phone-icon 1-888-990-5552 email-icon info@rockjumper.com
user-icon
Log in / Register

South Africa - Rallid Quest (Small Group)

© Baillon's Crake by Rob Williams
South Africa - Rallid Quest (Small Group)

ZAR59,000 - Spaces Available

Book Now

client-img

Tour Leader: Local Leader

Pricing notes : Estimate based on a minimum group size of 5 guests. Please contact our Tailor-made team on tailormade@rockjumper.com

Tour price (Per person): ZAR59,000 * USD3,270 * GBP2,462 * EUR2,930 * AUD5,096

Our South Africa - Rallid Quest is part of a never before series of tours in birding history. This unique tour is dedicated to finding mythical and ultra-difficult rallids and flufftails as well as a number of other regional endemics along the way. Included in this spectacular list of crakes, rails, quails and flufftails are such mega species as Striped Crake, White-winged and Striped Flufftails, along with a supporting cast of Red-chested and Buff-spotted Flufftails, African, Baillon’s, Spotted and Corn Crakes, African Rail, Allen’s Gallinule, Lesser Moorhen, Lesser Jacana and Black-rumped Buttonquail. As if this once-in-a-lifetime rallid quest wasn’t enough, we’ll also be on the lookout for those species restricted to the montane grasslands of South Africa such as Buff-streaked Chat, Yellow-breasted Pipit, Ground Woodpecker, Southern Bald Ibis, Denham’s Bustard, Secretarybird and Blue Korhaan.

Please note: these prices are subject to foreign exchange fluctuations.

Top Birds

White-winged, Striped, Buff-spotted & Red-chested Flufftails, Spotted, Baillon's, Corn & Black Crakes, African Rail, Harlequin Quail, Allen’s Gallinule, Lesser Moorhen, Lesser Jacana, Black-rumped & Common Buttonquails, Greater Painted-snipe, Wattled, Blue & Grey Crowned Cranes, Buff-streaked Chat, Yellow-breasted Pipit, Ground Woodpecker, Southern Bald Ibis, Sentinel Rock Thrush, Eastern Long-billed Lark, Amur Falcon, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Denham’s Bustard, Malachite Sunbird, Mountain Wheatear, Secretarybird, Blue Korhaan, South African Shelduck, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Red-headed Quelea, Short-tailed Pipit, Cuckoo-finch, Barratt’s Warbler, Bush Blackcap, Bokmakierie, Black Harrier

Top Mammals

Black Wildebeest, Blesbok, Meerkat, Yellow Mongoose

Habitats Covered

high altitude wetlands, marshes, montane grassland, montane forest patches, waste treatment ponds, Acacia woodland, dry scrub

Expected Climate

hot and humid in some areas. Can be cool to cold and windy in the early morning around Ntsikeni

Max Group Size

6 with 1 Rockjumper leader

Tour Pace & Walking

DIFFICULT: This is a high-intensity “mega” tour designed for passionate listers and serious birders who enjoy a fast-paced schedule. Due to its demanding nature, it’s not recommended for avid photographers, inexperienced birders, or anyone with mobility or health limitations.

Difficult. This a Mega style tour designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. Not suitable for avid photographers, anyone with mobility or health challenges. Our Mega tours are very fast-paced birding adventures designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. The focus of the tour is to see as many of the endemics and area specials as possible in our given time. In order to cover the necessary route to maximise the species list we tend to spend a single night at most sites and travel large distances. There is very little down time aside from that spent driving from one site to the next. These tours are not suitable for dedicated or avid photographers; inexperienced or new birders; as well as anyone with serious mobility or health challenges.

Accommodation

Good to comfortable.

Ease of Birding

Demanding. Completely targeted at very difficult species.

Photographic Opportunities

Primary aim is a visual of target species, photography options likely to be very limited.

What our clients say about us

Gregory de Klerk
PW, South Africa

Greg was brilliant (the best guide I've ever had). He found most of the birds we were trying for, and always did his utmost to get us all onto them.

Julian Parsons
CH, South Africa

I would like to especially thank Julian Parsons for his outstanding guiding. Julian has just the right touch of skill and personality to make a tour like this fire on all cylinders. His ability is unique, a top-notch combination of outgoing and enthusiastic personality traits, deft handling of logistical details, fundamental knowledge of the landscapes and biota, and keeping the fire going for finding more birds. I do not give such praise lightly. I have myself have been an ecotour leader, so I well know how difficult it can be to keep satisfied the very demanding expectations of diverse participants. Julian possesses a novel blend of open-mindedness, too, which can be a scarce trait in birding guides. If Julian were the guide on an itinerary that I wished to sign up for, his presence could be a deciding criteria for my participation with a RockJumper tour. In addition to the guide, the itinerary, food, and accommodations all exceeded my personal expectations. Lodging at Hout Bay and Calvinia stand out, but frankly all of it was excellent.

Julian Parsons
RO, South Africa 2022

Julian was an excellent tour leader and bird guide. I would happily travel with him again.

James Wade Lee
JS - South Africa 2024

Greg and Wade were both amazing in their depth of knowledge of all things South African! They made sure we all got on the birds and described in detail what we should be looking for. Accommodations were lovely (Kruger a little less so, but ok). The Safari was the highlight of the trip. All in all I’d definitely recommend this tour.

Gregory de Klerk
JM - South Africa 2024

Great tour with amazing birds to see. Greg and Ward did a terrific job of finding the birds and making sure we saw everything. Kruger National Park was spectacular and we had unbelievable views of the animals. Loved the safari vehicle through the park and would recommend using it on future tours. The van was good as we all had window seats. Unfortunately there were issues with opening a couple of the windows along with electrical issues with the refrigerator and charging units at each seat but the guides adjusted to the situation as needed to make the experience a good one. The trip had a lot of time inside the van and sighting/seeing birds from the van. I would have liked more walking maybe on the roads when possible but I understand we were trying to see as many birds as possible. Overall a remarkable trip lead by professional, experienced guides and a great group of birders made this trip memorable.

  • Your details

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

  • Contact permission

    We would love to send you Newsletters (twice yearly).via Type a message, Promotions/Discounts (weekly), Blog Articles/Image of the Month (monthly) and other content that we think you would find interesting. If you are happy with this then please select your preferences below. If you would like to unsubscribe from previous subscriptions, or leave our mailing list entirely, then please do so by visiting the Preference Centre link at the bottom of these emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Route Map

Tour Route Map

map-direction-img
Download Tour Itinerary