Our main focus is, of course, on finding the important birds (especially the endemics and specials). Our trip lists are very important to us (we do really encourage you to look at our trip reports – which contain bird and mammal lists – and compare them with those of other companies). However, we understand that birding tours can be tiring, so we as a company prefer to add a day or two and actually have folks enjoy the birding tour – this allows us to accumulate a big bird list (including backup time for finding the most important birds), but it also gives us time to enjoy the bird sightings, as well as to stop for each species of mammal (plus other interesting things we may encounter along the way) rather than to be forced to tell our guests “sorry, we have no time to stop for anything without feathers” – that can be frustrating. Hence, we tend to add a couple of days so we can get the best bird lists in the industry, but without as much of a huge rush as some other companies’ bird tours. As just one example, we must have the most comprehensive eastern South Africa birding tour out there (by the way, so many mammals are also seen on this trip, incidentally to the birding).
We also run a good number of Birding Photo Tours, which need a different approach from typical birding tours – more space in the vehicles for camera gear, the correct tour pace to get photos, making sure the vehicle is at the right angle, and constantly thinking about lighting (although these things are important even on a standard birding tour, they are even more vital on a photographic birding/wildlife vacation). We also operate various other kinds of tours such as birding and wildlife cruise holidays, pelagic trips and 1-day birding tours. Our main focus, of course, is on birding tours!
One of the things we pride ourselves in the most, though, is our enthusiasm which means we get back to you with excitement from the minute you contact us. We tend to struggle to contain our enthusiasm and excitement, so when you e-mail us, you’ll doubtless find that we get back to you fast with detailed information. It’s our contagious enthusiasm for birding (and for the natural world as a whole) and for people, that spurs us on to give outstanding service.