Day 18, 20 March: this was the last day of the main tour, and CUT-THROAT FINCH at the lodge was one of the better birds. After dropping Mark and Maria at Livingstone airport for their flight home, 
Jay and I met up with Niall Perrins and we headed on a 1-week, very rushed but super trip through Zambia and Zimbabwe back to Johannesburg. That afternoon, we arrived at the Masuka Lodge just 
North of Choma. En route, we saw our first BROAD-TAILED PARADISE WHYDAH (good numbers of them seen later in Zimbabwe). Near Masuka Lodge, we found Zambia's rare (with a population of less than
3000) endemic CHAPLIN'S BARBET. We also had good sightings of quite a number of other good birds, such as BLACK COUCAL and MIOMBO BLUE-EARED STARLING, before running out of light. There was a 
humungous roost of AMUR FALCONS near the Chaplin's Barbet site. Niall literally shared a room with ARNOTT'S CHATS, very common here even if uncommon south of the Zambezi in "our" area. 

Day 19, 21 March: we did some early morning birding around the guest farm and saw great birds such as THICK-BILLED CUCKOO (flying and at rest), WOOD PIPIT, YELLOW-MANTLED WIDOW and many 
others. Time was very limited since we had to get not one but two tyres repaired, plus we had a long drive and a border crossing into Zimbabwe (at Kariba), but we did hear a couple of STREAKY-BREASTED
FLUFFTAILS in a dambo, saw a crake that could easily have been STRIPED, and heard what must have been MIOMBO PIED BARBET. Anyway, we resisted the urge to spend the whole day in this fine area,
and embarked on our drive to Kariba border post. We crossed the border in perhaps 40 minutes and then drove to Nzou Lodge booked through Baobab Bookings. Interpol is becoming very strict about 
the police clearance one needs when taking a foreign vehicle through Zimbabwe - so do get the completed clearance form from the SA police before embarking on your trip.

Day 20, 22 March: the hills around Kariba proved excellent for BROAD-TAILED PARADISE WHYDAHS as we headed to Chirundu through the exciting Zambezi Valley, hoping for Lilian's Lovebird. 
Although we saw numerous good birds such as BOHM'S SPINETAIL, LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, etc., we were very short of time and failed to locate the lovebird before heading to Harare. The Zimbabwe
leg of this trip definitely was very rushed but we wanted to at least briefly scout a few areas for potential future tours.  We overnighted at Crake Cottage near Monavale Vlei in Harare.
 
Day 21, 23 March: pre-breakfast, Monavale was full of YELLOW-MANTLED WIDOWS, plus we saw a couple of BLACK COUCALS, MARSH OWLS and other nice birds, and we heard STREAKY-BREASTED FLUFFTAIL
and briefly saw what may well have been a STRIPED CRAKE (sadly we could not relocate the bird for a better view). A quick walk at Marlborough Vlei was pleasant but we could not relocate the three
BLUE QUAILS seen by a birding group who had been there earlier while we were at Monavale. At breakfast, we enjoyed close views of some nice Harare garden birds such as VARIABLE SUNBIRD. A brief 
stop at Gosho Park en route  to Mutare yielded some exciting birds such a numerous WHYTE'S BARBETS, SPOTTED CREEPERS (watch this space if Niall shares his photos!), great views of MIOMBO ROCK-THRUSH,
SOUTHERN HYLIOTA, MIOMBO DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRD and lots of others. We arrived at the White Horse Inn where we were to spend two nights, a little before dark, after another day of rushed (but 
nevertheless exciting!) birding.

Day 22, 24 March: pre-breakfast, WESTERN OLIVE SUNBIRD provided good views. RED-THROATED TWINSPOT were around the garden but a little elusive - but what we wanted to find the most was its brood
parasite, ZAMBEZI INDIGOBIRD, so we headed down the Burma Valley. We were not disappointed, and in fact found all four INDIGOBIRD species in close proximity, and this site provides a fantastic
opportunity to compare the four species and familiarize oneself with their ID features. March is of course a good month for this - they only moult into breeding plumage around January so birders
visiting in early summer will struggle to ID them. Niall got superb photos of male and female Zambezi Indigobird, as well as of two of the other species. A BROAD-TAILED PARADISE WHYDAH and its 
host, ORANGE-WINGED PYTILIA, also provided entertainment, as did BLACK-WINGED BISHOP, the swynnertoni subspecies of RED-NECKED SPURFOWL and highly vocal SHORT-WINGED CISTICOLA. 
After lunch back at the White Horse Inn, we went to the Vumba Botanical Gardens, and although it was the heat of the day, we did see some good birds such as CHIRINDA APALIS, 
WHITE-TAILED CRESTED-FLYCATCHER, EASTERN SAW-WING, YELLOW-STREAKED GREENBUL, STRIPE-CHEEKED GREENBUL, GREY WAXBILL, YELLOW-BELLIED WAXBILL, 
BRONZY SUNBIRD, etc.

Day 23, 25 March: we did a pre-breakfast walk with the superb local guide Bulawesi at Seldomseen. This allowed Niall to get incredible photos of SWYNNERTON'S ROBIN, plus we saw loads of other
great birds including ROBERTS' WARBLER, CHIRINDA APALIS, GURNEY'S SUGARBIRD and other localized things. After breakfast, we departed for the Masvingo area, seeing STEPPE EAGLE, AUGUR BUZZARD,
BLACK SAWWING and others. We overnighted at Inn on Great Zimbabwe.

Day 24, 26 March: we went to the Lake Mutirikwi Dam Wall where we were hoping to see Eleonora's Falcon. With some excitement, we saw two large falcons that looked right, but when they flew almost
over us we realized they were LANNERS (Niall got a conclusive photo; then they also landed side-by-side on a dead tree and afforded good scope views). After breakfast, we headed to Beit Bridge
which took us only half an hour to negotiate, then all the way through to Nylsvlei where we were to bird the following morning.

Day 25, 27 March: early morning birding at Vogelfontein was quite exciting, with an AFRICAN CRAKE too close for photos in the road, a probable STRIPED CRAKE (once again not conclusive), WESTERN
MARSH-HARRIER, lots of LITTLE BITTERNS on the fence and many other waterbirds. A short stop at Nylsvley Nature Reserve provided good views of a female COQUI FRANCOLIN crossing the road...very
slowly. Eventually we headed back to Johannesburg.