Inala's Kenya East African Tour

On our arrival at Nairobi Airport, we will be met by our local team and transferred to our hotel. We will meet for a welcome dinner tonight where we will discuss plans for our Kenyan adventure. 

Accommodation: Nairobi Hotel, Nairobi (en suite rooms). Meals: D.

Today we will travel to Kenya’s highest mountain, Mt Kenya where we should see many species of birds. We will bird both along the forest edge and also deeper into the mountain forest in our vehicle. We will also scan the forest, rivers and grasslands for the montane specials. Birds we hope to find in this area include African Cuckoo-Hawk, Mountain Buzzard, Crowned Eagle, Alpine Swift, Purple-throated Cuckoo-Shrike, Grey Cuckoo-Shrike, Mountain Wagtail, Cape Wagtail, Slender-billed Greenbul, Mountain Yellow-Warbler, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Black-throated Apalis, Black-collared Apalis, Chestnut-throated Apalis, White-browed Crombec, Hunter’s Cisticola, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Crowned Hornbill, African Black Duck, Red-fronted Parrot, Spectacled Weaver, Scaly Francolin, Rüppell's Robin-Chat, Abyssinian Crimsonwing, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Black-fronted Bushshrike, Malachite Sunbird, Golden-winged Sunbird, Eastern Double-collared Sunbird, Black-headed Waxbill, Olive Ibis, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, Slender-billed Starling, Abbott’s Starling, Sharpe’s Starling, Waller’s Starling, Kikuyu White-eye, Fine-banded Woodpecker, White-headed Wood-Hoopoe, Bar-tailed Trogon, Yellow-crowned Canary, Dusky Turtle Dove, African Green Pigeon, Lemon Dove, African Olive Pigeon and Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon. Montane mammals are also likely, including monkeys, antelopes, mongooses, genets, pigs, hogs and squirrels. 

Accommodation: Lodge on the slopes of Mt Kenya (en suite cabins) for 2 nights. Meals: B, L, D both days.

We shall leave early for Samburu, Shaba and Buffalo Springs. Here we will spend time birding and enjoying the local mammals such as Leopard, Cheetah, Beisa Oryx, Gerenuk, Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Lion and African Savanna (Bush) Elephant.
We can also expect to see many birds here, including Somali Ostrich, Somali Courser, Golden Pipit, Golden-breasted Starling, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Pringle’s Puffback, Northern Puffback, Northern White-crowned Shrike, White-headed Mousebird, Hunter’s Sunbird, Black-bellied Sunbird, Shining Sunbird, Red-billed Hornbill, Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Fire-fronted Bishop, Somali Bee-eater, Stone Partridge, African Orange-bellied Parrot, Yellow-vented Eremomela, Northern Crombec, Northern Grey Tit, Black-capped Social Weaver, Northern Brownbul, Buff-crested Bustard, African Bare-eyed Thrush, Somali Sparrow, Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar, Dusky Nightjar, Vulturine Guineafowl, Rufous Chatterer, African Mourning Dove, Egyptian Vulture, Bateleur, Martial Eagle and Tawny Eagle. This is an amazing part of Kenya and allows for excellent dry country birding. Many of the typical North-East African dryland birds are present here and the habitat will provide a huge species list. Accommodation: Safari Lodge at Buffalo Springs for 2 nights. Meals: B, L, D both days.

We will enjoy some amazing game drives at East Africa’s largest Black Rhino sanctuary with mammalian possibilities including Cape Buffalo, Grevy’s Zebra, Savannah Elephant, Spotted Hyena, Beisa Oryx, African Wild Dog, Jackson’s Hartebeest, Black Rhino, White Rhino, African Lion, Leopard and Cheetah. The grassy plains of Ol Pejeta Conservancy are also a great habitat for various species of birds. Key birds here include the Grey Crowned Crane, Red-fronted Barbet, Long-tailed Widowbird, Black-lored (Nanyuki) Babbler, African Grey Hornbill, White-bellied Tit, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Speke’s Weaver, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Cape Crow, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Secretarybird, Kori Bustard and White-bellied Bustard.
At Ol Pejeta Conservancy we also have a chance to visit the Northern White Rhino Sanctuary; after years of widespread poaching and civil war, this subspecies is considered to be extinct in the wild and there are now only two individuals left on Earth-both at Ol Pejeta. Their names are Najin and Fatu and they were moved to Kenya from the Czech Republic in 2009. In vitro fertilisation and stem cell technology are now being used here in a last ditch effort to save the subspecies. A Chimpanzee Sanctuary, established under agreement with the Kenya Wildlife Service and jane Goodall Institute is also located on the site. 

