News and stories from the field with Lawson's Safaris.

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News Flash: Discounted prices for Malawi and Zambia safari!

Malawi and Zambia: The Nyika Plateau and Luangwa Valley. 3rd – 16th August 2012. DISCOUNTED PRICES! South-Central Africa, comprising Southern Africa, Zambia, Malawi, northern Mozambique and southern Angola, has some incredible National Parks and Game Reserves. Unfortunately it is sometimes overshadowed by the parks of East Africa, but that’s mainly a factor of media coverage [...]

A Dragon of a Rarity: the Zambezi Siphontail.

The day, 16th January 2012, started out O.K, a bit overcast and breezy but with no indication of what was to come. We were at Olifant’s Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park, a wonderful camp perched high on a bluff overlooking a bend in the Olifant’s River. We started off with the usual early [...]

Raptor Quest; March 2012.

Above: a slideshow of a few of the species seen (photos from the archives of Leon Marais). Some casual birders probably have a romanticised view of birding for a living, in terms of being a birding tour leader anyway. It’s good fun for the most part, but does involve a lot of hard work. Try [...]

The Lawson’s Media Safari, February 2012.

“I love it when a plan comes together!” Sometime last year I met Erick van Zyl from South African Tourism at a chapter meeting here in our home town. He knew about our little company and suggested we put together a birding safari for the media to showcase some of South Africa’s fabulous birding spots [...]

The Quest for the Shoebill.

The Quest for the Shoebill. If ever there was an enigmatic African bird, it has to be Balaeniceps rex, otherwise known as the Shoebill. One of the most sought-after bird species on the continent, the large blue-grey bird stands nearly four feet tall and is characterised by a giant, shoe-horn like bill with a wicked [...]

Season’s Greetings from Lawson’s.

Gorongosa: Welcome to the Lion House!

The Antiga Casa dos Leões, or The Lion House, is nothing more than a small square concrete building, derelict and pock-marked with bullet holes, standing on the edge of a vast green plain. Animals such as Common Waterbuck, Common Reedbuck, Oribi, Warthog and Yellow Baboon dot the plain, while birds crowd the depressions where water [...]

The Night Drive.

Night drives are always popular while on safari. Many of the predators and smaller mammals are more active under the cover of darkness, especially during the hot and dry October / November period. Sometimes however night drives can be a bit boring. It’s generally frowned upon to shine spotlights on those animals which are active [...]

Augrabies and the Kalahari.

From the Place of Great Noise to the Great Thirstland. Under a foggy sky we left the Namaqualand region early in the morning, heading eastwards towards Augrabies Falls National Park. The sky cleared as we entered the vast open plains of the Bushmanland region, with the perfectly straight black line of the road bisecting a [...]

Birds, Blooms and Bokkoms: The West Coast and Namaqualand.

After a fantastic time on the Cape Peninsula we turned our noses northwards and set off for the West Coast and Namaqualand. Like the peninsula, the West Coast is a rather unique region, characterised by salt-of-the-earth people and a languid style of life (which is perhaps why some of the small towns are turning into [...]

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