Kenya Birding Safari Tour Holiday - 16 Days

16 Days Kenya Birding Safari Tour Holiday Itinerary: DAY 1 - Arrival in Nairobi - Following your arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, just outside of Kenya’s bustling capital, you will be transferred to our hotel where you will be met by your tour leader. We will then meet for a welcome dinner, to discuss our exciting forthcoming adventure. - Dinner and overnight at Nairobi Hakka Hotel DAY 2 - Mount Kenya - After breakfast, we will proceed towards Mt. Kenya National Park, where we expect to arrive in the mid to late afternoon. - En route, there is a distinct possibility of sighting Speckled Moosebird, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Spot-flankedBarbet, Lesser Striped Swallow, Capped Wheatear, Abyssinian Thrush, African Pipit, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Red-faced Crombec, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, African Paradise Flycatcher, Collared and Variable Sunbirds, Abyssinian White-eye, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Streaky Seed-eater and African Citril. - Dinner and overnight at Serena Mountain Lodge booked on full board. DAY 3 - Mount Kenya Region - Today we will have a full day to bird the slopes of Mount Kenya, as we ascend through the montane forest towards the Meteorological Station. If the weather is clear, we shall awaken to views of the snow-capped summit of Mount Kenya (5199m) – Africa’s second-highest peak after Mount Kilimanjaro. - Birds that we will be targeting on the forested slopes here include Black Sparrowhawk, the magnificent Crowned Eagle, Jackson’s Francolin, African Olive and Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeons, Red-fronted Parrot, bullet-like Scarce Swift, Crowned and Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, beautiful Bar-tailed Trogon, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Moustached and Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Black Saw-wing, Yellow-whiskered. - Dinner and overnight at Serena Mountain Lodge booked on full board. DAY 4 - Mount Kenya - lake Nakuru - After a morning bird walks, we will depart for Lake Nakuru National Park. - The journey will take several hours to complete, largely because of the number of important stops along the way. - First, we will visit a regular roost site for the rare and impressive Cape Eagle-Owl. The subspecies here, machinery, is larger in size than the nominate race and is sometimes split off as distinct species. Further along, we will also visit the impressive Thompson Falls. In the surrounding scrub and secondary forest, we may encounter White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, African Paradise Flycatcher, Collared and Variable Sunbirds, African Green Pigeon, and Purple-crested Turaco, while the delightful Mountain Wagtails sometimes seen at the river’s edge. - Thereafter, we will drop down the eastern rim of the Great Rift Valley and onwards to Lake Nakuru National Park. - Dinner and overnight at Sarova Woodlands Hotel booked on Full board. DAY 5 - Lake Nakuru National Park - Lake Nakuru was initially declared as a national park because of its vast flamingo population. The alkaline levels of the lake itself vary and this, along with other accompanying changes in algal biomass, causes considerable variation in the flamingo population. - Besides the flamingos, other water birds abound and we can expect to find good numbers of Great White Pelican, cormorants, egrets, ibis, ducks, African Spoonbill, the regal African Fish Eagle, and noisy groups of Pied Kingfisher. - The surrounding dryland areas also support Black-headed Lapwing, Coqui and Hildebrandt’s Francolins, White-fronted Bee-eater, Green Wood Hoopoe, Red-throated Wryneck, Red-rumped, and Mosque Swallows, Mocking Cliff Chat, Little Rock Thrush, Arrow-marked Babbler, the scarce Grey-crested Helmetshrike, Rüppell’s Starling, and Speke’s Weaver. - Dinner and overnight at Sarova Woodlands Hotel booked on Full board. DAY 6 - Lake Nakuru - Lake Baringo - Lake Baringo and surrounds. - We have a full day to explore the lake edge and the surrounding dry thornveld, where an impressive 470 odd species are on offer. We will focus our birding efforts on the beautiful grounds at the Country Club, the surrounding shoreline, and the impressive Baringo Cliffs. Key birds that we will be searching for include Verreaux’s and Greyish Eagle-Owls, Northern White-faced Owl, Hemprich’s and Jackson’s Hornbills, African Black and Nyanza Swifts, Mocking Cliff Chat, quirky Bristle-crowned Starlings, Red-fronted Apalis, Abyssinian White-eye, Fan-tailed Raven, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Black-throated Barbet, Pygmy Batis, the aptly named Beautiful Sunbird, Little, Village, Golden-backed and Northern Masked Weavers, and both Yellow-crowned and Northern Red Bishops. - Dinner and overnight at Lake Baringo Lodge booked on full board DAY 7 - Lake Bogoria - This is an important bird area and is frequently visited by specialist Birding safaris. - Species of interest recorded here include Jackson’s