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Nairobi · Nairobi county · Kenya
17 Day Birding and Wildlife Safari Kenya
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From $12,999.41 per person
Current Project Expedition rate
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The Experience
What your day looks like
17 Day Birding and Wildlife Safari Kenya offers Kenya birding in a nutshell, from the soda-surfaced layers of Rift valleys lakes flocked by flamingos to alpine Mount Kenya and the flourishing western lowland forests at Kakamega. All these offer great birding experience doubled with bird-rich savannas, Tsavo’s semi-arid environment also favors avian life, Sokoke’s coastal forests, and the majestic conservation parks that make Kenya the world’s top mammal watching destination in Africa. This is not surprising when you consider visiting Kenya you will probably encounter more bird and mammal species than any other African safari. Most days we are required to kick start by around 6 am and will stay out for about 12 hours, in order to have a chance of the best times for the finest birds and mammals that this trip offers. Where possible we will use the afternoon moments to rest up or visit the local communities. Some days will be fully spent in the fields. Sometimes we shall nights outs depending on our safari guide’s recommendation in the lookout for nightjars and owls, and this is done before dinner or and only last for not more than an hour. Kenya is a decent-sized country with a well-developed road network connecting different birding destinations. You will find it adventurous, time-saving, and relaxing to have your picnic-parked lunch under the shade of the tree. Almost all the birding in Kenya is done on easily accessible areas on clear roads and most of the time is spent in the car with a little walking and hiking with exception of Sokoke, Kakamega forest, and Mount Kenya where a 2 hours walk will be done. The climate in Kenya is variable, so come prepared with rain gears and sunglasses.
At a Glance
The experience, in brief
- Alpine Mount Kenya and the flourishing western lowland forests at Kakamega
- Tsavo’s semiarid environment also favors avian life
- Encounter more bird and mammal species than any other African safari
- Use the afternoon moments to rest up or visit the local communities
- Welldeveloped road network connecting different birding destinations
- Most of the time is spent in the car with a little walking and hiking
- 2 Hour search for avian life in Sokoke, Kakamega forest and Mount Kenya
Your Itinerary
Your day, step by step
Day 1
Nairobi
Welcome to Kenya! We arrive in Nairobi and are transferred to our hotel for a three-night stay in the city, which boasts the largest bird list of any city on earth!
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 2
Nairobi
Eco Tour at Nairobi National Park. Birding in Nairobi National Park We visit Nairobi NP before beginning our exploration of the Great Rift Valley lakes. Highlights may include Von der Decken’s Hornbill and the multicolored Red-and-yellow Barbet, or our first flamingos among many wintering Palearctic shorebirds on Lake Magadi.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 3
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Nairobi National Park. Birding in Nairobi National Park Second Day We visit Nairobi NP before beginning our exploration of the Great Rift Valley lakes. Highlights may include Von der Decken’s Hornbill and the multicolored Red-and-yellow Barbet, or our first flamingos among many wintering Palearctic shorebirds on Lake Magadi.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 4
Nairobi
Eco Tour at Mount Kenya. Avian Life of Mount Kenya Heading for the country’s highest summit, our journey to Mt. Kenya could yield Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Rueppell’s Robin-Chat, Mountain Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-crowned Canary. The lodge’s waterhole attracts many mammals including African Buffalo. We’ll spend the early mornings searching for White-starred Robin, Abyssinian Crimson-wing, African Crowned Eagle, African Emerald Cuckoo, and Moustached Green Tinkerbird. A shaded riverside trail may reveal Crowned Hornbill, Mountain Wagtail, and up to eight species of sunbirds, including the stunning Tacazze Sunbird. Two nights will be spent just outside the park.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 5
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Mount Kenya. Avian Life of Mount Kenya Second day Heading for the country’s highest summit, our journey to Mt. Kenya could yield Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Rueppell’s Robin-Chat, Mountain Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-crowned Canary. The lodge’s waterhole attracts many mammals including African Buffalo. We’ll spend the early mornings searching for White-starred Robin, Abyssinian Crimson-wing, African Crowned Eagle, African Emerald Cuckoo, and Moustached Green Tinkerbird. A shaded riverside trail may reveal Crowned Hornbill, Mountain Wagtail, and up to eight species of sunbirds, including the stunning Tacazze Sunbird. Two nights will be spent just outside the park.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 6
Nairobi
Birdwatching. In the morning, we bird the Solio Plains, where we hope to find Temminck’s Courser, Jackson’s Widowbird, Black-bellied Bustard, and various other grassland species. In the afternoon, we head for the Aberdares Mountains.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 7
Nairobi
Birdwatching. Birding frenzy Today we explore the alpine moorland above the treeline, perhaps encountering Jackson’s Francolins as we climb up into the highest accessible Lobelia-covered plains in Kenya. Our targets here include Alpine Chat and, with luck, we’ll find the specialized and beautiful Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird. In the afternoon we drop down into the Rift Valley to Lake Nakuru.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 8
Nakuru
Birdwatching at Lake Nakuru. Birding Lake Nakuru We will awaken to vast flocks of flamingos, pelicans, and other waterbirds. The surrounding woodland holds Narina Trogon, Red-throated Wryneck, Arrow-marked Babbler, and African Firefinch. After lunch we venture to Naivasha, another of the Rift Valley gems.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 9
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Lake Naivasha. Lake Naivasha We will spend the early morning at Lake Naivasha, sifting through vast flocks of waterbirds, and birding productive lakeside woodland. Later we drive to Lake Baringo, rich in arid-zone birds, where we search for Hunter’s Sunbird, Heuglin’s Courser, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, and Northern White-faced Scops-Owl. At dusk, we should see Slender-tailed Nightjars gliding along the hippo-covered shore. We overnight at Lake Baringo.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
We overnight at Lake Baringo.
