16
Nights - 17 days Birding Safari
Day 1. Nairobi National Park
Arrive Nairobi international airport. Met on the arrival by wild
sounds adventures representative and transferred to a city hotel.
Settle in then visit Nairobi National
Park an introduction to the birds of Kenya. This national
park is 7 km from Nairobi and hosts a number of very special birds
.we will bird watch from our vehicles but will get out at designated
spots to bird o n foot. Some of the birds we can see include;
masai ostrich,grey crowned crane, black bellied, Hartlaubs and white-bellied
bustards, superb sterling, white-headed barbet,jacksons,red collared,
yellow mantled and white winged widow birds eastern chanting- goshawk,
long tailed fiscal, augur buzzard martial eagle, scarce swift, bronzy
and variable sunbirds, yellow rumbed seed-eater, African citril
black shouldered kite, long tailed cormorant, black headed ,grey
heron, yellow billed, saddle billed, African spoon bill, knob billed
duck, eastern honey bird, Rufous napped lark, singing, winding,
stout, siffling, pectrol patch, rattling, desert cisticola, Nairobi,
grassland, plain backed pipit knob billed duck lesser striped, wire
tailed, eastern honey bird, yellow throated and pangani long claw,
southern black flycatcher. Honey bird, red and yellow billed Oxpecker
and many others. Many mammals are found in the park including
grants and Thompson gazelles as well as lions, black and white rhinos,
leopard etc.
2 night nights in the hotel on bed and breakfast basis
Day 2. Magadi Road
Early breakfast, depart for day trip to lake magadi with picnic
lunch. Birding will be a long the magadi road all the way down to
the lake it is a scenic drive down the great rift valley. The birds
seen this locality include; crested
bustard, white bellied canaries, blue capped cordon bleu, African
and grey headed silver bills, beautiful, Eastern Violet-backed,
Scarlet-chested Sunbird paradise, pin tailed and straw tailed whydahs,
Fischer’s sparrow lark, Cut Throat finch, Northern Crombec,
Banded Parisoma,red fronted barbet, red fronted tinker bird, black
throated barbet, tiny cisticola, yellow breasted Apalis, red fronted
warbler, grey wren warbler, taita fiscal, vittelline masked, grey
capped social weaves, von der deckens hornbill, among many more.
Overnight at the hotel on bed and breakfast basis.
Day 3. Lake Naivasha
Proceed to Naivasha with picnic breakfast on board via the aberdere
national park for some montane species of birds;
Jackson’s francolins, aberdere cisticola, malachite tufted
sunbird and a superb montane flora and scenery. Drive to
Elsa mere centre for late lunch then continue birding on the property
which is also rich in birdlife Lake Naivasha is one of a number
of rift valley lakes that hosts a number of good birds such as
long-toed plover, grey woodpecker,ruppels long-tailed starling,
grey-backed fiscal,black-lored babbler,white-bellied tit wailing
cisticola, puple grenadier red-cheeked cordon bleu white fronted
bee-eater, greater and lesser honey guides, grey headed, bearded,
Nubian and cardinal woodpeckers, schallow wheat ear, northern ant
eater, grey-crested helmet shrike[rare],stout cisticola,hilderbrands
spur fowl,narina trogon, red-throated wryneck, little rock-thrush
and red billed teal yellow billed, white backed duck, goliath, grey
and black headed herons and large variety of water birds.
2 nights at Elsmere centre on full board.
Day 4. Lake Naivasha
We will be up early in the morning to enjoy a bird walk around the
lodge after which we will have breakfast before we enjoy a boat
into Lake Naivasha for some water birds. after the boat ride we
will lunch in the hotel then drive to hales gate national park a
breeding area for some raptors that include, Ruppells
Griffons, Augur Buzzard and lanner falcons, verreux eagle other
birds found here are, African black, little and white rumpedswifts,
spotted eagle owl.
Dinner and over night at the camp as above.
