Community Bird Guides

An exciting initiative along all the birding routes and in areas adjacent to birding hotspots and IBA’s is the availability of Community Bird Guides. The guides provide improved security and valuable information on where elusive and special bird species may be found, and in some cases can gain you access to otherwise restricted locations. Although we have detailed below suggested rates for the use of these guides, they are self-employed and free to set their own rates but they are affordable and offer very competitive rates within the guiding industry.

BirdLife South Africa recognised the important role that local communities can play in conservation and as a result became involved in bird guide training and skills development. BirdLife South Africa launched the Community Bird Guide Training Program in 2001. The programme has relaunched in 2016 following a short break due to funding and personnel shortages.

The program is designed to provide local community members with an opportunity to participate in the ever-growing avi-tourism sector, as well as to create an awareness of the economic benefits of birds and their habitats to local communities.

The program works together with communities in each area to identify potential Community Bird Guides. Funding is then sourced to assist these community members in attending an accredited bird guide training course. An extensive route mentorship and support program is also in place to help guides to continue to grow and develop once training is completed.

Should you want to make use of any of these guides please feel free to contact them directly or through Martin Taylor, Avitourism Programme Manager, on martin.taylor@birdlife.org.za.

Recommended Bird Guiding Rates*

Clients	1 hour	2 hours	3-4 hours	5-6 hours	7-8 hours	8+ hours
1-2 pax	R200.00	R275.00	R350.00	R450.00	R550.00	R700.00
3-4 pax	R250.00	R300.00	R400.00	R550.00	R675.00	R800.00
5-8 pax	R275.00	R375.00	R500.00	R650.00	R750.00	R900.00
8+ pax	R375.00	R450.00	R600.00	R750.00	R850.00	R1000.00

* rates are per group, not per person

Clients	1 hour	2 hours	3-4 hours
1-2 pax	R200.00	R275.00	R350.00
3-4 pax	R250.00	R300.00	R400.00
5-8 pax	R275.00	R375.00	R500.00
8+ pax	R375.00	R450.00	R600.00

5-6 hours	7-8 hours	8+ hours
R450.00	R550.00	R700.00
R550.00	R675.00	R800.00
R650.00	R750.00	R900.00
R750.00	R850.00	R1000.00

* rates are per group, not per person

To book a bird guide in any of the areas, please contact Martin Taylor
E-mail: martin.taylor@birdlife.org.za

Contact details for Community Bird Guides

Eastern Cape

Boniswa Tontsi

To book a guide, please contact Boniswa Tontsi

Cata Communal Property Association Administrator
Cell: 072 568 7926
Email: reservations@cata.org.za

Kruger to Canyons

Michael Kumako

Operating Area: Michael is based at the Strydom Tunnel on the Abel Erasmus Pass at the site of the extremely rare Taita Falcon.
Cell: +27 (0)79 261 1559

Abednigo Mahbela

Operating Area: Abednigo Mahbela operates within the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve.
Cell: +27 (0)72 382 1846

Morris Ngwenyama

Operating Area: Morris is now working at Singita Lebombo in the Kruger National Park as a Community Development Manager.
Cell: +27 (0)72 183 8000

Idah Lesufi

Operating Area: Idah is based at the magnificent Sefapane Lodge and Safaris (a Birder Friendly Establishment) in Phalaborwa.
Cell: +27 (0)72 088 2617

Blondy Mabunda

Operating Area: Blondy is based in Lulekani, Ba-Phalaborwa.
Cell: +27 (0)78 246 0004

Vusi Ngubeni

Operating Area: Vusi is based at Toro Yaka Bush Lodge (a Birder Friendly Establishment) in the Balule Private Nature Reserve.
Cell: +27 (0)82 308 5763

He completed his BirdLife South Africa Bird Guide Training Course at Wakkerstroom during August 2007. Vusi is also an experienced nature guide that knows his area of operation exceptionally well and can help you locate the African Barred Owlet at Toro Yaka Bush Lodge

Shadrack Mashava

Operating Area: Shadrack is currently working for African Ivory Routes and is based at Mbaula north of Letaba Ranch.
Cell: +27 (0)82 954 6249

He completed his BirdLife South Africa Bird Guide Training Course at Wakkerstroom during August 2007. Shadrack has got access to Letaba Ranch which offers spectacular Bushveld birding and includes a large number of raptor species.

