This is a birding camping holiday where you embark on a birding trip accompanied by a knowledgeable bird guide, a great cook who can prepare great food in the middle of no fancy restaurant, spacious clean and well made canvas dome tents for 2 persons with comfortable heavy duty sleeping mat, three meals prepared by our experienced chef, hot showers like you were in a lodge, plus a couple of hours on electricity to charge your camera batteries, download your photos, make the days checklist, while having a kenyan coffee or tusker beer

The cost includes:
-Transport with exclusive use of the safari van as from the 1st day to departure day as per itinerary.
-Pick up and drop off on arrival and departure at the airport.
-Accommodation as per the itinerary with all the meals except 4 dinner/super meals in Nairobi
-Services of a tour leader, birdguide or and driver plus the use of site/local birdguide
-Local flight. Malindi- Nairobi
-Parks, reserve and conservation areas entry fee
-Emergency evacuation
-Drinking water available from the van cool box
-Checklist of the birds of Kenya and other pre-tour information
-Boat Rides in Lake Naivasha and Baringo

Exclusive of:
-Medical and travel insurance including luggages.
-Beverages
-Items of personal nature such as telephone, laundry, gifts among others
-Visa, airport tax
-tipping of driver and or tour leader

17 Day Birding Camping Safaris

Day 1: Nairobi.
To be picked at the airport and transferred to the camping site for an overnight.
After dinner you will be given a talk on the “Birds of Kenya” and should enlighten us before the safari on what to expect where and some hints in bird identification.
If time allows depending on your arrival time, we’ll visit the Nairobi Museum’s bird, ethnography, prehistory among other galleries about Kenya. Birding at the museum’s grounds offers some good field introductions to the birds of Kenya.
Overnight at Nairobi Camp

Day 2: Nairobi National Park
Only 10km off the cosmopolitan city has one of the greatest avifauna with a record of over 515 species in an area of 117km².
Birds includes the newly-almost-described Nairobi Pipit, Common Ostrich, Great, Long-tailed Cormorant, African Darter, Great Egret, Saddle-billed Stork, Common, Madagascar Squacco, Black-headed, Grey Heron, African Spoonbill, White-faced Whistling, Knob-billed Duck, Red-billed Teal, Secretary bird, Black-shouldered Kite, Lappet-faced Vulture, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Shelly's & Yellow-necked Spurfowl, African Finfoot, Hartlaub's Bustard, Emerald Spotted Wood, Laughing Dove, Hartlaub's Turaco, White-bellied Go-away-bird, White-browed Coucal, African Palm Swift, Blue-napped Mousebird, Little & Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Lesser, Greater Honeyguide, Eastern Honeybird, Nubian Woodpecker, White-tailed, Singing Bush, Rufous-naped Lark, Wire-tailed, Lesser-Striped Swallow, Rock Martin, Yellow-throated, Pangani, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Pale, African Grey, Southern Black Flycatcher, Lesser Swamp Warbler, 9 species of Cistocola, Abyssinian white-eye, Red-throated Tit, Jackson's Widowbird, Martial Eagle, Red & Yellow-billed Oxpecker.

The park has big game such as the buffalo, Burchell's Zebra, hippo, Masai Giraffe, Coke's Hartebeest, Vervet and the Syke's Monkey, both Black and White Rhino
Overnight at Nairobi Camp

Day 3: Olorgesaille –Magadi Road – Kireita Forest
We will drive down the rift valley to Olorgesaille birding. Though typically a hot country rewards could include species like Cut Throat, Blue-capped Cordon-Bleu, Northern Crombec, Banded Parisoma, White-bellied Canary, Crimson-rumped Waxbill, Grey Wren Warbler, Taita Fiscal, Von der Decken's Hornbill, Fischer's Sparrow-Lark, Grey-headed Silverbill, Grey-capped Social-Weaver, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Straw-tailed Whydah, Tiny Cisticola.

After noon we’ll head for Gatamaiyu Forest a central highlands montane forest birding en-route to Manguo Ponds a good birding spot en-route to the forest and has a wide variety of waterfowls such as the Yellow-billed Duck, Little Grebe, Red-billed Teal, Red-knobbed Coot, while Maccoa Duck are regularly recorded, Grey, Black-headed Heron, African Spoonbill, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hottentot Teal, Long-tailed Cormorant, also waders such as Black-winged Stilt, Blacksmith Plover, Ringed Plover, Three-banded Plover, Marsh, Wood Sandpiper, Common Greenshank.
The night here is expected to be chilly.
Overnight at Gatamaiyu Fishing Camp

Day 4: Gatamaiyu Forest- Lake Naivasha
It boast many montane species including the Chestnut-throated, Grey, Black-collared, Black-throated Apalis, Montane Oriole, Narina & Bar-tailed Trogon, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Yellow-rumped, Mustached Green Tinkerbird, Scarce Swift, White-browed Crombec. Also the Mountain Buzzard, Mountain, Cabanis’s Greenbul, African Hill Babbler, White Starred Robin, African Dusky Flycatcher, Cinnamon Bracken, Brown Woodland Warbler, Hunter’s Cisticola, Black-backed Puffback, Grey Cuckoo-Shrike, Northern Double Collared Sunbird, Spectacle, Brown-capped Weaver, Grey-headed Negrofinch, Yellow-bellied Waxbill among others.

