TANZANIA - THE USAMBARA MOUNTAINS

Our tour to this rarely visited corner of Tanzania is guaranteed to be an adventure, as we search for some of Africa's rarest and least-known birds. We will begin a short drive from our base at Kilimanjaro for the incredibly rare Beesley's Lark, Then we head to Tarangire that offers a wealth of great African birds to entertain us, before heading to Same and some great habitat near Nyumba ya Mungu Dam. Species such as Scaly Chatterer, Pringle's Puffback and Pink-breasted Lark amongst many others. After that we will head for a small woodland just outside Mkomazi National Park, where we will hunt for species like Tsavo, Black-bellied and Hunter´s Sunbird, Fischer´s Starling and others. Next up is the South Pare Mountains where we  look for the endemic South Pare White-eye and also Usambara Double-collared Sunbird before eventually reaching Magamba Forest in West Usambara. What a place this is! Here, we will search for species such as Usambara Akalat, Füllerborn´s Boubou, Spot-throat, Usambara Thrush, Usambara Double-collared Sunbird, Montane Tiny (Usambara) Greenbul, Red-capped Forest Warbler and Usambara Weaver. It is also a very good area to find the much-wanted endemic Spot-throat as well before we reach the legendary Amani Forest in East Usambara Mountains. Here we will look for Usambara Eagle-Owl, Mombassa Woodpecker, Kretschmer´s Longbill, Sharpe´s Akalat,  Short-tailed Batis, Usambara Hyliota,  Long-billed Forest Warbler and Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird. Our tour will finish on a high in Arusha National Park where a veritable feast of birds awaits us. 

 This is a different side to Africa than many other visiting birders have experienced, with secluded lodges, great food and some truly superb birds. And it is only for a select group of 7 birders, making for a more personalised and productive tour!