Birdwatchers safari kenya

After breakfast, an introductory briefing takes place with your guide, soon to become your friend as he shares with you the excitement of many magical days to come. We leave Nairobi for Nakuru road to the Rift valley. On the way we stop at the Limuru Swamp where we do our first bird count: Little Grebe, Yellow-billed and Maccoa Duck, Pelicans, Coots, Egrets and Herons. Soaring are Black Kite, Augur Buzzard and Pied Crow.
The Nairobi - Nakuru road is on a contour along the rim of the Rift valley and on viewpoints we will be able to see our whole route for the next days.

At about 60 kilometers the tour arrives at the Mau escarpment, where will have a brief stop and take photos. There is a ‘look out’ from where one can view this natural wonder. Here the road descends into the Great Rift Valley. On the descent one is surprised to see just off the road, a small Italian style chapel. It was built by the Italian prisoners of war who constructed this fine road.
It should be mentioned here that this road from Nairobi to Nakuru was the first overland road to be surfaced with tarmac in Kenya.

Lake Bogoria has been described in the past as the ‘the jewel of the Rift Valley and by the words of Bishop Hanington on the first sight ‘the most beautiful view in Africa’ set in the acacia surroundings of the floor of the Great Rift Valley. The Resort is 266 KM from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, 125 kilometers from Nakuru town, 95 kilometer from the equator crossing and 20 kilometers from Marigat.

The resort is five minutes drive away from Lake Bogoria Reserve popularly known for the bubbling hot springs and steaming geysers. Admire the pink and white swathes of flamingos on the soda lake. The reserve also plays host to the greater shy kudu, an antelope with spiraling horns as well as impalas, grant gazelles, cheetahs and water bucks. The lake mainly thorny bush land and thicket merging into wooded grasslands. Dense riverine forests of doum and raffia palm occur along watercourses, with various sedges in riverine swamps. It has significant ornithological interest with 135 species of birds recorded…a site to behold for both local and international clients

Overnight at Lake Bogoria & Spa Resort www.lakebogoria-hotel (BLD)

After breakfast you will check out and drive to Lake Baringo with packed lunch boxes to be enjoyed at Lake Baringo.

This is a fresh water lake found in Rift Valley, 200km north of Naivasha. The lake is home to a huge mix of marine life and bird species. Scholars of the earth's underground activities can base their research on this lake, as its shorelines are dotted with steam jets, boiling geysers and fumaroles.

The lake is thought of as a good stopover site whilst on a long safari across the Great Rift Valley. It offers an extraordinary variety if bird life and is renowned for this reason, in fact it is known as the bird watching center of Kenya. Different species have been spotted on Lake Baringo. Flamingoes with a lighter shade of pink inhabit the lake along with the rare Greater Kudu.

The lake is also home to crocodiles and hippos. For viewing purposes, there exist boat trips that are efficient for going to the islands. KAMPI YA SAMAKI is the center of exploration, which gives one good sittings.

The Njemps community is also a fascination and offer entertainment in the form of song and dance enabled by the excursions provided, to their villages. The surrounding environment of the lake is arid, red- soiled with sparse vegetation offering a good atmosphere for setting up picnics or just meditation

In the late afternoon, a short drive back to Lake Bogoria & resort Spa for overnight.

Overnight at Lake Bogoria & Spa Resort www.lakebogoria-hotel (BLD)

After a relaxed breakfast, we head to Lake Nakuru National park where will arrive in time for lunch.
This is followed by an afternoon game drive in this world-famous bird sanctuary, known for its large concentration of flamingoes and for other waterfowl, such as pelican, but also for its offering good chances to see a leopard on a tree. Furthermore, it is at present East Africa’s only National Park where you can see ‘white’ (square-lipped) rhinos. Lastly, the Park also features lion, the rare Rothschild giraffe, buffalo, waterbuck, antelope/gazelle, warthog, zebra, rock hyrax, etc.


