1-day Johannesburg – Highveld and Wetlands

Our birding guide will fetch you after breakfast from your hotel anywhere in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area, and take you first to Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in the morning, then to Marievale wetlands in the afternoon.

Orange River Francolin may be seen in the grasslands around Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.  

Suikerbosrand is a remarkably wild area surprisingly close to Johannesburg. It is wonderful being able to get right away from the city so easily, soon seeing various antelope species, zebra, and a plethora of excellent grassland and bushveld birds here in this hilly reserve. We often bird the grasslands near to the reserve before entering the reserve itself and here Orange River Francolin, Melodious and Eastern Clapper Larks and Wing-snapping, Desert and Cloud Cisticolas are all possible. The avian pickings in Suikerbosrand include a fine suite of southern African endemics, some generally uncommon birds, and many very showy birds, such as Red-throated Wryneck, Grey-winged Francolin, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Bokmakierie, Mocking Cliff Chat, Sentinel Rock Thrush (winter only), Eastern Long-billed Lark, Black-chested Prinia, Mountain Wheatear, African Red-eyed Bulbul, a fine collection of spectacular widowbirds, bishops, and whydahs, Marsh Owl and even African Grass Owl and Orange-breasted Waxbill, and a great many other species.

The massive Goliath Heron can be seen at Marievale Bird Sanctuary.

After lunch, we head to Marievale, which is an extensive and very bird-rich wetland only half an hour’s drive from Suikerbosrand. Marievale provides an awesome opportunity to see a completely different suite of birds compared to those you will have encountered in the morning. A rich assemblage of waterbirds awaits us, such as Goliath, Squacco, and Black Heron, Malachite and Pied Kingfisher, Cape Shoveler, African Rail, and with luck some skulkers such as Baillon’s Crake and Red-chested Flufftail. There is also a chance of finding African Clawless Otter here.

The guide for day trips is allocated only after you have booked, as all of them are run as private trips. But we always use the country’s top birding guides.