Africa Birdwatching Spots Map

Maasai Mara National Reserve

Witness the Great Migration

7.0

Vultures beat their wings and ground hornbills call across the grass at dawn, when secretary birds stride in search of snakes. The reserve was set aside as a wildlife sanctuary in 1961 and has more than 450 bird species, including about 50 kinds of raptors, birds of prey.

Highlights:

🎈 Take a sunrise hot air balloon safari over the savannah
🐃 Witness the Great Migration crossing at Mara River
🦁 Embark on twice-daily game drives to spot the Big Five

Chobe National Park

Elephant Haven in Botswana

7.9

Along the Chobe River at the northern edge of Botswana, boats pass sandbanks with African skimmers, saddle billed storks and fish eagles, while the park has more than 450 bird species. From August to November carmine bee-eaters, bright pink and red birds, nest in colonies in the riverbank.

Highlights:

🐘 Watch massive elephant herds at Chobe Riverfront
🚤 Take a boat cruise on the scenic Chobe River
🦁 Join thrilling game drives for wildlife spotting

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Gorilla Encounters in Ancient Forest

8.3

Bwindi became a national park in 1991 to protect an ancient forest with about 350 bird species, including 23 that live only in the Albertine Rift mountains. Birders walk the Ruhija trails for the African green broadbill and Shelley's crimsonwing while mountain gorillas feed in the mist below.

Highlights:

🐦 Birdwatch over 350 species including rare Albertine endemics
🥾 Join guided nature walks on scenic forest hiking trails
🦍 Trek with endangered mountain gorillas in their habitat

South Luangwa National Park

Walking Safaris and Wild Encounters

8.0

On the Luangwa River in eastern Zambia, the park has oxbow lagoons and riverbank cliffs where carmine bee-eaters nest by the thousands from August to November. The park has about 400 bird species while birders also look for Pel's fishing owls and Lilian's lovebirds in the mopane woods.

Highlights:

🦜 Spot over 400 bird species in diverse habitats
🚶‍♂️ Experience walking safaris guided by expert rangers
🦁 Go on thrilling game drives to see the Big Five

Tarangire National Park

Elephant Paradise with Baobab Backdrops

8.0

In the dry months from June to October birds crowd the banks of the Tarangire River, where the park has about 550 species. Yellow collared lovebirds and ashy starlings feed in the dry woodland while hornbills nest in the hollow trunks of giant baobab trees.

Highlights:

🌳 Watch baobab trees glow under golden evening light
🦁 Take a guided safari to witness the Big Five
🐘 Spot herds of majestic elephants near the Tarangire River

Hwange National Park

Elephant Herds and Wild Horizons

7.6

Birders stand on the Nyamandlovu viewing platform above a waterhole where hundreds of birds and elephants gather to drink in the dry season. Hwange has about 400 bird species, including southern ground hornbills, bateleur eagles and the pennant winged nightjar, which visits from November to March.

Highlights:

🐘 Watch elephants gather at the popular waterholes
🚶‍♂️ Join guided walking safaris for close wildlife encounters
🚙 Go on thrilling game drives to spot the Big Five

Kruger National Park

Where Africa's Big Five Roam Free

7.6

The Pafuri area in the far north of Kruger, where the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers meet, has fever tree forest with Pel's fishing owls, Boehm's spinetails and racket tailed rollers. Kruger as a whole has about 500 bird species, so the rest camps also have hornbills and starlings at breakfast.

Highlights:

🌅 Experience a sunset safari and watch wildlife at dusk
🌿 Take a guided bush walk and learn about the ecosystem
🦁 Spot Africa’s Big Five on classic game drives

Serengeti National Park

The Ultimate Safari Adventure

7.9

The Maasai called these plains siringet, meaning endless space, while the park now has about 500 bird species, including ostriches, secretary birds and kori bustards on the open grass. Fischer's lovebirds and grey breasted spurfowl are local specialities that birders look for near the kopjes, which are small granite hills.