In the afternoon we’ll head to Naivasha en-route via Kinangop in search of Sharpe's Longclaw a Kenya's endemic and globally threatened species found on the plateau. Hoping to see the said species, leave for the Lake Naivasha.Overnight at Fish Eagle Camp

Day 5: Lake Naivasha.
The lake is one of the two fresh water lakes along the rift valley and offers a superb birding site with lake fringed by the papyrus on the shores and the acacia woodland habitats supplemented by the dormant volcanoes of Mt. Longonot, Mt. Eburru and the Ol Karia.

Take an early morning boat ride along the papyrus shore of the Lake Naivasha hoping to see Little Grebe, Great White Pelican, Great, Long-tailed Cormorant, Great Egret, Purple, Goliath Heron, Hamerkop, Sacred, Hadada Ibis, Greater, Lesser Flamingo, Cape, Red-billed Teal, African Jacana, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Three-banded, Long-toed Plover, Marsh, Wood, Green Sandpiper.

Birding also along the Elsamere compound before heading to the Hell’s Gate National Park with array of birds of prey. Birds here includes Common Ostrich, Secretary Bird, Egyptian, African White-backed, Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture, African harrier Hawk, Augur Buzzard, African Fish, Verreaux’s, Long-crested Eagle, Speckled Pigeon, Red-eyed, Laughing Dove, Montane, Slender-tailed Nightjar, Nyanza, Mottled Swift.
Overnight at Fish Eagle Camp

Day 6: Lake Naivasha – Lake Nakuru National Park
After breakfast we leave for Lake Nakuru National Park. It’s regarded as the "the greatest ornithological spectacle in the world" with both Lesser and Greater Flamingoes sometimes exceeding 100s of thousand individuals. The alkaline habitat, acacia woodland, grassland, rivers and inlets with marshes holds residents as well as migratory species.
Birds may include Little Grebe, Great White Pelican, Black-winged Stilt, Gull-billed, Whiskered Tern, Grey-headed Gull, Cape, Red-billed Teal, Three-banded Plover, Little Stint, Long-crested, Tawny Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Augur Buzzard, White-fronted Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Rock Martin, Arrow-Marked Babbler, Little Rock Thrush, Wailing, Rattling Cisticola, Rüppell’s Long-tailed Starling, Rüppell's Robin Chat, White-shouldered Cliff Chat, African Grey Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Common, Grey-backed Fiscal, Tropical Boubou, Black Cuckoo-shrike, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu among many others.

In addition, the park is rich in big games that includes the giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck, eland, hippo, both Black and White Rhino, lion, leopard, Spotted Hyena.
Overnight at KWS Campsite

Day 7: Lake Nakuru National Park – Lake Baringo Conservation Area.
After breakfast drive through the highland grasslands of Molo in search of two Kenyan endemics Aberdare Cisticola and Sharpe’s Longclaw will also look for more specialties like Wing-snapping, Levaillant’s and Hunter’s Cisticola, Jackson’s Widowbirds, Great-crested Grebe and after leaving for Lake Baringo arriving for lunch and spending the afternoon birding.
Overnight at Robert’s Camp

Day 8: Lake Baringo Conservation Area.
We have a whole days birding around Lake Baringo Conservation Area and if lucky we hope to see some the specialties such as the Hemprich's, Jackson's Hornbill, White-faced Scops Owl, Bristle-crowned Starling, Brown-tailed Rock Chat, Green-winged Pytilia, Red & Yellow Barbet, Bat Hawk, Two Banded Courser, Slender-tailed Nightjar while birding along the camp site and the hotel grounds could yield the Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, African Pigmy Kingfisher, Black-headed Plover.
Overnight at Robert’s Camp

Day 9: Lake Baringo – Kitale
Take a boat ride and explore the lake for water birds such as Long-tailed Cormorant, Common Squacco, Green-backed, Purple, Goliath Heron, Yellow-billed Stork, African Darter, Knob-billed Duck and later after the breakfast go birdwatching along the cliffs for more species as we head for Kitale.
Picnic lunch
We spend the late afternoon in the smallest national park in Kenya, 2km² in size we’ll walk around birding through the well-structured boardwalks above the swampy marshes with reeds and other wetland vegetation. Birds includes the African Paradise Flycatcher, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Double-toothed Barbet, Fine-banded Woodpecker, Angolan Swallow, Grey Apalis, Northern Puffback, Black-billed, Brown-capped Weaver, Black-crowned Waxbill, Black & White Mannikin.
Overnight at Sirikwa Camp