Day 10
Nairobi
Birdwatching. Lake Baringo Today exemplifies birding in Kenya. We begin in the sub-desert and end up in the most eastern tract of the lowland equatorial rainforest in Africa. First, we visit the cliffs near Baringo, scanning for Fan-tailed Raven, Hemprich’s Hornbill, Mocking Cliff-Chat, and Bristle-crowned Starling. Later we explore the Kerio Valley, where we search rocky, scrubby hillsides for Green-backed Eremomela, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Brown Parrot, White-crested Turaco, Pearl-spotted Owlet, and Black-headed Gonolek. Late in the day, we arrive at Kakamega for a three-night stay.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 11
Nairobi
Eco Tour. Full Day Kakamega Kakamega is full of birds and is justly famous as one of Kenya’s birding meccas. Many of Kenya’s fantastic forest birds are available only here. These include dapper Equatorial Akalats, comical Great Blue Turacos, and sensational Blue-headed Bee-eaters among other beauties like White-chinned and Banded Prinias, Jameson’s, and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eyes, Bocage’s and Luehder’s Bushshrikes, Black-billed and Vieillot’s Weavers, Gray-headed Negrofinch, Red-headed Malimbe, and Red-headed Bluebill.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 12
Nairobi
Eco Tour. Full Day Kakamega Second Day Kakamega is full of birds and is justly famous as one of Kenya’s birding meccas. Many of Kenya’s fantastic forest birds are available only here. These include dapper Equatorial Akalats, comical Great Blue Turacos, and sensational Blue-headed Bee-eaters among other beauties like White-chinned and Banded Prinias, Jameson’s, and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eyes, Bocage’s and Luehder’s Bushshrikes, Black-billed and Vieillot’s Weavers, Gray-headed Negrofinch, Red-headed Malimbe, and Red-headed Bluebill.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 13
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria Today we head to Lake Victoria, searching for swamp specialties such as Blue-headed Coucal, Swamp Flycatcher, and the striking Papyrus Gonolek. Rice paddies may produce African Openbill, Southern Red Bishop, and Zebra Waxbill. In the afternoon, we head south to the Masai Mara National Reserve for a three-night stay.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 14
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Maasai Mara National Reserve. Masai Mara Game Reserve The Mara, the northern portion of the magnificent Serengeti system, offers spectacular vistas over flat-topped acacia and grassy plains riddled with ungulates and other animals. We’ll spend the days in the western part of the reserve looking for East Africa’s famous Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, African Elephants, gazelles, and other wildlife. However, birding does not take a back seat, and we should be rewarded with views of many large raptors and vultures that gather at the kills, as well as storks, Kori Bustard, Southern Ground-Hornbill, and other species that suffer from disturbance outside these large protected areas. Other highlights may include Rufous-bellied Heron, Saddle-billed Stork, Temminck’s Courser, Sooty Chat, and Schalow’s Turaco.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 15
Nairobi
Birdwatching at Maasai Mara National Reserve. Masai Mara Game Reserve second day The Mara, the northern portion of the magnificent Serengeti system, offers spectacular vistas over flat-topped acacia and grassy plains riddled with ungulates and other animals. We’ll spend the days in the western part of the reserve looking for East Africa’s famous Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, African Elephants, gazelles, and other wildlife. However, birding does not take a back seat, and we should be rewarded with views of many large raptors and vultures that gather at the kills, as well as storks, Kori Bustard, Southern Ground-Hornbill, and other species that suffer from disturbance outside these large protected areas. Other highlights may include Rufous-bellied Heron, Saddle-billed Stork, Temminck’s Courser, Sooty Chat, and Schalow’s Turaco.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 16
Nairobi
Birdwatching. Today we return to Nairobi for a final night, searching for the endangered Sharpe’s Longclaw and other grassland specialties en route.
Continued
Nairobi
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will be available.
Continued
Nairobi
Accommodation included.
Day 17
Nairobi
Thank you for visiting! Today we fly out on our international departures or join the Eastern Extension. We are happy you came and hope to see you again soon!
Before You Go
What to know before booking
Included
Services of English-speaking local guides. All accommodation from the night of day 1 to the night day 16 Tropical Birding tour leader with telescope and audio playback gear All airport transfers All ground transport in a suitable safari pop-top vehicle Park entrance fees 2 boat trips – one on Naivasha and one on Baringo
Not Included
Optional tips to the tour leader; tips for luggage porters at hotels International flights Additional drinks apart from those included such as alcoholic beverages Travel insurance Excursions not included in the tour itinerary Extras in hotels such as laundry service, minibar, room service, telephone calls, and personal items
What to Bring
Comfortable clothing and footwear Camera and other personal belongings
Meeting & Pickup
Pick Up and drop off will be in Nairobi or the airport, Let us know at the time of booking.
Planning Notes
Hotel pickup offered: Yes Confirmation: Manual By Business
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