Overnight at Lake Nakuru Lodge - www.lakenakuru.com or similar (BLD)

fter breakfast, our today destination is at Lake Naivasha: a fresh water lake in the Rift Valley. We start our day with a boat ride on Lake Naivasha on the lookout for a range of fish eaters: both the Long-tailed and Great Cormorant together with the Fish Eagle and the Pied, Malachite and Giant Kingfisher. From the mainland out into Lake Naivasha gives you access to the unique Crescent Island Wildlife Sanctuary. There is also possibility to access it by road passing through the "Horse Riding Complex" A wide variety of wildlife, birdlife and flora lives quite freely out there and as there are no predators to be found, quite happily as well.
Spend some time wandering around at your own pace and enjoy the peace and quiet broken only by the sounds of the Islands wild inhabitants.
To have the best sightings of the bird life in Lake Naivasha, Crescent Island is the place of choice. It is a lagoon from where we should be able to see Red-capped Lark, Spectacled and Baglafecht Weaver, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Brimstone Canary and Red-billed Firefinch.Later we head to Hell's Gate National Park with picnic lunch boxes.

The first part is open grasslands bordered with steep rock cliffs in which the Rüppell's Griffon Vulture nests. Easy sightings here are the Verreaux's or Black Eagle, Common Ostrich, Black-shouldered Kite, White-fronted Bee-eater, Grassland and Long-billed Pipit, Northern and Schalow's Wheatear, Lilac-breasted Roller...
The narrow gorge has a completely different habitat and hence very different birds: Yellow, Grey and African Pied Wagtail, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Purple Grenadier, Common Drongo, Superb Starling, Brimstone Canary, Common Waxbill, White-browed Robin-Chat...

After this full day bird watching and photographing will then head to your lodge.

Overnight at Lake Naivasha Sopa lodge - www.sopalodges.com or similar (BLD)

Today after breakfast, our safari will lead us to the jewel of Kenya parks, the Masai Mara Game Reserve by road. Masai Mara is Kenya's most visited game reserve and is a home to the "Big Five". The breathtaking views, a panorama of fertile vast rolling plains that supports a huge amount of resident plain games and their predators. Apart from the big five the Masai Mara is most famous for the annual spectacle of the wildebeest migration, where millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle leave the plains of the Serengeti and cross the Mara River in search of fresh feeding grounds. Lunch to be served at your lodge.
After lunch and some time to relax; you will depart with your driver guide for an afternoon game drive in search of the big five. As sun starts to edge dip into the horizon it will be perfect time to photograph the beautiful Mara rolling plains. Don't forget this is the right time to spot the shy leopard.
Overnight at Masai Sopa Lodge – www.sopalodges.com or similar (BLD)

• You may gather to discuss the schedule your time in the Mara and photographic objectives.

• Depending on the location of animal movements, one of your days will almost certainly be a full day safari, to give the best possible to make wonderful photos thus packed lunch to be carried from the lodge.

After breakfast, depart with packed lunch boxes for a different experience where will spend to the interior of the reserve.

Mara is the gem of birding and game viewing in Kenya with 450 species recorded. In the vast grasslands we expect to see Elephants; the large Cats - Lion, Leopard, and Cheetah; the herd animals - Zebra, Wildebeest, Thompson's and Grant's Gazelles; and specialties like the Hartebeest and the Topi.
Expected Kenyan bird species are the highly conspicuous Common Ostrich, the small but still conspicuous Cardinal Quelea, Sooty Chat, Ground Hornbill, Open-billed Stork, Temminck's Courser, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse and Denham's Bustard. Lilac-breasted Rollers are common. If we find a kill, we may see six species of vultures all dining together: Egyptian, Hooded, Griffon, Nubian, White-backed and White-headed. It will be a double reward should a Hyena or a Jackal join in the scramble for the kill.
In addition we will encounter numerous raptors such as Bateleur, Martial and Tawny Eagles, as well as Pale Chanting Goshawk, Augur Buzzards and Black-chested Snake Eagles. Along the Mara River we'll watch for African Finfoot, Schalow's and Ross' Turaco, Woodland Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Barbet, Black-billed Weaver, Violet-backed Starling, and perhaps with luck, Pel's Fishing Owl. Any tapping noise on the trees may be indicative of the relatively uncommon Woodpeckers (Golden-tailed, Green-backed and Fine-banded).
Hopefully we will be lucky enough to see some of the more difficult to see mammals such as Bat-eared Fox, Hunting Dog, Serval and the delightful Banded Mongoose.

Overnight at Masai Sopa Lodge – www.sopalodges.com or similar (BLD)