Day 5. Lake Baringo
Leave early morning and drive to Baringo where we will stay at Lake
Baringo club. We will arrive for lunch after which we will take
a rest before going for a bird watch along the lake. This is another
stunning habitat with many interesting birds some restricted into
this locality; grayish and verreux
eagle owl, African and white faced scops owl, pearl spotted owlet,
slender tailed nightjars Jackson’s and hemprichs hornbills,bristsle-crowend
starling, red-fronted barbet, white bellied go-away bird,rufous
chatterer, white-billed buffalo,jacksons golden-backed, northern
masked,vetteline masked, little and village weavers, white bellied
canary, white-throated bee-eater and beautiful sunbird, brown tailed
rock thru scaly throated, greater and pallid honey guides Heuglins
courser, Madagascar bee-eater, pygmy batis, silver bird, cliff chat,
northern grey tit, brubru.
Dinner and overnight stay at Baringo club.
Day 6. Lake Baringo
This day will be spend birding in and around the lake Baringo club
area, the cliff and the roosting sites for the baringo special.
There will be ample time to relax for those who whish to take a
break from the birding routine, overnight
stay at the Baringo club as above.
Day 7. Kongelai escarpment
Leave early morning and drive to Kongelai escarpment via the tugen
and elgeyo escarpment one of the most scenic landscape. The drive
will takes us through sirikwa and Tranz zoia plateau the country’s
food basket. We will stop for lunch at kitale before driving to
Saiwa swamp national park, the smallest park in the country and
home to rare aquatic sitatunga
antelope and the debrazza monkey. It is also a good birding
spot; grey winged robin, splendid
and purple starling, white chinned prinia, halubs golden weaver
and grosbeak weaver, little rush warbler, Doherty’s bushrike
eastern grey plantain eater.
3 nights at the barnleys farm house on full
board basis.
Day 8. Kongelai escarpment
Pre breakfast walk in the compound with high chance of seeing the
western violet backed sunbird
that comes to the garden, quick breakfast then drive to Kongelai
escarpment, we will have picnic lunch on board, to enable us spend
the entire day in this great birding spot. the birds that we will
be looking for in this area are; White
crested turaco, Ross’s turaco, Eastern grey plantain eater,
Yellow billed shrike, hemprich hornbill, Lesser blue eared starling,
Foxy and croaking cisticola, Yellow bellied hyliota, Chestnut crown
sparrow weaver, Greenbacked eremomella, Black billed barbet, Heuglins
mask weaver, Hartlaubs marsh widow bird, bronze tailed starling,
black headed batis, brown backed and Ugandan spotted wood pecker,
brown parrot, Wahlberg’s and greater honey guide.
Dinner and overnight barnleys as above.
Day 9. Cherangani Hills
05.45 am depart to the highest peaks and the montane forest of cherangani
hills for some specials found in this rarely visited part of the
country, breakfast and lunch on board. The montane species of birds
that we will be going after are; the
lammergeyer, African crowned eagle, mountain buzzard, the spotted
creeper, Abyssinian ground thrush, cinnamon chested bee-eater. Purple
throtted cuckoo shrike, fine banded wood pecker, oriole finch, Hartlaubs
turaco, grey cuckoo shrike, grey headed negrofinch, alpine chat,
evergreen woodland warbler mountain yellow warbler, African hill
babbler, mountain oriole mountain greenbul, sharpes starling, moustached
green tinker bird, white browed crombec, African wood owl, black
billed weaver , brown caped weaver, red fronted parrot, tacazze,collared,northern
double collared and the eastern collared sunbird.
Dinner and overnight barnleys as above.
