Join Wilson, one of Kenya’s finest bird guides, in his Masai homeland, as we search for an exciting variety of birds and mammals in the Great Rift Valley, Masai Mara, Mount Kenya, Samburu and more.
Home to a superb variety of wildlife, Kenya deserves its reputation as one of the world’s top safari destinations. Lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant are all found in the country’s foremost protected area, the Masai Mara, with significant populations of other wild animals, reptiles and birds elsewhere in the national parks and game reserves all over the country. On this tour we explore a wide variety of habitats in the company of our renowned guide, in the breeding season.
Depart the UK for Jomo Kenyatta Airport.
On arrival we meet our driver and guide and head for Nairobi National Park, where key species include red-throated tit and rosy-throated longclaw. We also hope to find gazelle, giraffe, and the critically endangered black rhinoceros. At the hippo pools, we look for local gems including dark-capped yellow and African moustached warblers.
Accommodation: Nairobi Tented Camp, 1-night
We explore this birding mecca in the early morning, then after breakfast drive to the forested slopes of Mount Kenya, birding as we go. After lunch, we take a guided walk on designated trails around the lodge, to spot local bird specialties such as the red-fronted parrot, white-starred robin, white-headed wood hoopoe, Narina trogon, and Cabanis’s greenbul. In the evening we take a bird walk in the forest around the lodge to seek out nocturnal species.
Accommodation: Serena Mountain Lodge, 2-nights
Mount Kenya and its forests provide great birding opportunities and the region’s highlights include threatened species such as the migrant lesser kestrel, Jackson’s widowbird, Abbot’s starling, Jackson’s francolin, Hunter’s cisticola, crowned eagle, Sharpe's longclaw, olive ibis, lammergeier, Ayres's hawk-eagle, African grass owl and Cape eagle owl.
Birdwatching at the lodge is excellent, and species recorded here include silvery-cheeked hornbill, olive and eastern bronze-naped pigeons, Hartlaub’s turaco, Rüppell’s robin-chat, mountain yellow warbler and yellow-crowned canary. The waterhole and salt-lick in front of the lodge attract regular visitors from the forest, such as African buffalo, bushbuck, waterbuck, black-and-white colobus monkey, Sykes’ monkey and the occasional bushpig or giant forest hog.
After an early breakfast we head north on a spectacular drive to Samburu through grassland and stunning scenery, keeping an eye out for long-tailed and red-collared widowbirds along the roadside. We arrive at our lodge for lunch. After some relaxation time, enjoy a late afternoon drive in Samburu National Reserve.
Accommodation: Samburu Game Lodge, 3-nights
We spend two full days in this incredibly rich part of Kenya, exploring Shaba, Buffalo Springs and Samburu National Reserves with early morning and late afternoon game drives. Together these reserves host over 380 bird species, and highlights include Grant's wood hoopoe, Donaldson Smith's sparrow-weaver, Friedmann's lark, black-bellied sunbird and vulturine guineafowl.
Birds of the arid northern bush country are augmented by riverine forest species, and Samburu’s cliff-nesting raptors. Mammal life is also prolific and includes olive baboon, vervet, dwarf mongoose, Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, Kirk's dik-dik, common waterbuck, gerenuk, and the magnificent beisa oryx.
Today’s long drive takes us past the northern tip of Aberdare National Park and the spectacular Thompson’s Falls, where we stop for lunch. This is an Important Bird Area, where we hope to see slender-billed starling, African snipe, tinkling cisticola and Cape wagtail. Also present are martial and crowned eagle, mountain buzzard, African marsh harrier and golden-winged sunbird. Other species of interest include both lesser and greater flamingoes, the remarkable Jackson’s widowbird and grey-crested helmet-shrike.
We continue to Lake Elementaita in the Great Rift Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a RAMSAR site with more than 450 bird species, and stay on the lakeshore. On an evening walk to explore our new surroundings, we look for feral lovebird, avocet, Klaas’s cuckoo, glossy ibis, black heron, red-billed teal and black-tailed godwit.
Accommodation: Lake Elementaita Serena Camp, 2-nights
Today we spend a full day exploring nearby Lake Nakuru, famous for its vast flocks of flamingos, pelicans, and a wealth of other waterbirds.
Apart from the greater and lesser flamingo, species of interest recorded here include great white pelicans, black-necked and little grebe, as well as the rare martial eagle, lesser kestrel and Madagascar squacco heron. In the nearby acacia woodland, we look for forest birds such as Narina trogon, red-throated wryneck, greater and scaly-throated honeyguides, arrow-marked babbler and African firefinch.
This morning we take a short drive to Navaisha, which has over 400 bird species. The waters of the lake attract many waterbirds including the continent’s highest concentration of African fish eagle, whilst the lakeshore and forests are also excellent birding territory.
