Daniel Engelbrecht
Part-time tour leader
I grew up in the avian-rich Limpopo Province of northern South Africa, where some of my earliest memories are of times spent in the bushveld with binoculars around my neck. This childhood passion has become a lifetime obsession for me, and I’ve spent much of my life chasing birds around southern Africa and further afield.
In 2022, I moved to Stellenbosch in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, where I am completing the final year of my undergraduate degree in Biodiversity and Ecology at Stellenbosch University. I now spend most of my time birding this endemic-rich part of the country, enjoying the incredibly diverse Limpopo Province, or working on my world list in some far-flung corner of the globe.
My pursuit of birds has taken me to some exciting destinations over the past few years, including Australia, Turkey, Madagascar, Mauritius, much of southern Africa (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa), the Southern Ocean, and the neotropics, in countries including Panama, Brazil, and Argentina.
I’m also a keen eBirder (and reviewer) and enjoy adding a new species to my eBird photographic list. Big birding days are always highly anticipated, and my team currently holds the South African record, in which we recorded 336 species within a single day.
I’ve always loved sharing my passion with others, regularly presenting bird identification courses, and talks about birding destinations. Additionally, I get immense joy out of showing people new birds and sharing memorable experiences whilst out guiding.