Sinhle Mathebula

Operating Area: He is currently based in the Hoedspruit and Timbavati area.
Cell: +27 (0)78 748 2325

Sinhle completed his BirdLife South Africa Bird Guide Training Course at Wakkerstroom during August 2007 and has since been involved in the Timbavati Oxpecker Project. He recently also completed a field guide course and is now a registered nature site guide.

Phanny Risimati

Operating Area: Phanny is currently working at the Shingwedzi Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park.
Cell: +27 (0)72 942 8968

Phanny knows birds of the area exceptionally well. He is phenomenal at recognising bird calls and provides an entertaining birding experience. He completed his BirdLife South Africa Bird Guide Training Course at Wakkerstroom during August 2007

Limpopo

Christopher Nethonzhe

Christopher is based in Venda and guides birders through the Golwe Vhurivhuri and Gundani areas. Golwe Picnic and Campsite is situated in a secluded valley in Venda off the Masisi Road. The site is rural and tranquil, an ideal place to get-away to with campsites and comfortable safari tents available.

Bird watching is good in and around the campsite with African Broadbill, Pink-throated Twinspot, Narina Trogon, Grey Waxbill, Scaly-throated Honeyguide and Crowned Hornbill being seen often. Chris is the manager of the campsites and is probably the country’s expert on locating African Broadbill. He has been monitoring each of the pairs along his stretch of river for several years and knows the location of each nest site.

Marked circular trails lead from the campsite up the valley and to a waterfall and the campsite offers a convenient base from which to visit Mpaphuli Cycad Reserve, Makhuya Park and the Gundani Brachystegia Woodland. Further along in the unexplored hills of northern Venda, the Gundani campsite is a real gem, being situated in one of the only patches of Miombo (Brachystegia) woodland in South Africa with specials like White-breasted Cuckooshrike and Southern Hyliota.

The nearby Sagole Baobab has been recorded as the largest in the world and has been the site of the impressive Mottled Spinetail roosting site. Christopher won an Owl Award in 2012 for his contribution to avian conservation and education through the Mottled Spinetail Conservation and Education Project in Sagole as well as the Birds in Trees Project in the Venda area.

Contact details
Mobile: +27 (0)76 302 9383
Email: chrisneth@vodamail.co.za
Web: www.campsa.co.za/golwe

David Letsoalo

David Letsoalo is based in the birding hotspot of Magoebaskloof, Limpopo near the renowned Woodbush Drive. In 2007, he won BirdLife South Africa Eagle Award for being the best local guide in South Africa.

He runs the Birds in Trees project, which combines greening schools with education programmes highlighting conservation issues and has been involved with Blue Swallow, Cape Parrot and Bat Hawk monitoring.

David is a trustee for the Ben de Boer Trust, which was set up to empower Limpopo based community bird guides and serves on BirdLife South Africa Council, representing South Africa’s bird guides.

David has assisted hundreds of birders with specials such as the Cape Parrot, Bat Hawk, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Narina Trogon, Green Twinspot, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Knysna Turaco, White-starred Robin, Orange Ground Thrush, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Barratt’s Warbler, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Olive Woodpecker, Chorister Robin-chat, Buff-spotted Flufftail, Magpie Mannikin, Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, African Crowned Eagle and many more.

He offers guided walks on Kurisa Moya to the various habitats on the farm as well as longer outings to the local birding hot-spots like Woodbush Forest Drive, Mamabolo Grasslands, Polokwane Game Reserve, the tropical lowveld of Tzaneen and northern Kruger Park. David has been the focus of numerous magazine and newspaper articles in South Africa and overseas and has been interviewed for television and radio many times.