Highlights:

🎈 Enjoy a sunrise hot air balloon safari over plains
🚙 Take a thrilling game drive to spot the Big Five
🦓 Witness the incredible Great Wildebeest Migration spectacle

Etosha National Park

Namibia's Wildlife Sanctuary

7.7

From November to April summer rains and migrants arrive, so the waterholes have visitors from Europe such as European bee-eaters and steppe eagles, along with local birds like the colourful lilac breasted roller. When rain fills the huge Etosha Pan, flamingos gather in the shallows.

Highlights:

🌅 Drive the Etosha Pan’s vast salt flats at sunrise
🦁 Join a guided safari to spot lions and rhinos
🐘 Watch elephants gathering at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Madagascar

Unique biodiversity meets diverse landscapes

6.5

Separated from Africa about 160 million years ago, the island has more than 100 bird species found nowhere else, including mesites, ground rollers and vangas. Birders listen for calls in the rain forests of Ranomafana and Andasibe while guides point out couas, large cuckoos that run along the forest floor.

Highlights:

🤿 Dive the coral reefs of Nosy Be Island
🦎 Spot lemurs and chameleons in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
🌳 Walk the Avenue of the Baobabs at sunset

Amboseli National Park

Elephants Against Kilimanjaro's Backdrop

7.9

The Enkongo Narok swamp, fed by melting snow from Mount Kilimanjaro, has pelicans, crowned cranes, egrets and African spoonbills wading beside elephants. Birders tally more than 400 species in the park while the dry plains have kori bustards, the heaviest flying birds in Africa, as well as tiny pygmy falcons on acacia trees.

Highlights:

📸 Photograph flamingos and pelicans at Amboseli’s shimmering lakes
🌅 Take a sunrise safari and spot lions, zebras, and giraffes
🐘 Watch herds of elephants roam with Mount Kilimanjaro as backdrop

Okavango Delta

Africa’s Uncharted Water Wilderness

8.0

Like a green oasis in the Kalahari Desert, the Okavango Delta has more than 400 bird species that gather in the channels and lily covered lagoons. Guides pole mokoro, narrow dugout style canoes, through the reeds to find Pel's fishing owls, slaty egrets and wattled cranes.

Highlights:

🦜 Spot diverse bird species during dedicated birding tours
🛶 Glide silently through waterways in a traditional mokoro
🦁 Explore the wildlife on guided 4x4 safari drives

Gambia

Africa's smiling coast river paradise

6.7

Licensed local bird guides lead walks at Abuko Nature Reserve and Tanji Bird Reserve, where they know where to find giant kingfishers, Egyptian plovers and Pel's fishing owls. A small country with more than 550 bird species, Gambia has direct flights from Europe and short drives between sites.

Highlights:

🏝️ Relax on the pristine beaches of Kololi and Sanyang
🌍 Visit Kunta Kinteh Island and learn its history
🪨 Explore the ancient Senegambian stone circles of Wassu

Uganda

Pearl of Africa's diverse landscapes

7.1

Local guides at Mabamba Swamp near Entebbe paddle birders in wooden canoes through papyrus at dawn to find the shoebill, a huge grey bird with a bill shaped like a shoe. The country has more than 1,000 bird species, with Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kibale Forest adding many more.

Highlights:

🦓 Take a safari across the vast savannas of Queen Elizabeth National Park
🐘 Watch hippos and elephants along the Kazinga Channel
🦍 Trek through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to meet mountain gorillas

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Nature's Untamed Sanctuary

7.1

Maasai herders graze their cattle on the grassy rim of the crater, which is a conservation area where people live beside wildlife, while the floor below has about 500 bird species. Lake Magadi on the crater floor has flocks of flamingos and the grasslands have kori bustards, secretary birds and crowned cranes.

