COVID-19 UPDATE

The impact of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic - and the subsequent shutdowns the world over - have impacted enormously on all our lives. Many of us have managed to stay safe and have looked to the positive aspects to the change of pace, while others have seen tragic health consequences in their families and livelihoods, and uncertain futures.

At Birding Africa, we've kept working as a team, and have been using the change of focus to improve what we do, and to plan ahead.

Perhaps strangely for a travel company, our office has been busier than ever since the start of the Covid crisis. First, we dealt with the unfolding logistical disasters of ongoing tours, then the rescheduling of our tours in the first half of this year, and since then, finalising our 2021 and 2022 programmes to allow people to plan ahead as best they can. This involves making the necessary arrangements, both with the travel destinations across Africa where we operate, but also with our partners in the UK, Europe and the USA. We're currently working on our 2023 tours, with some of our tours planned into 2025.

Please also stay tuned for news of an exciting new habitat conservation / carbon offset project, protecting Angola's most threatened birds, that we are supporting.

The big question on all our minds is: when can we travel again? This is not only because we really enjoy the birds of Africa on a personal level, but also because we are in a hurry to keep supporting the network of protected areas, local guides and local economies on which the protection of so many habitats and birds depends. Birding tourism in Africa supports local conservation in a critical way.

We're trying to do our best to anticipate what changes might occur and how to plan accordingly, but the reality is no-one really knows how this will all unfold, although we are remaining positive. Some tours have already been postponed to next year, while we are still waiting to see how things unfold for others closer to the end of the year.

If you are booked on a tour later in the year, we will have contacted you to discuss the options, and if you haven't been contacted yet, it is simply because we're still working through the earlier tours. We will be in touch!

Stay safe, and please contact us anytime on info@birdingafrica.com or callan@birdingafrica.com
(or even Whatsapp us on +27 83 256 0491)

Birding Africa Local Guide Support Programme

As a company, we believe it is critical to support local communities by using the services of local guides throughout Africa and Madagascar. During these unprecedented times, the disruptions to tourism have removed the income of most of the guides we use. A few have reached out to us for support, even to help feed their families, as government support systems in these areas barely exist. We feel a strong sense of personal obligation to support these people that have supported us through the years, with whom we have established personal relationships and who provide important services to birders and enrich our travels.

We have set up a system to make monthly payments and if you would like to join us in financially supporting a select group of local guides that we trust and use on our tours, please email callan@birdingafrica.com. We are currently making plans to send funds to people in Madagascar and Uganda, and depending on the response received will reach out to other guides who may be in need of assistance.