KENYA BIRDS QUEST.

Days:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Days 3 & 4:
Days 5 & 6:
Days 7 & 8:.
Day 9:.
Days 10 & 11:
Days 12 & 13:
Day 14:
 

Location:
Arrive Nairobi.
Mt. Kenya National Park.
Samburu National Reserve.
Lake Nakuru National Park.
Lake Baringo.
Lake Naivasha.
Masai Mara Reserve.
Masai Mara Reserve.
Back to Nairobi.
 

Accommodation:
Fairview Hotel.
Serena Mt. lodge.
Samburu Intrepid.
Sarova Lion Hill.   
L. Baringo Club.
Elsamere C. Center.
Siana Springs Camp.
Mara Siria Camp.
Flight back home. 
 

Introduction.
This bird watching safari is designed for the involved naturalist. It's the ideal guided overview of Kenya's extraordinarily diverse bird species and an annual favorite for keen birders. The safari also covers general wildlife watching but with more emphasis on the bird life.

We will visit totally different areas from Samburu – north of equator with it’s unique wildlife and bird life as well to the Great Rift valley lakes with great game viewing area, surrounded by yellow barked acacia’s and the red clad Masai’s people dotted across the plains. Vast herds of antelopes, zebra and prides of lions share their home with hundreds of birds species including the famous pink wash of flamingos across the Lake NakuruRift Valley lakes.

Grading:
Gentle walks in Mt. Kenya, Lake Baringo and Lake Naivasha. In Samburu Game Reserve, Lake Nakuru Park and Masai Mara Reserve birding and game viewing will be done in comfortable 4WD safari Land Cruiser vehicles.

Focus:
Birds and Natural History of Kenya.

Safari highlight:
- 14 days birding safari in Kenya.
- Departure dates: August 2 th to August 15 th 2008 and October 4 th to October 17 th 2008.
- Departure dates: August 1 st to August 14 th 2009 and October 3 rd to October 16 th 2009.
- Specialist Ornithologist guide.
- Luxury 4WD safari Land Cruiser vehicles.
- Great bird watching guaranteed.
- Excellent accommondation.
- Endemic and endangared Kenya birds species.
- Highland forest species.
- Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Lake Baringo.
- Masai Mara eco-system - 1, 500 sq km's wilderness.
- Great Rift Valley.
- Large herbivores and predators. 

Itinerary
Day 1:
Upon arrival in Nairobi you will be meet by our airport representative Ms. Lucy Wanjiku and be transferred to Fairview hotel at the outskirts of the city. Fairview Hotel has lovely garden full of trees and flowers which are full of birds - expect to see your first Kenya bird species here.

Overnight at Fairview Hotel, bed and breakfast.

Day 2:
Mt. Kenya National Park.
Breakfast at our hotel and then we leave for Mt. Kenya. Today we are going to pass through the kikuyu. We are going to make stops on the way looking for the different rarities to arrive at our lodge in time for lunch.

Mount Lodge, a game viewing lodge overlooking a waterhole. Upon arrival we are going to have lunch and then venture out in the afternoon to do birding at the beautiful highland forest around the lodge.

In particular we will be looking for, Mountain wagtail and Giant Kingfisher. If it is clear we will be able to see the snow-capped Mt. Kenya. When the night falls Waterbucks, Cape buffalo’s and African Elephants frequent the waterhole and if we are lucky, there could be sightings of Black Rhinoceros and sometimes the elusive Leopard and after dark the night is full of Tree hyrax eerie shrieks and the whistle of the Montane Nightjar.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Serena Mt. Lodge.

Day 3:
Samburu Game Reserve.
Today, if the weather is clear we will awaken to views of the snow-capped summit of Mount Kenya. There is an excellent birding at the lodge and this morning we can have a walk looking out for such species as Olive and Eastern Bronze-napped Pigeons, Red-fronted Parrot, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Cinnamon Chested Bee-eater, Silvery Checked Hornbills, Black saw wings among many others before we have breakfast and then leave for Samburu driving further north passing the equator to Samburu Reserve. Situated in the arid north of Kenya, is one of the most beautiful national reserves in Kenya.

Grasslands, acacia woodlands and lush riverine vegetation present an African mosaic and a diversity of habitats that make the reserve one of the finest in terms of birdlife and wildlife.

A well range of common game we will be looking for includes the Reticulated Giraffe, Grevy’s Zebra, Beisa Oryx, Gerenuk and possibly Leopard. Amongst the wealth of birdlife, African Pygmy falcon, Vulturine Guinea fowl, Somali Ostrich, Orange bellied parrot, Golden breasted Starlings and Somali beeeaters as the possibilities.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Samburu Intrepid.

