In contrast, my eyes are not so good anymore, however Anthony and Roger were patient and helpful.

We do like to see new species, but we are not listers per se. We enjoy seeing a new bird and observing for a while. Also, we spent time observing and getting additional photos of previously seen birds, and then reptiles, plants, mammals, etc. and so we, personally, were not the most efficient birders by any means. Given all this, we still saw over 400 bird species! There were several that we heard and got only brief glimpses of, so we did not count them. Thus, 400+ species may be considered a somewhat conservative number.

In summary, Tanzania Birding and Beyond is a very capable and reliable company with competent staff and expert guides. If we get the opportunity to go back to explore another part of the country, we will definitely go with Tanzania Birding and Beyond.

In Tanzania, Novatus was great at spotting and identifying the birds. I managed to photograph about 270 different species and we saw over 300. We enjoyed the day with Abdul too.
Joel was knowledgeable on the animals, is a great driver and was good company for the whole trip. The Rhino sighting in Ngorongoro and the very close up lion sighting in the Serengeti were particularly special, as well as seeing the thousands of wildebeest and Zebra on migration stretch to the horizon.
In Kenya, Tony was good and we could see his enthusiasm for birds grow over the 3 days we had with him. I managed to photograph over 100 different species of birds and we saw several more. The highlight was watching the grey crowned cranes dancing and seeing the snowcapped Kilimanjaro peak through the clouds.
Very happy to give Tanzania Birding a glowing reference, particularly in Tanzania.
Thanks to Anthony for organizing the trip at short notice. The highlight in regard to accommodation was Gibbs Farm and Pioneer Camp was top for hospitality.