Highlights:

🛖 Visit a Maasai village and learn their traditions
🐘 Spot the Big Five in one morning safari
🦁 Descend into Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive

Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park

Barrier of spears touching sky

7.7

Unlike the flat game parks of the lowlands, the Drakensberg is a tall wall of basalt cliffs where bearded vultures ride the wind. At Giant's Castle birders sit close to them in a hide where bones are put out in winter, while Drakensberg rockjumpers hop on boulders above the grassy slopes.

Highlights:

🦅 Spot eland and bearded vultures soaring above valleys
🖼️ Explore ancient San rock art at Giants Castle Reserve
🥾 Hike the Giants Cup Trail through breathtaking mountain scenery

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Where predators rule the Kalahari

6.9

Compared with the wetlands of northern Botswana, the red dunes of Kgalagadi are dry and open, so raptors such as martial eagles, bateleurs and pale chanting goshawks are easy to see on camelthorn trees. Sociable weavers build huge shared nests that hold hundreds of birds while pygmy falcons live inside.

Highlights:

📸 Capture dramatic desert landscapes bursting with life after rain
🦌 Spot springboks and gemsboks on sunset game drives
🦁 Watch black-maned lions roam the red dunes at sunrise

Simien National Park

Jagged peaks of ancient wilderness

7.4

Cold air and the croak of thick billed ravens are part of any walk along the cliffs of the Simien escarpment, which has drops of more than a mile. Lammergeiers, large vultures with a beard of black feathers, ride the wind above gelada monkeys while wattled ibis and black winged lovebirds live here.

Highlights:

🌄 Witness breathtaking sunrise views over the escarpments
🐒 Spot Gelada monkeys grazing on the mountain plateaus
🥾 Hike to the dramatic cliffs and peaks of Ras Dashen

Central African Republic

Untouched wilderness with diverse ecosystems

5.2

The screeching of African grey parrots rises over Dzanga Bai, a forest clearing in the Dzanga Sangha reserve, where hundreds gather at mineral springs along with forest elephants. Hornbills and the great blue turaco live in the rain forest nearby, while visitor numbers are very low so trips are arranged with local guides.

Highlights:

🛍️ Visit the bustling Central Market in Bangui for local crafts
🚤 Cruise the Ubangi River at sunset near Bangui
🐘 Spot forest elephants and gorillas in Dzanga-Sangha Reserve

Namibia

Desert wilderness meets wildlife wonders

6.9

May to September is the dry season, when birds gather at the few waterholes and the Walvis Bay lagoon on the coast has thousands of flamingos and pelicans. Birders also look for the dune lark, a small bird found only in the Namib dune belt, while Hartlaub's francolin lives in the rocky north.

Highlights:

⚓ Visit the eerie shipwrecks along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast
🐘 Spot wildlife on a safari through Etosha National Park
🏜️ Climb the towering red dunes of Sossusvlei at sunrise

KwaZulu-Natal

Where Wild Beauty Meets Coastal Bliss

6.7

Hluhluwe and Imfolozi were set aside as game reserves in 1895, so the forests there still shelter about 340 bird species. On Lake St Lucia boats pass pink backed pelicans and flamingos, while Ndumo Game Reserve to the north is known for Pel's fishing owl and the pink throated twinspot.

Highlights:

🐠 Explore vibrant marine life at uShaka Marine World
🥾 Hike the breathtaking Drakensberg mountain trails
🦁 See the Big Five in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park safari

São Tomé and Príncipe

Equatorial paradise with volcanic landscapes

7.5

Obo Natural Park has cloud forest where the giant sunbird and the Sao Tome ibis, also called the dwarf olive ibis, live among tree ferns. The two islands in the Gulf of Guinea have about 28 bird species found nowhere else, so rare birds are found within a small area.

Highlights:

🌿 Explore diverse wildlife at Obo National Park
🏖️ Relax on Praia Banana's pristine golden sands
🌋 Hike to the peak of Pico Cao Grande volcano

Best birdwatching destinations in Africa