South Africa boasts some of the most spectacular wildlife viewing in the world.  Since this webiste is about parrots,  I will ask you to see the official Kruger Park Website for details on how to organize a trip there.  I do recommend you plan as far in advance as possible as the rest camps are very popular and will book up quickly.  SANParks also has a forum you can join and ask questions of local experts.   Birdwatchers will find the best area to be the northern camp of Punda Maria and the Pafuri rest stop.  There is an excellent BirdLife guide named Frank who is based at Pafuri picnic area who will be happy to point out some of the local birds and direct you on good places to drive to where you can see other birds. 

There is only one kind of parrot species in this area-the Brown Headed Parrot and they are very hard to see.  We drove down the road a few kilometres on Frank's instructions to a lookout over the river and tried to find them but although we could hear tantalizing parrot calls from the trees across the river, the parrots refused to come out into the open.  We did get to see a fish eagle and some pretty bee-eaters right by the side of the road.

Although parrots aren't the main attraction of Kruger National Park, there is a wealth of birdlife all around the park.  My favourite was the lilac breasted roller, a small pretty little bird found in bushes along the roads. 

The long tailed magpie shrikes were also beautiful and showy birds and the irridescent starlings were all over the picnic spots ready to grab anything they could.  There are many kinds of kingfishers, herons, hornbills and of course the spectacular sightings of mammals. 

We stayed at the Punda Maria camp which has beautiful secluded safari tents that are fully equipped with kitchens and everything you need but they have beautiful decks overlooking the bush and you feel like you are alone with nature. 

All the restcamps sponsor night safaris with qualified ranger guides who know the wildlife very well.  Don't miss this ultimate adventure! 

Only the very lucky will see the Brown Headed Parrot in the wild at Kruger, they are very elusive.

Giraffes have the right of way