Customer Reviews

The Southern African Birdfinder: Where to Find 1,400 Bird Species in Southern Africa and Madagascar (Sasol)

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I just got back from a two month self-guided birding trip to South Africa. I used this book for all my planning and selection of the places to visit. The book proved invaluable. It is well laid out, includes very good maps - including one of the whole of Southern Africa with all the birding spots clearly marked on it, it has many excellent bird and scenery photographs and a complete list of all the birds that can be seen with a cross-reference to their location in the book. A few minor points that caused me some irritations during the trip: only odd pages are numbered in the middle of the right hand side (very confusing); some of the maps are a little misleading e.g. the Sir Lowry's pass map is incorrect - the trail starts directly opposite the car park and not downhill as shown; some of the instructions are also incorrect e.g. the instructions to the Damara Tern Colony (I could not find the location.) These are minor points that an able birder can easily overcome. The book also covers other Southern African countries however having lived in Zambia and Zimbabwe I found their coverage of these two countries to be very sparse only covering the top birding spots. I strongly recommend this book if you are planning a trip to this beautiful area of our planet so rich in birds.

Bird watching will always be dependent on luck, but this book helped me find species that I wouldn't have found without it. Sometimes the bird appeared as if on cue - exactly on the spot where it should be. It's not an armchair book, you should use it for preparing for trips and take it along with you. Best buy in the last 12 months.

Covering 11 countries from South Africa to Madagascar to Angola, Zambia, and Malawi, this book site descriptions, maps, and photos to take you to the birds you want to see. We bought it for South Africa, but are using it first for Malawi. It describes driving conditions and seasons to visit. It has good descriptions of the special birds to be found at each site, and where to look for them. If you want to make the most of your birding trip to any of these countries, or plan future trips, this is an essential guide.

Great advice especially for first time visitors to any of the covered areas. Heavy on "LBJ's" but that's no real flaw -

twitchers are people, too. Directions generally correct and useful where I used them in South Africa. You could actually plan a birding trip using the info in the book.

This book is so full of information that it transcends the format of a typical site guide (you'll find advice on the type of car jack and how to behave in case of attacks by wild animals. The target audience are independent birders who will find the guide indispensable for Namibia, Botswana and especially South Africa. Commendably, the less commonly traveled adjoining countries of Zambia and Angola find coverage as well, even though they are not strictly in Southern Africa. One hopes that success will breed a future edition in which I would like to find GPS coordinates, particularly for the more remote sites. Even if you don't have any immediate plans for a birding trip to Southern Africa this book would enjoyable for the armchair adventurer fascinated by the charismatic (and often enigmatic) avifauna. Congratulations also to the publisher for keeping the price so low.