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Kenya Birdwatching Tour
When: Sat 3 Nov - Mon 26 Nov 2012
Leaders: Chris Doughty and Zachary Mbuthia |
Kenya Birdwatching Tour
Melbourne/Melbourne (24 Days) $12,377
Single Room Supplement $1,25
Ground Content (ex Nairobi) $9,877 |
| Kenya boasts a staggering 1,100 species of birds, far more than any other country in Africa. This once in a lifetime safari combines Kenya's extraordinary abundance of birds and mammals, with the best of its celebrated wildlife lodges and private tented camps. Kenya is a land of superlatives; as one gazes across the seemingly endless savannah, dotted with grazing antelopes and acacias, or views the awesome escarpments and flamingo-covered soda lakes of the Great Rift Valley, or the majestic peaks of Mt. Kenya and its tropical mountain forests, one begins to really appreciate the magnificence that is East Africa, one of the greatest natural wonders on earth. The tour commences in the impressive Nairobi National Park, which has an excellent selection of both birds and mammals, including the critically endangered Black Rhinoceros. We then drive northwards visiting Lake Magadi, before climbing the forested slopes of Mount Kenya, for a night at a game-viewing lodge. We visit the semi-arid savannah of Naro Moru before moving on to the Aberdare Mountains National Park, where we will search for local specialities such as Jackson's Francolin, Sharpe's Longclaw, Aberdare Cisticola and Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird. From here we descend into the Great Rift Valley, visiting the world-famous soda lakes of Nakuru, Naivasha and Baringo, where we will be enthralled by the thousands upon thousands of exquisite flamingos that stretch, as a shimmering pink haze, around the edge of Lake Nakuru. We then drive into the high rainfall areas of western Kenya, visiting the bird-rich Kakamega Forest. These luxuriant forests are home to a staggering array of warblers, babblers, sunbirds and waxbills. We pay a visit to Lake Victoria, before reaching the rolling grasslands of the Masai Mara, Kenya's finest wildlife reserve, which is also a splendid area for birds. Here the great herds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles and their attendant carnivores, Lions, Cheetahs and Leopards, still roam in great numbers, now made famous by the television programme 'Big Cat Diary'. On our way to the coast we will explore the immense Tsavo National Park, in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We then travel onwards to the Indian Ocean for an exploration of the coastal forests and mudflats around Watamu, searching for specialities such as Sokoke Pipit, Clarke's Weaver and the exquisite Sokoke Scops-Owl. Heading back towards Nairobi, we explore the acacia covered red earth plains of Tsavo West National Park, enjoy the birdlife of Kitovu Forest, close to the border with Tanzania, go birding along the shores of Lake Jipe, with our final destination being the relict forest of the Taita Hills, where we will search for such exciting endemic birds as Taita Thrush, Taita Apalis and the Taita White-eye. |
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