SAFARI ~ ITINERARY
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B=Breakfast, Lunch=Lunch, D=Dinner
All times are estimated and are subject to slight variations.
Lilac Breasted Roller
Custom KENYA Birding Safari
Grade: II some-hiking in Masai Country
Total Days: 14 in Kenya
Group Size: Min 2 people, private safari
Lodging: tents & lodges and/or tented camps
Dates: Anytime
Day 1 Arrive in Nairobi
Upon arrival at the Nairobi International Airport, you will be met by your guide and transferred to a city Hotel for your overnight.
Day 2 Nairobi Wed
Today you will be introduced to the birds of Kenya at the National Museum. Take the morning bird walk that is organized by Nature Kenya. ln the afternoon, you will have the option of visiting the Nairobi Museum’s birds, ethnography, geology, prehistory galleries (among others) as well as the Snake Park. This is the right place to learn and see many of the Kenya’s multifacets of culture, pre-history and it’s natural resources. Birding continues around the museum’s botanical garden or elsewhere depending on the time. At the museum, you can expect to see a variety of sunbirds which could include the Variable, Amethyst, Collared, Bronze, Northern Double-collared Sunbird, Common Bulbul, Red-eyed Dove, Black-backed Puffback, Olive Thrush. Return to your Hotel for your overnight. (B)
Day 3 Samburu National Reserve
After breakfast, head for the Samburu National Reserve stopping at Thika for a short bird-search that “could” yield the Green-capped Eremomela or a Purple-crested Turaco, also Giant kingfisher, White-headed Barbet, among Amethyst, Bronze, Collared, Northern Double-collared, Variable, Green-headed, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill. Drive further through the pineapple and coffee plantation making a few more stops. On the way, you will try to find Hinde’s Babbler, a Kenyan endemic among many other localized species. Arrive at the lodge late in the afternoon, and take a late evening bird drive hoping to see some of the dry country among the big herds of African Elephant. Overnight at the Samburu Serena Lodge or equivalent. (B,L,D)
Day 4 Samburu National Reserve
Martial Eagle with a Kill
This reserve, in northern Kenya, is an arid bush country with beautiful riverine forest along the Easo Nyiro River and harbors over 400 species of indigenous and migratory birds. We will hope to see the Somali race of the Ostrich, Vulturine Guineafowl, African White-backed, White-headed, Lappet-faced Vulture, Martial, Bateleur Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Pygmy, Lanner Falcon, Steppe, Augur Buzzard, Secretary Bird, White-headed Mousebird, Donaldson-Smith Nightjar, Pink-breasted Lark, Somali Bee-eater, Pigmy Batis, Liechtenstein’s Sandgrouse, Yellow, Von der Decken’s, Red-billed Hornbill, Hildebrandt’s, Golden-winged, Fischer’s, Magpie Starling, Brown-tailed Rock Chat, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, Yellow-spotted Petronia, Green-backed Heron, Barred Warbler, Mouse-collared Penduline Tit, Cut Throat, Golden Pipit, Slate-coloured Boubou, Rosy-patched Bush-Shrike, Brubru, Pale Prinia, Yellow-vented Eremomela, African Palm Swift, Fan-tailed Raven, Cinnamon-breasted Rock, Somali Golden-breasted Bunting. Among the Northern race of large wildlife such as the Gravy Zebra, Gerenuk, Reticulated Giraffe, large herds of elephants, Beisa Oryx. Overnight at the Samburu Serena Lodge or equivalent. (B,L,D)
Day 5 Mt. Kenya National Park
Tacazze Sunbird
After a morning bird drive, head for Mt. Kenya, a highland/montane forest with species including Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Alpine Chat, Montane, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, African Hill Babbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis. Also Montane Buzzard, African Crowned Eagle, Little Sparrowhawk, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Narina, Bartailed Trogon, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Waller’s, Kenrick’s, Sharpe’s Starling, White-starred Forest Robin, Olive, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, Collared, Northern Double-collared, Eastern Double-collared, Variable, Bronze, Tacazze, Green-headed Sunbird, Mustached Green, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Whitebrowed Crombec, Brown Woodland, Montane Yellow Warbler, Montane, Cabanis’, Greenbul, Fine-banded Woodpecker, Grey-headed Negrofinch, Abyssinian Crimson-wing, Long-tailed Widowbird. Overnight at the Serena Mountain Lodge. (B,L,D)
Day 6 Lake Nakuru National Park
Grey Crowned Crane and Flamingos
