After what felt like months of planning and anticipation I finally made my way to South Africa for a birding trip with Julie Zickefoose and Leon Marais of Lawson’s Birding and Wildlife Tours, put together by Holbrook Travel. The trip was about 10 days long, not including the long travel times to and from and was one of the most wonderful trips I’ve ever taken.

Most of the trip felt like a dream–and it was, my dream come true.

The landscapes of South Africa are varied and breathtaking. I will be adding many posts about the birds and animals we saw but I wanted to begin with the beauty that is in the landscapes….

Leaving Johannesburg, it looked like this….

  Up in the hill country of Mount Sheba we walked in an escarpment forest….
  Many rivers and lakes are almost dried up due to drought but we still found running water…  Blyde Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world and certainly one of the most beautiful….especially at sunset….
  There are waterfalls that are as magical as any found anywhere….  And rivers filled with rocks and reeds, hippos and birds. Yes, there are hippos in this photo….
    The savanna was dry but still beautiful…
  There were big rocks and really big rocks….  Flat hazy land with distant mountains….
  And marshlands…. South Africa is a truly amazing and beautiful land. Stay tuned for more posts from my trip….