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Stamps in a Weathered Passport

10,000 Birds

What drove me to this revelation was crossing the border of the tiny, enclaved nation of Lesotho via the Sani Pass, a ridiculously treacherous road. Hannah overlooking a valley Traveling into Lesotho from the Sani Pass is an experience more than just the journey to the top.

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Birding the Drakensberg, South Africa

10,000 Birds

One in November 2018 included a one-day birding trip in the Drakensberg area, a mountain range in the border area between South Africa and Lesotho. Pretty pointless, I guess, if it wasn’t for the birds – though it seems some tourists take the same tour just to get the Lesotho stamp into their passport.

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Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, 5th edition

10,000 Birds

And so, back to political entities, this field guide covers Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe , the southern half of Mozambique (south of the Zambezi River), South Africa , Lesotho and Eswatini ( Swaziland ). Distribution maps show the relative abundance of a species in the region and also indicate resident or visiting status.

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Sani Pass – a Drakensberg birding gem

10,000 Birds

Albeit currently a rugged 4×4-only road, Sani Pass is the most accessible route from KwaZulu-Natal into the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. Both species of southern African otters are also regularly encountered ( Cape Clawless and Spot-necked.). A Long-tailed Widowbird takes off before performing its hovering aerial display flight.

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Birding Botswana’s Borders

10,000 Birds

But I have visited Guatemala, Lesotho and Zimbabwe to actually visit them and count them, even though I spent less time in them than I did Zurich. I slept in hotel in Zurich but didn’t leave the airport or even clear immigration, so I can’t really say I’ve been to Switzerland either. It’s arbitrary, but there you go.

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The Storks of Africa

10,000 Birds

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

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Birding and Safari-ing South Africa with the ABA

10,000 Birds

Betty’s Bay was also a great place to see all of South Africa’s cormorant species, including the endangered Bank Cormorant. We observed far fewer Lesser Flamingos, a near-threatened species. It was the first of six bustard species I would see over the course of both trips. And then there were the Flamingos.