Zach is a passionate wildlife enthusiast with a deep love for travel and discovering new species. His birding journey began just before high school, and he still vividly remembers the thrill of seeing new birds by the dozen. Zach recalls how common species like Black Crake, Black-backed Puffback, and Dark-backed Weaver once felt like great rarities, and how his excitement knew no bounds whenever he spotted one. Dark-backed Weavers, in particular, captivated his imagination and he sees them often, however, they were always there; it’s his birding skills that have grown.
Fast forward seven years, and Zach has had the privilege of birding across South Africa, Mauritius, and several other African countries. His current focus is building his KwaZulu-Natal (a province of South Africa) bird list—there’s nothing quite like the excitement of twitching a local rarity. In the long run, his goal is to see 2,000 or more bird species across the African continent. Zach also gets much joy out of mammal watching, with cetaceans being a firm favorite. This is a reason why one of his greatest dreams is to visit Antarctica.
Birding aside, Zach grew up on a farm in Harding in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, and has two younger brothers and amazing parents who have supported him in his birding journey.
Join Zach Simpson on the following upcoming tours:
The tour met all my expectations. We were provided with an expert bird guide who did his utmost to find all likely bird species for us. It was organised and run to perfection. I also liked the fact that equal weight was given to LBJs.
Zach did his utmost to find all likely species. He was knowledgeable about the best places to look for the target species. I would recommend him to other birders.
Lukasz - On Cape Town Budget Tour and Zach - February 2026
This was a fantastic tour and I finished it up seeing almost 145 lifers in three days, including perfect views of the Cape Rockjumper and Cape Sugarbird. Guide Zach Simpson was fantastic. He has an amazing ability to hear the birds and to help everyone on the tour spot them. I hope to go on another African tour with him again in the future.
Incredible maturity from a young man. He was absolutely fantastic in his ability to hear and identify birds. Zach was patient with everyone and enthusiastic. A couple of the members of the tour were not birders and were difficult to deal with at times, but Zach did a nice job with them.
Jesse - On Cape Town Budget Tour and Zach - February 2026
The Limpopo birding tour was a wonderful experience. Over 9 days we experienced several different habitats and microclimates, grasslands, forests, nature reserves , mountains and saw over 300 different species. Much of the birding was on foot and a reasonable level of fitness and stamina was required, although no extreme walking. The accommodations and food were simple but sufficient. Tour leader Zach was exceptional, both in his guiding and his handling of all the other components of the trip. He was really fun, pleasant and interacted well with the diverse group. This was also enhanced by two local guides in the different areas, who added their intimate knowledge to find specific species in their areas. The distances travelled were not excessive and the whole trip was well organised and planned. Thank you for a memorable time. Would highly recommend .
I cannot rate Zach highly enough. For someone so young, firstly his bird knowledge , ability to recognise and locate birds was incredible. He was patient with all of us, and always took account of people's wishes and needs. He also handled everything else (driving, adapting itineraries as necessary, liaison with accommodations, dealing with the clients (one was very challenging)) incredibly well. Zach was great fun, courteous, had exceptional people skills and I would love to travel with him again. Highly recommend.
Hilary - On Limpopo (South Africa) and Zach - February 2026
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