Day 4:
Samburu Game Reserve.
A full day’s programme of game drives and bird watching in the reserve and a second night here. Lunch, dinner and overnight at Samburu Intrepid.

Day 5:
Lake NakuruNational Park.
After breakfast we leave the beautiful reserve for the world renowned Lake Nakuru National Park arriving there in time for lunch. Lake Nakuru is a soda lake and host to one of the great ornithological spectacles of the world. Hundreds of thousands of Greater and Lesser Flamingos (occasionally up to 2 million) traditionally form the carpet of shimmering pink that stretches as far as the eye can see

Around the lake-shore, Pink-backed and White Pelican swim in the shallows and feeding amongst them are Yellow-billed and Marabou Storks, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbills, and an almost complete range of ducks, waders, terns and gulls.

The piercing call of the African Fish Eagles is a familiar sound at Lake Nakuru and just one of the numerous birds of prey that patrol the park. Mammals too are plentiful, particularly Bohor Reedbuck, Waterbuck, Buffalo, Warthogs and the rare Rothschild’s Giraffe, whilst anyone tiring of the lakeside spectacle will find more than enough birds and other wildlife in the surrounding scrub and woodland. Lake Nakuru is one of the places in Africa to find Leopards and the park is also a Rhino Sanctuary with over 60 Black Rhinoceros, although they are some how hard to spot them due to the habitat they prefer but there is also a healthy breeding population of White Rhinoceros which are quite easy to spot.

We are going to spend the days birding, watching wildlife leaving the lodge with our packed breakfast to be back for lunch and then venturing out again in the afternoon to be back to the lodge just before it gets dark.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge.
 

Day 6:
Lake Nakuru National Park.
A full day’s programme of game drives and bird watching in the reserve and a second night here.
The park is a wonderfully atmospheric place; Lake Nakuru Park was the setting for a world winning classic film ‘Out of Africa’.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Sarova Lion Hill Lodge.

Day 7:
Lake Baringo.
Today we drive to Lake Baringo. We arrive at Lake Baringo Country Club in time for lunch after having stopped on the way when we spot any thing special. After lunch and settling in the club, a charming lakeside hotel, there should be time for an evening walk as setting sun turns the barren but spectacular surroundings to a deep shade of pink. Look out for hippos on the lawn of the hotel overnight!

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Lake Baringo Country Club.

Day 8:
Lake Baringo.
Lake Baringo is one of Kenya’s many Rift Valley Lakes, but it is quite unique in its setting. It is one of only two freshwater lakes in the rift’s line of soda lakes (the other being Lake Naivasha where we shall be traveling after here). Set amongst dry, rocky, acacia-clothed hills, and spectacular rugged cliffs and plateaux, Lake Baringo is remote and peaceful. With such a variety of habitats in the vicinity, the birdlife is excellent. We will explore the lake side, the acacia woodlands, and towering cliffs nearby with the local guides who know where to find specialties like, Verreaux’s Eagles, Spotted Eagle Owl, Heuglin’s Courser, White-faced Whistling Duck, Hemprich’s Hornbill and Bristle-crowned Starling.

Our trips around Lake Baringo are on foot, mostly in the vicinity of the hotel. However, if the weather permits, optional boating trips can be organized at minimal cost depending on the number of people willing to take the excursion.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Lake Baringo Country Club. 

Day 9:
Lake Naivasha.
After breakfast we leave Lake Baringo Lake Naivasha where we are going to be birding at the conservation center grounds and the shoreline.
Lake Naivasha is famous for its large number of water birds. We are going to be staying at Elsamere Field Study Center at the banks of Lake Naivasha: Elsamere is the former home of Joy Adamson who, together with her husband George, became world famous for the pioneering conservation work and relationship with the Lioness Elsa.

However, if the weather permits, optional boating trips can be organized at minimal cost depending on the number of people willing to take the excursion.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Elsamere Conservation Center.

Day 10:
Masai Mara Game Reserve.
We leave Lake Naivasha for the Masai Mara Game Reserve, driving through some lovely bush land scenery en route.

Our journey takes us through the floor of the Rift Valley and then up the Mau Escarpment. Continuing through Masai land, past open plains and steep hills, we will pass through the busy Masai market town of Narok, a riot of colour as the red cloaks of the men and the bright colors of the women clothes mingle with the many shop fronts, goats and piles of fruit and vegetables for sale. From here we will complete our drive to our comfortable camp tented camp at Sarova Mara Camp. Here we will be based for the next two nights and after lunch and we have settled at our camp we head out for a game drive to enjoy the wildlife of Kenya’s top game reserve.
Lunch, dinner and overnight at Siana Springs Tented Camp.