Accommodation: Ol Pejeta tented camp (en suite rooms). Meals: B, L, D both days.

We will leave early this morning and travel to Lake Nakuru National Park. This park is famed as the birdwatchers’ paradise, and indeed was the first national park in Africa to be set up with an avian conservation objective. Up to a million flamingos have been recorded in this park depending on their regional migration. Most of these are Lesser Flamingos with a smaller population of Greater Flamingos. Other birds include the Woolly-necked Stork, Arrow-marked Babbler, Little Rock-Thrush, Mocking Cliff Chat, White-browed Robin-Chat, Reed Cormorant, Pink-backed Pelican, Pied Avocet, Kittlitz's Plover, Blacksmith Plover, Coqui Francolin, Hildebrandt's Francolin, Black Cuckoo, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, African Cuckoo, Grey-crested Helmet-shrike, Cape Teal, Brimstone Canary, Hottentot Teal, Red-billed Teal, Dusky Nightjar and Montane Nightjar. Palearctic water migrants are seasonally also abundant here. The park is also a great sanctuary for rhinos (both Black and White Rhinoceros) and three other members of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, and Cape Buffalo), and these may be encountered as we move around the park. Other mammals seen here include herds of grazing herbivores and the endangered Rothschild’s Giraffe. Accommodation: Lodge at Lake Nakuru (en suite rooms). Meals: B, L, D.

We will spend the next two days in the vast Maasai Mara in search of local birds and mammals. Described by many as the top reserve in Kenya, this area has lots to offer, from the Big Five, herds of grazing mammals, to the amazing birdlife. Mammals here include Common Hippopotamus, Elephant, Common Warthog, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Topi, Grant’s Gazelle, Bushbuck, Bohor Reedbuck, Silver-backed Jackal, Common Eland, Common Zebra, African Buffalo and Thompson’s Gazelle. We shall also spend time in the reserve birding in this vast savannah. Likely species include Southern Ground-Hornbill, Rufous-bellied Heron, Dusky Nightjar, Schalow’s Turaco, Grey-crested Helmet-shrike, Red-necked Spurfowl, Red-winged Francolin, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Rufous-chested Swallow, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-headed Vulture, Ruppell’s Vulture, Secretarybird, Grey Kestrel, Temminck’s Courser, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Green-capped Eremomela, Black Coucal, African Quailfinch, Kori Bustard, Melodious Lark, Flappet Lark, Athi Short-toed Lark, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Black-backed Cisticola, Long-tailed Cisticola, Pale Wren-Warbler, Usambiro Barbet, Familiar Chat, Sooty Chat, African Wattled Plover, Woolly-necked Stork, Saddle-billed Stork and Magpie Shrike. Accommodation: near Maasai Mara NR (en suite rooms) for 2 nights. Meals: B, L, D each day.

We will leave Maasai Mara early and drive straight to Naivasha, where we will be looking for more savannah, bushland and also shorebirds along the lake. Expected species include Mosque Swallow, Lyne’s Cisticola, Chestnut Sparrow, Abyssinian Wheatear, Nyanza Swift, Mottled Swift, White-fronted Bee-eater, Mocking Cliff Chat, Bearded Woodpecker, Plain-backed Pipit, Giant Kingfisher, Grey-backed Fiscal, Grey-crested Helmet-shrike, Brimstone Canary, Cape Teal, Pied Avocet, Black Heron, Goliath Heron, Lesser Flamingo, Maccoa Duck, Great White Pelican, Common Greenshank, Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Hilderbrandt’s Francolin, Arrow-marked Babbler, Black-lored Babbler, African Fish Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Osprey, Hybrid Lovebird, Red-throated Wryneck, Golden-breasted Bunting, Buff-bellied Warbler, Grey Crowned Crane, Black Cuckoo and African Hoopoe. A boat ride on Lake Naivasha, will ensure you can reach more species in the middle of the lake, such as African Spoonbill, Squacco Heron and flotillas of Great White Pelicans. Wewill then make our way back to Nairobi for our final dinner together. Accommodation: Nairobi Hotel (en suite rooms). Meals: B, L,D.

Today after breakfast we will transfer to Nairobi airport for our various onward travels. Those joining the Uganda tour would join Tonia on the short flight to Entebbe (not included in costing). Accommodation: None. Meals: B.