After breakfast, take a morning birdwalk before leaving for Lake Nakuru National Park. You’ll have a number of stops along the way for a few more lifers. With good views of the Aberdare Ranges and several stops that includes Thomson’s Fall for a picnic lunch, where we hope to get a few rewards like Slender-billed Starling, Stone Chat. You will then descend down to the Great Rift Valley through the Subukia Escarpments and witness the marvels of the conventional currents working on the earth’s crust. Overnight at Flamingo Tented Camp Camp or equivalent. (B,L,D)
Day 7 Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru National Park is referred to as the “the greatest ornithological spectacle in the world” with both Lesser and Greater Flamingoes exceeding 100s of thousands individuals. The alkaline habitat supports thousands of resident and migratory waterfowl. The alkaline lake, acacia woodland, grassland, rivers and inlets with marshes hold over 450 species. Some of the common birds includes Little Grebe, Great White Pelican, Black-winged Stilt, Gull-billed, Whiskered Tern, Grey-headed Gull, Cape, Red-billed Teal, Southern Pochard, Three-banded, Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Long-crested Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Augur Buzzard, Whitefronted Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Dusky Turtle Dove, Rock Martin, Arrow-Marked Babbler, Little Rock Thrush, Wailing, Rattling Cisticola, Rupell’s Long-tailed Starling, Ruppell’s Robin Chat, Cliff Chat, African Grey Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Common, Grey-backed Fiscal, Tropical Boubou, Black Cuckooshrike, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. In addition, the park is rich in big games that includes the giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck, eland, hippo, Black and White Rhino, lion, leopard, Spotted Hyena. Overnight at the Mbweha Camp or equivalent. (B,L,D)
Days 8 & 9 Kakamega Forest
Double Toothed Barbet
You will spend two days in the Kakamega Forest, the only true rain forest remaining in Kenya. This was once a continuation of the Guinea-Congolian rainforest, rich in species nowhere else to be seen in Kenya. Spending a few days here you will hope to see a good number of these forest species that could include the Blue-headed Bee-Eater, Grey-winged Robin, Yellow Spotted, Yellow-billed Barbet, Shelly’s, Joyful, Toro olive, Cabanis’s Greenbul, African Blue Flycatcher, African Shrike-Flycatcher, Snowy-headed Robin Chat, Common, Jameson’s, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Olive Green Camaroptera, Green, Cooper Sunbird, Mackinnon Shrike, Luhder’s Bush-Shrike, Bocage’s Bush- shrike, Petit’s Cuckoo-shrike, Black-necked, Dark-backed, Vieillot’s Weaver, Red-headed Malimbe, Red-headed Bluebill. Overnight at the Rondo Retreat Centre or equivalent. (2B,2L,2D)
Days 10-12 Masai Mara National Reserve
Kingfisher
Leave for the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve, for the next three days. The Masai Mara Game Reserve is a plain of rolling grassland dotted with acacia trees and plain game which includes large herds of Elephants, Zebras, Topis, Hartebeests, gazelles, Impala’s. Also lion, cheetah, hyena. You will stay on the western part of the reserve along the Olololoo Escarpments blended by River Mara, marshes, grassy and forested habitats. Specialties could include Long-tailed, Trilling, Rock Loving Cisticola, Usambiro Barbet, Wattled Plover, Sooty Chat, Penduline Tit, Pale Wren Warbler, Shalow’s Turaco, Rufous-bellied Heron, Redtailed Chat, also Ashy Flycatcher, African Blue Flycatcher, Bateleur, Black-chested Snake Eagle and probably a bonus of Mwanza Flat-headed Agama. Those interested with Balloon Safari- this is the place to view Mara and her wildlife by air. Spend some time visiting a local Masai Village for a cultural dance and experience their way of life (extra). Overnight on Feb 16 at the Keekorok Lodge. Overnight on Feb 17 & 18 at the Mara Serena Lodge or equivalent. (3B,3L,3D)
Day 13 Nairobi
En-route game drive on the way back to Nairobi, while searching for more bird species especially the Magpie Shrike and others on the eastern part of the reserve. While on the way to Nairobi (if time allows) you will drive to Kinangop Plateau in search of yet another Kenyan endemic Sharpe’s Longclaw, later heading back to Nairobi. A day room at a Nairobi Hotel will be reserved for you to relax in before transferring to the airport for your evening flight home. (B,L)
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