17 Day Birding Safaris + 6 Day (optional) Coastal Extension available

Covering: Nairobi National Park, Olorgesailie, Kireita Forest, Lake Naivasha, Hell's Gate National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park, Molo Grasslands, Lake Baringo, Saiwa Swamp National Park, Kongelai Escarpment, Kakamega Forest, Busia Grasslands, Kisumu, Masai Mara National Reserve, Tsavo West and East National Park, Taita Hills Forest, Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Mida Creek, Sabaki River Estuary.

Day 1: Nairobi
Arrive at JKI Airport to be met and transfered to the hotel for an overinght.

Overnight at Sarova Panafric Hotel.

Day 2: Nairobi National Park
The park, only 10km off the cosmopolitan city has one of the greatest avifauna with a record of over 515 species in an area of only 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, Black-bellied, 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 Sarova Panafric Hotel.

Day 3: Olorgesailie
We will drive birding down the rift valley to Olorgesaille. 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, Crested Francolin, Spot-flanked, Black-throated Barbet, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Eastern Violet-backed, Beautiful, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, among many more.

Overnight at Sarova Panafric Hotel.

Day 4: Manguo Ponds- Gatamaiyu Forest- Lake Naivasha
Today we head for Gatamaiyu Forest, a central highlands montane forest. 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.

While 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.
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 Elsamere Centre (George and Joy Adamson’s House)

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 Elsamere Centre

Day 6: Lake Naivasha- Lake Nakuru National Park
After an early morning breakfast we leave for Lake Nakuru National Park to spend the whole day birding in the park. It’s regarded as the "the greatest ornithological spectacle in the world" with both Lesser and Greater Flamingoes sometimes exceeding 100s of thousand of 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 Sarova Lion Hill Lodge

Day 7: Lake Nakuru- Molo Grasslands- 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 Cisiticola, Jackson’s Widowbirds, Great-crested Grebe and after leaving for Lake Baringo arriving for lunch and spending the afternoon birding.

Overnight at Lake Baringo Club.

Day 8: Lake Baringo
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 Lake Baringo Club.

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 Cottages.

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 Cottages.

Day 11, 12 & 13: Kitale- Kakamega Forest
After an early morning breakfast leave for Kakamega Forest; the only true rain forest remaining in Kenya, was once a continuation of the Guinea-Congolian rainforest, rich in species nowhere else to be seen in Kenya. Spending a few days here we 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' 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 Rondo Retreat Centre.

Day 14: Kakamega Forest– Kisumu (Lake Victoria)
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 Sunset Hotel.

Day 15: Kisumu (Lake Victoria)- Nairobi
A morning birding on the shores of the second largest fresh-water lake in the world. Along the 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, Swamp Flycatcher, Black-billed Barbet.

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 Mara Serena Lodge/Mara West 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 Mara Sarova Tented Camp.

Day 17: Masai Mara National Reserve- 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.

The tour ends with a dinner and transfer to the airport.

Optional 6 day birding coastal extension

Day 18: Nairobi- Tsavo West National Park
Head Tsavo West with an en route birding where habitat is relatively denser thicket of savanna dominated by acacia-Commiphora bush land with Baobab, grassy plains, riverine woodland, the Mzima Springs.

Overnight at Ngulia Safari Camp.

Day 19: Tsavo West National Park- Taita Hills Forest- Voi
We bird in the park en route heading for Taita Hills Forest where we hope to see endemics “Taita Three” Apalis, White-eye and Thrush. Other specialties include Striped Pipit, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Striped-cheeked Greenbul.

Overnight at Ngutuni Lodge.

Day 20: Tsavo East National Park- Malindi; 28th April
Tsavo East is mainly made of large track of open country with lava ridges and rocky outcrops, Acacia-Commiphora woodlands and Galana River with its bushed thickets dominated by the Doum Palm.

Birds include Singing Bush Lark, Bare-eyed Thrush, Scaly, Rufous Chatterer, Black-headed Plover, Somali Courser, Black-bellied, White-bellied Bustard, African Scops Owl, Striped Kingfisher, Pringle's Puffback, Violet Wood-hoopoe, Southern Black, Gambaga Flycatcher, Spot-flanked, Red & Yellow, D'Arnaud's, Black-throated, White-headed Barbet, Greater, Scaly-throated, Lesser, Pallid Honeyguide, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Northern White-crowned Shrike, Vulturine Guineafowl, Northern Brownbul, Desert, Zitting, Ashy, Rattling, Tiny Cisticola, Purple-banded, Hunter's, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, African Orange-bellied Parrot, Jameson's Firefinch, Green-winged Pytilia, Fire-fronted Bishop, Red-headed, Vitelline Masked, Lesser Masked, Black-necked Weaver among others

Driving through the park we arrive in Watamu, Malindi in the late afternoon

Overnight at Turtle Bay Beach Club.

Day 21, 22: Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Mida Creek and Sabaki River Estuary
We visit the Arabuko Sokoke Forest which is the largest remnant of coastal forests that once covered most of the East African coast. Specialties include Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Pipit, East Coast Akalat, Spotted Ground Thrush and Amani Sunbird and a Kenyan endemic Clarke's Weaver.

Also Plain-backed, Olive and Mouse-collared Sunbird, Retz's and Chestnut-fronted Helmet-Shrike, Four-collared Bush-Shrike, Lizard Buzzard, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Pale Batis, Blue-mantled, Ashy, Little Yellow Flycatcher, Fiery-necked Nightjar, Fisher's Turaco, Yellowbill, African Pigmy, Mangrove Kingfisher, Eastern Green Tinkerbird, Mombasa Woodpecker, Pallid Honeyguide, Böhm Spinetail, Scaly Babbler, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Red-capped Robin Chat, Fischer's, Zanzibar Sombre and Tiny Greenbul, Black-bellied Starling, Eastern Bearded Scrub Robin, Eastern Nicator, African Golden Oriole.

A visit to Mida Creek fringed by mangrove forest, the creek has a large area that fills with the saline water during high tides. It's a birding haven for birdwatchers with thousands of waders making it an important passage and wintering habitat for migrants. Birds include and hope to see the Crab-Plover, Greater and Lesser Sandplover, Black-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Grey Plover, Curlew, Terek Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Oystercatcher, Dimorphic Egret, Yellow-billed and Wooly-necked Stork, Mangrove Kingfisher.

Also Sabaki River Estuary an area characterized by sandbanks, mudflats, mudbanks, sanddunes, fresh pools and marshes. The site is important for both intra-African and Palearctic migrants for roosting, resting and feeding ground for gulls and terns
A good site for Madagascar Pratincole, Afrcan Skimmer. Also Dimorphic and Little Egrets, Great, Lesser Flamingo, Water Thick-knee, White-fronted Plover, Greater, Lesser Sandplover, Sanderling, Curlew, Terek Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone, Heuglin's, and Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed, Caspian, Greater-crested, Lesser-crested and Common Tern, also the Carmine Bee-eater, Ethiopian Swallow, Zanzibar Red Bishop also nearby Malindi Pipit

Overnight at Turtle Bay Beach Club.

Day 23: Malindi- Nairobi
Fly to Nairobi to connect to the main 17 days Birding Trip.