welcome to the
mpumalanga birding route

The province of Mpumalanga is located in the north eastern region of South Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique and Swaziland. The climate and topography vary from cool highveld grasslands through the escarpment to the sub-tropical lowveld plains of the Kruger National Park.

Mpumalanga, means "the place of the rising sun" and includes the escaqrpment areas south of the Blyde River Canyon, the Lowveld areas south of the Olifants River in the Kruger National Park and the eastern Highveld and grassland areas of Wakkerstroom and Chrissiesmeer.

The purpose of the Mpumalanga Birding Route is to provide visitors with information on where to see birds and where to stay. Most areas are easily accessible on your own, although it is highly recommended that you use a community bird guide when going to areas such as Wakkerstroom or Kaapsehoop. By using a community bird guide you will have access to a lot of local knowledge and the haunts of the more unusual birds, thus the chances of seeing specials in an area are certainly much higher.

Mpumalanga boasts a huge variety of threatened, endemic and highly sought after species from Blue Swallow, Rudd's and Botha's Larks, Wattled Crane and Southern Bald Ibis to Martial Eagle, Narina Trogon, Bush Blackcap and Orange Ground Thrush.

All birding routes of BirdLife South Africa's Avitourism division subscribe to the International Ecotourism Society's principles, and the Mpumalanga route is no exception. Please read our views on Ecotourism on the division's home page.

Resources

• Habitats
• Birding sites
• The Wakkerstroom Area
• Birder Friendly Establishments
• community bird guides
• Specials
• Trip planning
• Towns along the route
• Tour Operators
• Responsible tourism
• Sponsors
• Route contacts