Day 10. Kakamega forest
Depart to Kakamega forest, a lovely tranquil oasis
in what must be the centre of one of the Africa’s most amazing
birding spots. Here we will spend 3 nights and be prepared to be
overwhelmed by a myriad of lifers if you have not yet visited upper
guinea forest. Kakamega comprises the last remnants in Kenya of
this particular habitat and always bustles with the activity of
birds and a number of impressive monkey species. Birds that we can
see here include; great blue,
black-billed and Ross’s turacos,African emerald cuckoo, blue-headed
bee-eater, black and white-casqued hornbill,yellow-billed,yellow-spotted
and hairy-breasted barbets, thick-billed and least honey guides,cassin’s
honey bird,brown-eared,golden crowned and buff spotted woodpeckers,
Shelly’s, joyful, little grey, Cameroon somber,slender-billed,toro
olive, honey guide, little and arsorges greenbuls,stuhlmans starling,
MacKinnon’s fiscal, African blue flycatcher, blue shouldered
robin-chat, white-spotted flufftail,bar-tailled trogon, brown throated,
yellow billed Jameson’s and chestnut wattle-eyes, equatorial
akalat,white tailed. ant-thrush, turners eremomela,southern hyliota,dusky
tit,green headed, green throated,green,olive,northern double-collared,
copper and variable sunbirds, violet black;brown-capped,bleck-necked,dark
backed and black-billed weavers,
3 nights at rondo retreat centre on full board
basis
Day 11. Kakamega forest
Spend the entire day birding in the forest covering different location
within the forest of Kakamega.
Over night at rondo retreat as above.
Day 12. Kakamega forest
Drive to mumias with picnic breakfast on board, this area is a sugar
belt region with large tract of land covered with sugar cane plantation.
The special in this area include; copper
and olive bellied sunbird, fawn breasted waxbill, bar breasted fire
finch, red headed love bird, parasitic weaver, rock pranticole and
Senegal coucal
Dinner and over night at rondo retreat as
above.
Day 13. lake Victoria
Pre break fast walk in the forest for some birds that are still
missing. After breakfast depart to the town of kisumu which is on
the shores of Lake Victoria. Another fabulous birding spot, the
species that we will be looking for include. Slender billed, northern
brown throated, yellow backed and the orange weaver, Southern Red
Bishop, giant, pied and the malachite kingfishers Papyrus Gonolek,
Swamp Flycatcher, Greater Swamp Warbler, White-winged Warbler, other
birds includes Hammerkorp, Little Egret, Yellow-billed Stork, Red-chested,
Copper Sunbird, African Thrush, Black-headed Gonolek, Fan-tailed
Widowbird.
1 night at kiboko bay resort on full board.
Day 14; Masai Mara game
reserve
Leave early morning and drive to Masai Mara game reserve the world’s
best animal sanctuary. The first two nights will be on western side
popularly known as the Mara triangle, our target will be to see
the big game as well as the Mara specials which include; Rufous
chested,grey rumped swallow, green caped eremomella, Rufous-bellied
Heron, Pale Wren Warbler, rock loving, long tailed and thrilling
cisticola,broad tailed warbler, African moustached warbler, quail
finch, harlequin quail, flappet lark Rosy breasted Long claw, plain
backed pipit, golden tailed wood pecker, black coucal,bare faced
go away bird schallows turaco,batleur, black chested, brown and
banded snake eagles martial and African crowned eagle, narinas trogon,
common wattle-eye other birds include; African white back, Lappet-faced,
White-headed Vulture
2 nights at Mara west camp on full board basis.
Day 15; Masai Mara game
reserve
depart early into the park with breakfast and spend half day watching
big herds of elephants, buffalos, giraffes, bride of lion, cheetah
and if lucky the elusive leopard. The grassland can be so rewarding
on birds that are dependant; black coucal, rosy breasted long claw,
broad tailed warbler, stout and the zitting cisticola, sooty chat.
We will be back in the camp time for lunch then afternoon bird walk
on the ololoo escarpment.
Dinner and over at the camp
Day 16 Masai Mara game
reserve
Morning bird walk in the camp, breakfast then check out and drive
to the south part of Mara a good habitat for magpie shrike, drive
through Mara conservancy and the Mara river famous area during the
annual wildebeest migration, it is home to hundreds of hippos and
giant crocs. We will have picnic on board because there is lots
to see along the way.
1 night at keekorok lodge on full board.
Day 17
After breakfast drive leisurely back to Nairobi, stop for lunch
at narok, get in Nairobi in the evening for early dinner then drive
to the airport for your flight home.
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