Kenya: Forests and Lakes (adventure)

Kenya: Forests and Lakes

Bird-watching in the Great Rift Valley

Kenya straddles the (in)famous Great Rift Valley, home to shifting tectonic plates, blessedly inactive volcanoes, breathtaking lakes, and stunning bird life. Lake Victoria may be the most famous, but we’ll be taking you to Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha as well, both of which host incredible populations of endemic birds as well as large flocks of migratory species in the winter months. We’ll also explore Kenya’s mountainous highlands and beautiful rainforests. You’ll be staying at the country’s most exciting campgrounds, where you’ll fall asleep to the sounds of the wildlife all around you. And don’t worry: we’ll get your tent set up for you, and there’s even a cook on hand!

Included

Excluded

Itinerary

Optional extension: Maasai Mara
Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi

We'll collect you from the airport and take you to your first night's accommodation. There, we'll gather in the evening for dinner and to introduce ourselves and go over the particulars of the trip.
Day 2: Nairobi to Kisumu

We'll take a morning flight from Nairobi to Kisumu (approx. 1 hour flight), a bustling city on Lake Victoria. We'll spend one night at a gorgeous lakeside campground and maybe take a boat tour, enjoying our first sightings of birds such as Blue-headed Coucal, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, Papyrus & Black-headed gonolek, Papyrus Canary, Long-toed Lapwing, , African Marsh-Harrier, Red-chested and Purple-banded sunbird, and Water Thick-knee. Keep your hands on board though, hippos abound!
Day 3: Kisumu to Kakamega

We'll take a short drive north from Kisumu to Kakamega, where we'll stay at a stunning campsite within Kakamega Forest Reserve. We'll see plenty of birds around here, as well as other wildlife: watch out especially for primates such as Blue Monkey, Redtail Monkey and the occasional Baboon. The afternoon we'll spend walking around the forest, looking for Great Blue, Black-billed and Ross' turacos, several cuckoos and cuckooshrikes including Petit's and Red-shouldered, but also raptors such as African and Black goshawk, Long-crested Eagle, Crowned Eagle, and Augur Buzzard. And be prepared for a wide variety of sunbirds, barbets, weavers, flycatchers, swallows, pipits and bee-eaters.
Day 4: Kakamega Forest Reserve

We'll stay in the Kakamega Forest today, exploring various hotspots within the reserve. Keep your eyes peeled for Double-toothed and Grey-throated Barbet, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, and Southern Ground-Hornbill, but also for water birds hopping from lake to lake along the Great Rift Valley, such as African Woolly-necked Stork, Grey and Black Crowned Cranes, and Egyptian Goose.
Day 5: Kakamega to Lake Nakuru

Time to leave the forest behind (for now) and head over to the second lake on our trip: Lake Nakuru. Famed for its population of Greater and Lesser flamingoes, the lake and surrounding wetlands also boast African Fish-Eagles, Goliath Herons, Hamerkop, Pied Kingfishers, Verreaux's Eagles, and much more. We'll arrive late afternoon, and do a dusk walk around the campgrounds, finishing up with a cosy campfire and dinner.
Day 6: Lake Nakuru

Lake Nakuru National Reserve, a Ramsar Convention-protected site, is wedged between the hills of the Great Rift Valley. This creates a unique and highly varied landscape, with biotopes ranging from wetland to forested hills. Not only birds take advantage of this: the Reserve also boasts populations of lions, black and white rhinos, cheetas and leopards. Occasionally, you might see a python dangling from the trees!
Day 7: Lake Nakuru to the Aberdares

True to our promise, we go from the lake back to the forest! After a morning drive, we wind our way up into the Aberdare Mountain Range, with an average elevation of 11,500 ft / 3500 m above sea-level. The landscape and vegetation types in the park vary from mostly rainforest in the lower-lying areas, over bamboo forest, to moorland on the higher elevations. The gentle-sloped forested west side is where we'll make our home for the next two days, camping on the banks of the Gura river, the fastest-flowing river in Kenya and on the African continent. Spectacular waterfalls and vistas guaranteed!
Day 8: Aberdare Mountains

