About Letaka Safaris
Birdingsafaris.com is owned and operated by Letaka Safaris which is based in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana. The company was co-founded by Brent & Grant Reed who are known locally as the Letaka brothers. The word Letaka is derived from the Setswana word 'letlhaka' which describes the tall reeds which grow througout the Okavango Delta, because both brothers are tall and slender and live in the delta, the name stuck. Letaka Safaris was started with a view to fill the need for a safari company with dedicated birding guides who are not just guides who know about birds but people that are passionate about birding and natural history in general.
Today Letaka Safaris is the foremost birding safari company in Botswana and a leading birding safari operator in Southern Africa. Letaka is the only company in Botswana to offer regular scheduled birding departures within Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mocambique. Our guides are all passionate birders with a lifetime of birding experience, click on the tabs below for a brief bio of our guides.
Our Guides
Brent Reed was born in the Magaliesberg mountains in South Africa where he developed a deep and abiding love for the bush and all things wild but snakes in particular. Although he has been a birder all his life it wasn't until he was near-fatally bitten by a Black Mamba that he decided to focus more strongly on the avian fauna rather than the reptillian. Brent's guiding career started in 1997 when he moved to Botswana to join his brother. He has guided birding safaris in South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mocambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Madagascar. When not guiding he is training and assessing guides at Okavango Guiding School, which he co-founded with his brother Grant to train aspirant guides in the many faceted field of natural history guiding. Brent lives in Maun at the southern tip of the Okavango Delta with his wife Ashleigh and his two sons, Jarryd and Troy.
Grant Reed was born near the Magaliesberg mountains of South Africa where he grew up exploring the surrounding wilderness. After completing high school he studied Nature Conservation at the Pretoria Technikon and later obtained his Honors Degree in Nature Conservation. After working in various South African parks for a number of years Grant moved to Botswana in 1996 and obtained his Botswana Professional Guide's license. Grant has been birding since he was a child and when he is not leading birding safaris he can normally be found birding with friends and family. He has led birding safaris throughout Southern Africa and has also given numerous talks in Europe and the USA on the birdlife of Botswana. When not guiding he is training and assessing guides at Okavango Guiding School, which he co-founded with his brother Brent to train aspirant guides in the many faceted field of natural history guiding.
Grant is author of the book 'Okavango - Spirit of Life', he lives in Maun with his wife Trudi and son, Merrick.
Joseph Jack Ramsden was born in the village of Maun in August 1975 long before Maun became renowned as the gateway to the Okavango Delta. His first introduction to the wilderness was through his father Jack Ramsden who was one of Moremi Game Reserve's first Game Wardens. Stationed in the Khwai Village Jack would take his entire family on game drives in remote wilderness areas and Joe's early memories are of numerous elephant, lion and other wildlife encounters at his father's side. Througout his childhood and teenage years Joe continued to visit Moremi Game Reserve and other parts of the Okavango Delta with his older brothers. He developed a keen interest in the wildlife and birdlife in particular. Once he had finished his National Service with the Botswana Defence Force, Joe focused his energies on obtaining his Professional Guide's license and has been guiding full-time since 1997.Our Vehicles
Letaka Safaris prides itself on having one of the most modern fleets of safari vehicles in Botswana. Currently we operate 7 game drive vehicles of the type pictured below and two minibuses pictured at the bottom of the page. Our Toyota Landcruisers which are used for trips into our National Parks and Game Reserves are wonderfully open and spacious and include all the mod-cons such as multiple 220V sockets for charging all your digital equipment, a 40 litre fridge which keeps the drinks icy-cold and comfortable bucket seats for each passenger. With an easily removable canvas roof, the vehicle can quickly be converted to being a fully open raptor-seeker and equally quickly converted back to a shady birding hide when the African sun gets the better of us.
For our trips that used surfaced roads more than off-road and require a level of comfort for long distances we use a Toyota Hi-lux minibus. The powerful and reliable 3 litre diesel turbo engine eats up the kilometres in air-conditioned comfort and allows us to cover the often considerable distances on our safaris outside of Botswana. All our vehicles are maintained by our own mechanics at our workshop facility in Maun.
In mid-2011 we will be taking delivery of a custom-built Toyota Landcruiser station wagon which will be fully airconditioned with sliding windows and roof hatches for increased viewing scope. This vehicle is destined for our Zambia, Mocambique and Angola safaris and will also cover some Namibia trips where serious 4x4 is required. The prototype is pictured here.