and Hemprich’s Hornbills, Bristle Crowned Starling, and waterbirds including Goliath Heron; White-backed Duck, and African Skimmers and Darters. - Dinner and overnight at Lake Bogoria Lodge booked on full board. DAY 8 - Lake Baringo to Kakamega Forest - After breakfast and a spot of morning birding, we head towards the famous Kakamega Forest. This is essentially a travel day on which we only expect to arrive at Kakamega Forest in the late afternoon. - Following a quick rest break; we may have the opportunity to bird the grounds of our accommodation in the early evening. Dinner and overnight at Rondo retreat Lodge booked on Full board. DAY 9 - Kakamega Forest Birding Tour - Today we will enjoy a full day of birding at Kakamega Forest, in search of several Central and West African specials. - Our targets here will include Crowned Eagle, Western Banded Snake Eagle, African Goshawk, the shy and extremely secretive White-spotted Flufftail, noisy Grey Parrots, the giant Great Blue and Black-billed Turacos, African Emerald and Black Cuckoos, Green Malkoha, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, the incredibly beautiful and secretive Blue-headed Bee-eater, Grey-throated, Yellow-billed, Yellow-spotted and Hairy-breasted Barbets, Thick-billed Honeyguide and Cassin’s Honeybird, Brown-eared, Buff-spotted and Yellow-crested Woodpeckers, African Broadbill and many more. - Dinner and overnight at Rondo retreat Lodge booked on Full board. DAY 10 - Kakamega Forest - Lake Victoria - After breakfast, you leave your hotel for a trip to Lake Victoria for bird search. - You have a chance to see birds’ species like Papyrus Gonolek, Swamp Flycatchers, White-Winged Warbler, Golden-Backed Weavers, Southern Red-Bishop, and Black-billed Barbet among others. - Later in the afternoon, you leave the lake for Masai Mara National Reserve. - Upon arrival, you relax and have dinner and spend overnight at Dunga beach hotel. - Lunch is provided during midday. DAY 11 - Kisumu - Lake Naivasha - Today after an early breakfast, our safari will be destined for Lake Naivasha, the only freshwater lake in the Rift Valley. - From the top of the Rift Valley escarpment, you can see the lake sparkling under the sun thousands of feet below you. - The lake is home to a large colony of hippos and it’s also a Mecca for bird watchers and researchers since over 400 different species of birds have been recorded here e.g. Long toed plover, Great white egret, Grey-headed gull, Southern pochard, Red-billed Teal and not mention the Lilly trotter. - Lunch will be served at the tranquil Lake Naivasha Country Club. - Dinner and overnight tonight will be served at Lake Naivasha Country Club. DAY 12 - Lake Naivasha - After breakfast, morning birds walk with the aim of viewing birds on the shores of the Lake with a few hours of relaxation before lunch. - Afternoon visit to Hell’s Gate National Park, which is breeding ground for vultures in Kenya e.g. Lammergeyer vultures. - Dinner & overnight tonight will be served at Lake Naivasha Country Club. DAY 13 - Lake Naivasha - Masai Mara National Park - Today our safari expedition will take us to the jewel of Kenya’s parks, the world famous Masai Mara Game (Wildlife) Reserve. This is Kenya’s number one park and is always on every bird watcher’s and wildlife tourists “Must see list”. - Full of life with various types of animals and birds, Masai Mara crown’s the climax of every safari in Kenya. Its rolling grasslands and acacia savannah have time and again been captured on film with the movie “Out Of Africa” being the most famous. Masai Mara is home to the “Big Five” (Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, and Rhino) and over 450 bird species as such as Bare-faced go away bird, Hooded vulture, Egyptian vulture, Flappet Lark, Red-necked fowl, White-necked Raven, etc. - Apart from the big five, the Masai Mara is most famous for the spectacular annual migration of over a million wildebeest, zebra, gazelle etc from the Serengeti in northern Tanzania crossing the Mara River into Kenya in search of fresh feeding grounds, which takes place in late July or August. - Dinner & overnight tonight will be served at, the Sopa lodge. DAY 14 - Masai Mara National Park - An early morning birding cum game drive after breakfast will be our perfect start of another unforgettable and memorable birding day in Africa. - With picnic lunch en-route you spend your day in Mara Plains trying to identify and record the over 450 species record in this reserve. - All meals and overnight tonight will be served at, the lodge. DAY 15 - Masai Mara National Park - After breakfast, you leave the lodge or camp for a full day Bird-Searching tour. In this famous reserve, there are lots of birds’ species like Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Schslows’s Turaco, Long-tailed Cisticolas, Pale Wren Warblers to mention a few. - Lunch is provided during midday where you later drive back to your lodge or camp for dinner and overnight. DAY 16 - Masai Mara National Park - Nairobi - Morning game drives then depart for Nairobi arriving in the late afternoon.