16 days birding in Kenya

Day 1- Arrival

You will arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and bird at Karura forest depending on the time of arrival.  Overnight stay will be in a hotel in Nairobi.

Day 2 and 3: Castle Forest

We will leave the hotel very early in Nairobi with lunch boxes and make a stopover at Blue Post Hotel and Thika Wetlands in the early morning. Later, we will drive toward Sagana Lodge in Nyeri to look for the endemic Hinde's babbler.  We will have our lunch there then drive for a few hours to Castle Forest for birding in the afternoon.

The following day we will do a full day of birding in Castle Forest for the white headed woodhoope, abbot's and Waller's starlings, brown capped weaver, grey and purple throated cuckoo shrikes, grey, black collared and chestnut throated apalises, kikuyu white eye, olive breasted greenbul, cinnamon chested beeeaters, kandt's waxbill, abbysinian crimson wing, orange ground thrush, African harrier hawk, and brown parisoma.  Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 4 and 5: Samburu National Reserve

We will leave Castle Forest in the morning with picnic lunches and drive to Samburu for afternoon birding.  The next day we will do a proper birding for dry country specials such as the Somali beeeater, Somali courser, Somali crombec, fan tailed raven, mouse colored and Somali tits, Somali ostrich, Donaldson's smith sparrow weavers, grant woodhoope, pale prinia, ree bellied parrot, vulturine guinea fowl, African cuckoo, eastern yellow billed hornbill, black cheeked waxbills, black throated barbets and many more. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 6: Buffalo Springs to Naromoru River Lodge

We will drive across the Ewaso Ngiro River connecting the Buffalo Springs Reserve via the Ngare Mara gate.  We will search for more dry country specials in this area then later drive to Naromoru River Lodge to have our lunch.  We will have an afternoon filled with birding in hopes of finding the African citril, Meyers parrots, common scimitabill, rüppell's robin chats, sulphur breasted and grey headed bushshrikes, ant eating chats and brown tailed rock chat. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 7: Birding enroute to Lake Baringo

We will have our early breakfast and do some two hours birding around the camp grounds then take our picnic lunches for a long drive to Baringo. We will occasionally spot birds on the way and arrive to our lodge in the evening for a boat ride searching for waterbirds. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 8 and 9: Lake Baringo

We will bird here for northern white faced scops and greyish eagle owl, northern masked weaver, hemprich's and Jackson's hornbills, gambaga flycatcher, bristled crowned starlings, mocking cliff chat, brown tailed rock thrush, red faced crombec, and Abyssinian scimitarbill. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 10-Birding enroute to Kakamega

We will leave the lodge with our packed lunch birding enroute towards kakamega arriving late for an evening bird walk. Overnight stay will be at Rondo retreat.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be included.

Day11-12- Kakamega Forest

In this rain forest we will be looking for some of the special birds of the west including the Guinea-Congolian types. Our feathered friends here include the blue billed bristled bill, kakamega hyliota, black faced rufous warbler, thick billed honeyguide, blue beeeaters, Jameson's and yellow bellied wattle eyes, little black billed and dark backed weavers, ansorges, little grey and joyful greenbuls, bocages bushshrikes, MacKinnon's fiscal, Equatorial akalat, yellow throated leaf love, African blue flycatcher, snowy crowned robinchat, grey chested kakamega, brown chested alethe and pink footed puffback. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 13-Kisumu

We will drive towards Kisumu in the early mornings and make a stop at Busia grasslands arriving in the afternoon. We will bird the Dunga hills and swamps for red chested sunbirds, vieillot's, slender billed, little and golden backed weavers, swamp flycatcher, northern brown throated weavers, grey backed fiscal, carruther's cisticola, blue breasted beeeter, pappyrus and black headed gonoleks, greater swamp and white winged swamp warblers. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 14-Kisumu to Lake Naivasha

We will take a boat ride in the early morning in Lake Victoria. In the mid-morning we will take a long drive with our picnic lunch to Lake Naivasha arriving late in the afternoon for some birding. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day15-Lake Naivasha and Kinangop Grasslands

We will do an early boat ride on the lake towards the crescent island for water birds.  Later, we will drive to Kinangop Grasslands for the endemic Sharpe's longclaw and other localized birds such as long tailed widowbird, plain backed pipit, African snipe, and straw tailed whydahs. Later we will drive to Aberdares National Park for late afternoon birding. Accommodations for both nights will be at a mid-range camp or lodge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 16: Aberdares National Park to Nairobi

We will have a half day birding in the park looking for some forest specialists such as the malachite, golden winged and bronzy sunbirds, the endemic Aberdares cisticola, the pectoral patch, leivaillants cisticolas, moorland chat, and Jackson's francolin. After lunch, we will drive towards Nairobi and take a shot stop at Manguo Swamp for the rare maccoa duck. We will drive straight to either the airport if you are leaving the Nairobi or to your hotel.