After a cool night in our lodge, we head out for some early morning birding. Keep your eyes peeled particularly for the endemic, vulnerable, and elusive Aberdare Cisticola and Hinde's Pied-Babbler. Other avian highlights here include Hartlaub's Turaco, Baglafecht Weaver, Jackson's Francolin, Bar-tailed Trogon, White-headed Barbet, African Paradise Flycatcher, Crowned Hornbill, and many more.
Day 9: Aberdares to Lake Naivasha

Back to the lakes we go! We'll drive back down into the Rift Valley, enjoying spectacular views on the way, as we head to Lake Naivasha. This popular destination, about three hours drive from capital city Nairobi, is another Ramsar Wetland and is home to 400 different species of birds, including Egyptian Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Black Crake, Common Ringed-Plover, Kittlitz Plover, Ruff, Grey, Purple, Black-headed, and Goliath Herons, etc. We'll enjoy an afternoon boat ride along the lake to try and see as many of these gorgeous waterbirds as possible. Again, keep your hands on board, as Navaisha is also home to a thriving population of hippos! In the evening, you'll certainly hear and probably see them make their way on land for a night's grazing -- but don't worry, you're safe at the campsite!
Day 10: Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate may not sound inviting, but it is a stunning National Park right on the edge of the lake. It gets its name from the volcanic activity that takes place all along the Rift Valley. The park is wedged between the lake and two volcanoes: Mount Longonot, and further south, Mount Suswa. We'll take a drive through the park, where we can get out at several spots for short bird-watching walks to look for species such as Secretarybird, Rüppell's Vulture, Northern Anteater-Chat, Egyptian Vulture, Mottled and Nyanza swift, and more. Mind you: the park does get hot, and not just from tectonic activity! For the more adventurous among us, we can hire mountainbikes to explore the park in a whole new way (not included).
Day 11: Lake Naivasha to Nairobi

Early morning we'll drive to the 'Sanctuary Farm', which is the access point to Crescent Island. Depending on the water levels, we'll cross the causeway or take a quick boat ride onto the island, where we'll walk among the herds of zebra's and impala's, while spotting dozens of African Fish-Eagles, heaps of Pink-backed and Great White pelicans, a wide variety of herons, egrets, shorebirds, and depending on the season, a lot of migrants from Europe. When the sun starts getting too hot, we head back to the car for our final drive back to Nairobi.
Day 12: departure from Nairobi

Depending on your time of departure, you can have breakfast still at the accommodation. We'll make sure our driver gets you to Nairobi Airport on time!

Itinerary Mara-extension

Please note that the Mara-extension takes place before the rest of the trip: you will be expected to arrive in Nairobi five days prior to the start date of the Forests and Lakes tour, and then meet up with the rest of the group in Kisumu. The below itinerary is provisional, as park rates for the Masai Mara have been radically increased and we are exploring different options to keep the rate within reason.

Day 1: Arrival in Nairobi

We'll collect you from the airport and take you to your accommodation. There, we'll gather together in the evening to introduce ourselves and go over the particulars of the trip.
Day 2: Nairobi to Maasai Mara

We'll take a morning flight from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara National Park. The Mara is one of the richest and most extensive National Parks in the world, and crosses the border with Tanzania to join up with the Serengeti National Park.
Day 3: Maasai Mara

We'll drive across the great plains of the Mara to explore the various birding hotspots. The park is particularly rich in raptors, such as Goshawks, Peregrine/Eleanor's/Amur falcon (in migration) and various types of eagles and vultures. But you'll be sure to spot others too, such as weavers, francolins, honey-guides, coucals, greenbuls, etc. And of course: ostriches.
Day 4: Maasai Mara

We'll have a full day of birding today, both around the lodge and at various hotspots in the park. We'll be trusting in our guide to take us to the hottest places, looking for guineafowl, fiscals, lapwings, but also vultures such as the Lappet-faced Vulture, or the majestic Marabou Stork.
Day 5: Maasai Mara to Kisumu

We'll take one last morning drive or walk around the lodge, and then we leave the Maasai Mara behind for a bit of a longer drive. It'll take us about five hours to reach Kisumu, where we'll be joining the rest of the group for the Forest and Lakes tour.
Forest and Lakes tour

TBD

/ person sharing

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If you are a resident or citizen of the East African Community, please let us know. You may be eligible for a discounted rate.

Add 'Kenya: Coast to Kilimanjaro' tour

Two weeks not enough? In the weeks before this tour, we'll also be exploring Kenya from mangroves to mountains. Why not add this trip to your itinerary?

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