Day 11:
Masai Mara Game Reserve.
A full day’s programme of game drives and bird watching in the reserve and a second night here.
The park is a wonderfully atmospheric place.

Lunch, dinner and overnight at Siana Springs Tented Camp.

Days 12 & 13:
Masai Mara Game Reserve.
The Masai Mara Game Reserve is probably the most famous in all of Africa. It is a rising grassland, watered by the Mara River and covering an area of 1, 510 sq kms. The Mara region has been inhabited by humans at least 2,000 years, the last 200 years by the Maasai. The area is part of what is now referred to as the Mara – Serengeti Ecosystem, being joined to the huge Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. In the local Maa language, Mara means ‘spotted’, a reference to the patches of bush and trees that dot the plains.

The Masai Mara holds some of the largest concentration of animals in the world, especially in July when huge herds of the White-bearded Wildebeest and the Burchell’s Zebras, pursued by their attendant predators, migrate into the reserve from the adjacent Serengeti.

This is another Africa’s great wildlife spectacle and, whilst nothing is certain in the world of wildlife watching, we hope to have timed it just the right time to witness the breathtaking sight of the Mara grasslands filled as far as the eye can see with huge herds of Wildebeest and Zebra. Topi, Coke’s Hartebeest, Impala, Eland, Thompson’s gazelle, Bohor Reedbuck, Dik diks, Masai Giraffe, Elephant and Buffalo feed amongst them stalked by Lion’s, Cheetah

and Leopard, along with a variety of other predators and scavengers such as Bat-eared Fox, Spotted Hyena and Black-backed Jackals.
The birdlife is equally diverse, although often takes second place to the spectacle of the mammals. Huge Ground Hornbills and elegant Secretary birds stride across the grasslands along with the Kori Bustard. Lone bushes and dead trees provide lookout perches for the beautiful Lillac-breasted Roller and a variety of bee-eaters including the beautiful Carmine Bee – eater, whilst among them Martial Eagles, Lappet-faced, African White-backed, Hooded and Ruppell’s Vultures, the latter four always on the look out for a recent kill. In the camp ground the acacia woodlands are full of finches, weavers, Turaco’s, go-away-birds.

Our days in the Mara will start with early morning wake up call and a cup of tea or coffee as you like it, before we head out onto the plains shortly after dawn. After enjoying the animals and birds we will return to the camp late morning for brunch and siesta before heading out again for an afternoon drive. There are additional activities on offer for those who wish, the most popular being a hot air balloon ride, a Maasai village visit, both a truly magical African experience. These are not included in the tour cost; however, they must be booked in advance, so please contact Mbango Safaris office for reservations and more information.

For the June – October safari, Mara will be at its best time of the year to see the spectacle, with the plains having been so recently watered by the ‘long rains’. The wildebeest is one of the world greatest wildlife spectacles in the earth. They are perused by hungry predators, Lions, Leopards, Spotted Hyenas, Black Backed Jackals, Cheetahs and as they cross the Mara River the Crocodiles devour them.

Lunch, dinner and two overnights at Mara Siria Tented Camp.

Day 14:
Nairobi.
Sadly, today we have to leave Masai Mara which has been our home and wildlife theatre for the last four days for a long return drive to Nairobi bird watching enroute.  On our eventful arrival back at Nairobi, we will refresh up at the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi and have a last meal together at the famous Carnivore restaurant, before making our way to the airport for our outbound flight back home.

Grading.
This tour is designed for the involved naturalist. It is ideal guided overview to Kenya's extraordinaly diverse bird species and an annual favourite for keen birders

Weather.
During our tour we can expect most days to be dry and fairly sunny, temperatures ranging from 20- 30^oC, depending on altitude. Overcast weather, particularly in the afternoons, may not be infrequent, but rain is unlikely except on high ground such as Mt. Kenya, where afternoon precipitation is a possibility. Here the weather can be chilly between sunset and sunrise.

Food & accommodation included in the price.
All meals and accommodation are included throughout this holiday, with the exception of dinner on the first day at Fairview Hotel and lunch on the last day.

Birds field guide and check list.
Every participant of the trip will get birds field guide (Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania - Dale A. Zimmermann, Donald A. Turner and David J. Pearson) and checklist of birds of Kenya on arrival at Nairobi.