Old Canvas Expeditions
Specialist African Safaris - More than just a game drive

BIRDING WITH DAVE & SALLY JOHNSON

Dave and Sally Johnson are the official birders for Old Canvas Expeditions and currenlty run our birding workshops at Bonamanzi. Click here for our Bonamanzi Birding Safaris. Dave first earned his stripes in Ethiopia, Iraq and Nigeria, leading ultimately to a PhD in ecological studies on bird populations of the West African Forest Zone, University of Wales in 1978. He subsequently lectured at the University of Benin (Nigeria ) from 1975 to 1976, and the University of the Witwatersrand from 1978 to 1981.

Moving on from academia to the more hands-on world of the Natal Parks Board (now KZN Wildlife) he took a post as animal ecologist and was initially involved in extension work with private landowners, concerning himself principally with bird-habitat management and restoration, as well as the creation of ecological corridors. He then became involved in the biology and conservation of rare and endangered species, and championing a holistic, province-wide approach to habitat conservation.

Since 2001 he has run his own ecological consultancy, but leading nature experiences is his first love. Most of these tours have taken place in KwaZulu-Natal, but he has led tours to Ecuador, Madagascar, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana. As if that isn't enough, he gives about 30 public lectures a year on natural history subjects. In addition he has co-authored or contributed to the following publications:

Clearly not solely limited to interest in the natural world, he haunts the dusty aisles of second-hand bookshops, is a self proclaimed gastronome of gusto (successfully challenged Harry Ramsden) and, believe it or not, once won a flower arranging contest (allegations of match-fixing by a losing journalist are unfounded).

Sally Johnson
Not to be upstaged by her talented husband, Sally has managed to juggle studies of both birds and plants in her career. She has conducted several long-term botanical surveys, most notably a seven year survey of the grassland flowering plants on the Hilton College Estate and a four year survey of the grasslands of Mbona Estate in the Karkloof for the Wildlife Society.

Education has also featured large in her career and has since 1987 she has conducted wild flower walks for the Umvoti Conservancy. She has also run an environmental education outreach program through the Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, for school children from disadvantaged backgrounds, “enviro-days” for junior school classes from Epworth School to her indigenous garden, tree identification courses to the game guards of Mnsinsi Holdings, ecological training for trail guides at Amatikulu and currently at the Cavern Hotel.

She is the co-author of the book "Gardening with Indigenous Trees and Shrubs" (1993) which entailed an enormous amount of hands-on research and experimentation before actually sitting down to write the book.

In terms of her birding skills, she edited the club magazine BLUE SWALLOW, and was a regular contributor of articles on bird-friendly plants. She currently writes a bi-monthly column in the Natal Witness called Birding with Sally Johnson.

Sally's other principal interest is landscape gardening and she has designed, set out, planted and maintained the gardens at the Scottsville Race Course in Pietermaritzburg, as well as show gardens for annual Witness Garden . Since 1989 she has worked as a private landscape consultant, with particular emphasis on the use of indigenous materials and plants. The most recent major projects have been at Thanda and Zuka private game reserves

There is really little more to be said in terms of their qualifications and experience, and we might even get Dave to whip up a meal for us somewhere along the line.

We have selected Bonamanzi Game Reserve as our flagship birding destination. It is a 4 000 hectare, private South African game reserve, safari lodge and natural heritage site, is also one of the largest private wildlife and birding parks in Zululand. Bordered by a World Heritage site, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in the east and with Hluhluwe Game Reserve a short drive to the west, it's easy to see why we've selected Bonamanzi for our Zululand Birding Safaris. Located in the heart of Zululand, Bonamanzi happens to be widely recognised as one of the top birding destinations in Southern Africa. For a map of the region, click here. For more information on our Bonamanzi Birding Safaris, click through on the link below:

Click here for our Bonamanzi Birding Safaris

BIRDING WITH DAVE & SALLY JOHNSON