Newsletters - Rockjumper Birding Tours

This was a huge change for me booking a more laid back tour instead of my usual hardcore birding from morning till night. I loved the change and was able to relax more and enjoy the company of the other participants and our guide, Jeremy Exelby. We were still able to get a very good number of birds interwoven with some wonderful wine tasting and excellent meals. Last but not least the last half was dedicated to Big game viewing along with birding and incredible scenery. All in all a huge success and a big thanks to a Jeremy for his enthusiasm, kindness and excellent people skills. He was a joy to be around.

DH & JH – South Africa: Birds, Wine & Big Game 2019

Greg de Klerk could not have done more, he was very good particularly when I lost my luggage and I just couldn’t make a lot of decisions that needed to be made particularly in the limited time available for shopping and he helped me through that.

TH – Namibia, Okavango & Victoria Falls Overland 2019

I enjoyed the trip… a nice mix of birds and other animals. Greg de Klerk did a great job. I hope there will be another trip that I can travel with him.

PL – Namibia, Okavango & Victoria Falls Overland 2019

Glen Valentine our leader really delivered. He was ultra-patient making sure everyone was comfortable and that everyone got on the bird.

JK – Indonesia: Western Highlights 2019

We really enjoyed this tour, it felt like a holiday as well as a bird watching experience. Glen Valentine was an excellent guide, both in terms of bird spotting/knowledge, and also his affability and management of the group, and we will try to travel with him again.

LH & MN – Indonesia: Western Highlights 2019

This has been an incredible tour with Stephan Lorenz and Dušan Brinkhuizen as amazing guides.
Experts in their knowledge of the New Guinea birds and wonderful companions who looked after the needs of all the participants. We all worked as a team under their guidance and saw many challenging as well as beautiful birds.

GW – Papua New Guinea 2019

The tour with David Hoddinott was excellent and made a deep impression on us!! My feeling is that David liked it all, too, and we had lots of fun plus lots of birds, including the targets!! Super! I got my most essential targets (19!), A-M got hers [about 100 new targets (!!)] and David also got a lifer and apparently also a second African- or Uganda-new. One great experience for us was to see his joy (and the driver´s joy) when David got his lifer (Ring-necked Francolin!). They together performed a fantastic performance to celebrate the event!
Thanks for all you and Rockjumper have done for my wife and me during our Uganda trip for us with Rockjumper – tailor-made! All Great!

HJ – Uganda 2019

Adam Walleyn knew the birds and the calls and worked hard to make sure we saw not only the specialties of the area but all the birds. His nightbirding skills were phenomenal. It is like he knew exactly where the bird was going to show.

JH – Papua New Guinea 2019

[This was] my third trip with Adam Walleyn and I will definitely go with him again. He is constantly looking and working to find the birds—during lunch breaks, after the day ends, on the bus. He never stops and it pays off. He works hard to get everyone on the birds and remembers special needs that various members of the group have. He took a lunch break one day to spend time with me looking for one bird that I had repeatedly missed. We didn’t find it, but the effort was very much appreciated and noticed. He gave me some pointers and I did find the bird later on during another break.

RP – Papua New Guinea 2019

This [was] my second tour with Glen Valentine and he is the most professional guide I have ever traveled with. It goes without saying (but shouldn’t) that he knew every single species on the tour including all their calls. He found birds when I saw nothing and then managed to get all guests onto the birds. This was impressive in itself, however there were many secretive birds that made guiding much harder. We had few problems on the tour, but I don’t doubt that he would have handled it without problem. He is to be highly commended for his guiding on this very tiring trip, especially considering he was not well. Paul was also a really great training guide and I thoroughly enjoyed his company.

SL – Indonesia: Sumatra & Java 2019

Firstly, I want to express my amazement at the skills and knowledge of your guides, including Daniel Danckwerts. I cannot imagine how they become so proficient in the birds of several different countries! Daniel also seemed to have good organisational skills. Daniel was also respectful and professional with the group, and we all liked him.

AM – Uganda 2019

Daniel Danckwerts is an excellent guide, very skilled at finding and identifying birds, very energetic, and clearly dedicated to helping all the clients see the birds. He is a good conversationalist, knowledgeable on many subjects and very enjoyable to bird with. I would happily go on future tours with him.

AF – Uganda 2019