Contact details
Tel: +27 (0)15 276 1131 or +27(0)71 658 6980
Mobile: +27 (0)82 200 4596 or +27 (0)83 568 4678
Email: info@krm.co.za
Web: www.krm.co.za

Paul Nkhumane

Based in the Magoebaskloof area of Limpopo Province, Paul Nkhumane has access to the famous Kurisa Moya Nature Lodge and Woodbush Forest Drive, which attracts birders from around the world.

He offers guided birding walks in Kurisa Moya’s forest or longer outings down Woodbush Forest Drive to find specials such as Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Narina Trogon, Green Twinspot, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Knysna Turaco, Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, White-starred Robin, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, Barrett’s Warbler, Orange Ground Thrush, Chorister Robin-chat and other forest specials.

He can also show birders the Gurney’s Sugarbird at Greatheads and the Short-clawed Lark at the Mamabolo Grasslands. If you are still looking for the elusive Black-fronted Bush Shrike or Green Twinspot, Paul is the man to contact.

Paul is involved in the Birds in Trees Project in the Magoebaskloof area and conducts research on the Cape Parrot for the Greater Limpopo Birding routes. Paul is one of the top five guides in Limpopo.

Contact details
Tel: +27 (0)15 276 1131 or +27(0)71 658 6980
Mobile: +27 (0)82 200 4596 or +27 (0) 73 670 5857
Email: info@krm.co.za
Web: www.krm.co.za

Samson Maluadzi

Samson Mulaudzi trained as a BirdLife South Africa guide in 2005 and won an Owl Award in 2012 for his contribution to avian conservation and education through the Mottled Spinetail Conservation and Education Project in Sagole, Limpopo as well as the Birds in Trees Project in the Soutpansberg.

He is based in the central Soutpansberg area and can guide birders to the Albasini Dam, Muirhead Dam, Roodewal, Entabeni and the Hanglip forests as well as to Venda and northern Kruger Park. Samson is always on the lookout for species as Black-crowned and White-backed Night Heron, African Finfoot and Osprey as well as Buff-spotted Flufftail and rarities such as the Rock Pratincole which have turned up on occasion in his patch.

Hanglip Forest, an easily-accessible Afro-temperate mist-belt forest has resident Scaly-throated Honeyguide, White-starred Robin and Yellow-streaked Greenbul whilst Roodewal Nature Reserve is renowned for its fairly reliable sightings of the elusive African Broadbill. Samson has stake-outs for this enigmatic bird, as well as for the Gorgeous Bush-Shrike, Eastern Nicator and Green Twinspot in this forest. His other hot-spots include the Levubu Post Office where the Grey-headed Parrots come to feed in the large Mobola Plum tree in the summer months and Muirhead Dam, the only reliable place in South Africa to find Blue-spotted Wood Dove. Samson enjoys his interactions with the various birders he has met who in turn have appreciated his passionate love of birds and birding.

Contact details
Mobile: +27 (0)83 662 9960
Email: samson@birdingsoutpansberg-venda.co.za
Web: www.birdingsoutpansberg-venda.co.za

Mpumalanga

Enos Zulu

Operating Area: Enos Zulu does part time work for the Endangered Wildlife Trust and is involved with Blue Swallow and Oribi monitoring at Kaapsehoop.
Cell: +27 (0)72 331 1197

Appreciate Chiwanza

Operating Area: Old Joes Kaia, Schoemanskloof Valley
Cell: +27 (0)13 73

Southern Kwazulu-Natal

Wilfred Mchunu

Operating Area: Vryheid area, Natal Spa, Ithala Reserve, Nongoma, Ngome Forest, Ulundi, eMakhosini Opathe Heritage Park.
Cell: +27 (0)79 868 9229, (0)73 929 0702, (0)73 596 7802
Email: wilfredmchunu@gmail.com