After lunch we continue to Ol Kineyei Conservancy in the world-famous Masai Mara Ecosystem.
Accommodation: Porini Mara Camp, 2-nights
We spend a full day in Masai Mara National Reserve. In March, the Masai Mara is beautiful with wildflowers coming into bloom, such as fireball lilies, creating splashes of colour amidst the long grasses. In the forests around the Mara River, warburgia fruit attracts many Sykes’ monkeys and African elephant families with their calves in the woodland or marshes. This is also the time of the ‘mini’ migration, when zebra and wildebeest arrive in large numbers (around 300,000) and cover the plains. As this is the breeding season for many animals, we can observe a variety of young: warthogs, giraffes, elephants, lions, hyenas, zebras and eland calves among the big herds.
The birding is superb, with more than 400 bird species recorded, including birds of prey. This is also the best time to see the European migrants before they head off on their long journey back north.
This morning we go on an early birding walk in the conservancy before breakfast, followed by our last drive looking for birds and wildlife. After lunch we transfer to the airstrip and fly to Nairobi for our final night in Kenya.
Accommodation: Eka Hotel, 1-night
We transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to check in for our daytime flight back to the UK.
A tailor-made holiday or private departure can be arranged, please contact us to tailor a trip to suit your requirements.
The son of a distinguished tribal elder, Wilson has a very traditional Masai background, and his first love was always the bush.
A silver-rated professional safari guide, his tracking ability is second to none - even among his fellow Masai - and he has been rated among the top 25 best safari guides by Condé Nast Traveller. Wilson is passionate about his home country, and is always keen to share his detailed knowledge of East Africa’s fauna and flora.
Kenya’s bustling capital is more than just a starting point for your wildlife safari. Places to visit in the city include the Karen Blixen Museum, Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Centre. For those staying longer, nearby Nairobi National Park has a wide diversity of wildlife. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Samburu is a remote, arid wilderness of scrub desert and scorched savannah coloured with sandy creams, muted greens and earthen ochre; perfect camouflage for its wildlife and bird species rarely found elsewhere. Large herds of elephant are attracted by the Ewaso Ng'iro River, which bisects the reserve. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Although Lake Nakuru is relatively small, it is known for one of the greatest bird spectacles on earth – thousands of fuschia-coloured flamingos. Over 400 species of birds are found here, and the surrounding national park is famous for its sizeable population of rhinos and the rare Rothschild’s giraffe. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Africa’s second highest mountain and arguably its most beautiful, Mount Kenya’s highest peak reaches 5,199m and is sacred to the Kikuyu people. An ancient extinct volcano, Mount Kenya – and its National Park – are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Kenya’s first national park, established in 1946, Nairobi National Park lies at an altitude of 1,500 to 1,760m and covers approximately 117 square kilometres. During the dry season it provides sanctuary for numerous migrating herbivores along with a host of other wildlife, in particular, rhinos. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Ol Kinyei is renowned for having unspoilt and spectacular views over the Mara plains and for being home to a wide variety of wildlife. It’s a great location from which to observe the annual Serengeti wildebeest migration (June to October), as well as wildebeest calving during February and March. Find Out More about {acc:title}
Kenya’s finest wildlife sanctuary, the Masai Mara is a paradise of gently rolling grasslands studded with acacia trees. Remaining as the ancestral homelands of the Masai, a curious harmony between man and wildlife exists that allows a route for the large migrations and a home for predators and plains wildlife. Find Out More about {acc:title}
With sweeping plains on one side and Nairobi on the other, this tented camp is situated deep within riverine forest, yet on the doorstep of the city. It is the first accommodation allowed inside Nairobi National Park, which is home to lion, leopard, rhino and a range of savannah wildlife. Find Out More about Nairobi Tented Camp
Porini Mara is the only safari camp in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy, and offers traditional game drives, comfortable accommodation and a wonderful safari experience at an affordable price. It has some of the best safari guides in the Mara, and with just six spacious tents, the camp has an exclusive feel. Find Out More about Porini Mara Camp
Samburu Game Lodge is the perfect base for making wildlife drives into Samburu National Reserve and ideal for unwinding after a day’s game viewing. Enjoy spacious rooms with mosquito nets, a pool, comfy armchairs overlooking verdant lawns and a sundowner overlooking the scenic Ewaso Nyiro River. Find Out More about Samburu Game Lodge
Enjoying some of the most spectacular views in Kenya, Sunbird Lodge occupies a stunning location on the shore of Lake Elementaita in the Great Rift Valley, and makes an ideal base for safari drives into Lake Nakuru National Park, famous for its vast flocks of flamingos and other waterbirds. Find Out More about Sunbird Lodge