Day 10: Kongelai Escarpment
We drive down the Kongelai Escarpment where we expect local specialties such as the Yellow-billed Shrike, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, White-crested Turaco, Chestnut-crowned sparrow-weaver, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Golden-breasted Bunting, Double-toothed Barbet, Northern Brownbul, Brown Snake, Martial Eagle, Eastern Grey Plantain-Eater, Brown Parrot, Black-winged Red Bishop, Stripe-breasted Seedeater, and White-crested Helmet-shrike. Also the Hartlaub’s Marsh Widowbird among many other interesting species.
Overnight at Sirikwa Camp

Day 11, 12 and 13: Kitale – Kakamega Forest
Leave for Kakamega Forest, the only true rain forest in Kenya and was once a continuation of the Guinea-Congolian rainforest, rich in species nowhere else to be seen in Kenya. Spending here we hope to see a good number of these forest species that could include the Yellow-spotted, Yellow-billed Barbet, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Green, Green-throated Sunbird, Grey-winged Robin, Equatorial Akalat, African Blue Flycatcher, African Shrike-Flycatcher, Snowy-headed Robin, Common, Jameson’s, Chestnut and with much luck the Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye, Shelley's, Joyful Greenbul, Turners Eremomela, Uganda Woodland Warbler, White-chinned, Banded Prinia, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Black-billed, Vieillot’s Weaver, Red-headed Malimbe.
Overnight at Forest Station Camp

Day 14: Kakamega Forest – Kisumu
After an early morning breakfast we head on the west in search of the localized Rock Pratincole along the river while birding the whole morning on the villages, farmland and the Busia Grasslands. We hope to find a few more localized birds such as the Bar-breasted Firefinch, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Senegal Coucal, White-crested Turaco, Copper’s Sunbird, among others. Arriving in Kisumu later in the late afternoon.
Overnight at Kisumu Hotel

Day 15: Kisumu- Masai Mara National Reserve.
Today we take an early morning walk along papyrus vegetation at the Dunga Beach (an old fishing village/jet) with expectation to see some of the specialties like the Papyrus Gonolek, Swamp Flycatcher, Greater Swamp Warbler, White-winged Warbler, other birds includes Hamerkop, Little Egret, Yellow-billed Stork, Pied Kingfisher, White-winged, Whiskered Tern, African Skimmer, Red-chested, Copper Sunbird, Shikra, African Thrush, Black-headed Gonolek, Slender-billed, Northern Brown-throated, Yellow-backed, Jackson’s Golden-backed Weaver, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Southern Red Bishop.

After this we leave for the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve, a plain of rolling grassland dotted with a mixture of acacia trees and the plain game which includes large herds of elephants, zebras, topis, hartebeests, gazelles, Impala’s not forgetting the well known Mara/ Serengeti Wildebeest’s migration, lions, cheetah. We'll stay on the western part of the reserve along the Olololoo Escarpments blended by river, swampy, grassy and forested habitats. Specialties could include the Long-tailed, Rock Cisticola, Wattled Plover, Rufous-bellied Heron, Penduline Tit, Pale Wren Warbler. Other birds could include Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Ashy Flycatcher, Grey-rumped, Red-rumped Swallow, White-headed, Lappet-faced, White-headed Vulture, White-naped Raven, Ross Turaco, Black-backed Puffback, Croaking Cisticola, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Hildebrandt’s Starling, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Black & White Casqued Hornbill, Narina Trogon, Lilac-breasted Roller, Common Wattle-eye, Silverbird, Plain and Long-billed Pipit, Saddle-billed, Woolly-necked Stork, Yellow-fronted Canary.
Overnight at Olololoo Camp

Day 16: Masai Mara National Reserve.
We’ll take birdwalk along the escarpment in search of the Red-tailed Chat, Long-tailed, Rock Cisticola while if lucky we get a bonus of the Mwanza Flat-headed Agama.
Lunch at the camp later in the afternoon heading for Mara Serena with an en-route game drive arriving late in the evening.
Overnight at Olololoo Camp

Day 17: Masai Mara – Nairobi
En route game drive in Masai Mara National Reserve on our way to Naivasha while searching for more bird species especially the Magpie Shrike and others on the eastern part of the reserve. Picnic lunch along the way.

End of the tour with a dinner at a Nairobi restaurant before transfer to the airport

8 days Coastal Extension available