16-Day Ultimate Birding Tour in Kenya with Peter Wairasho

Meet the driver-guide at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, review the 16-day programme and transfer to the Nairobi accommodation. If the arrival schedule permits, an optional short local outing may visit Karura Forest, the Nairobi Arboretum or the grounds of the National Museums. Another suitable nearby site can be substituted. The recorded meal plan is bed and breakfast.

Leave Nairobi early for the Maasai Mara and begin on the reserve’s eastern side. Secretarybird and Sooty Chat are among the named possibilities. The wider recorded list adds Magpie Shrike, Rosy-breasted Longclaw and Southern Ground Hornbill, plus White-bellied and Kori bustards, several social weavers and Golden-breasted Bunting. The famous wildebeest movement is seasonal rather than guaranteed.

Cross rolling grassland, acacia woodland, hills and river courses toward the Mara River and the wetter western sector. Red-billed Oxpecker, several vultures and snake-eagles are recorded possibilities, alongside Woodland Kingfisher and Wattled Lapwing. Ross’s Turaco, Rufous-bellied Heron and Croaking or Trilling cisticolas add to the list. Lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and hippo may also be encountered.

Use another full day in the western Maasai Mara to revisit productive grassland, woodland and riverine areas. The guide can adjust the balance of birding and wildlife viewing to current activity and the previous day’s observations.

Travel from the Maasai Mara to Kisumu, with the recorded drive estimated at about five and a half hours. Bird along the northeastern shore of Lake Victoria for papyrus and wetland possibilities such as Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary, swamp warblers, Blue-headed Coucal, Wire-tailed Swallow and Northern Brown-throated Weaver.

Drive west toward Busia grasslands, using route stops for possibilities including Rock Pratincole, Blue Swallow, Piapiac, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Red-headed Lovebird. At the grasslands, the recorded list adds Bar-breasted Firefinch, Senegal Coucal, Black-winged Bishop and White-crested Turaco. Continue to Kakamega Forest for a three-night stay.

Explore Kakamega, a Kenyan remnant of the former Central African tropical rainforest and a Key Biodiversity Area. Roads, paths and forest trails offer chances for Great Blue Turaco, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, several wattle-eyes, Equatorial Akalat, African Broadbill, Turner’s Eremomela and other forest birds.

Return to Kakamega Forest for a second full day, allowing more time for quieter interior species and any missed priorities. The longer recorded list includes bushshrikes, barbets, greenbuls, Grey-headed Negrofinch, Brown-chested Alethe and Red-headed Malimbe; all remain conditional sightings.

Leave Kakamega after breakfast and cross the Kerio Valley toward Lake Baringo, a drive recorded at about five hours. A short stop in scrubby and rocky habitat may produce Brown Parrot, White-crested Helmetshrike, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Boran Cisticola or Crested Francolin.

Bird mainly on foot around Lake Baringo’s dry bushland and cliffs. Green-winged Pytilia and Pygmy Batis are named possibilities, along with Bristle-crowned Starling and Heuglin’s Courser. The recorded list also includes several nightjars, African Scops Owl, Greyish and Verreaux’s eagle-owls, Hemprich’s and Jackson’s hornbills, Mocking Cliff Chat and Fan-tailed Raven.

Drive from Lake Baringo through the central highlands to the Mount Kenya area, with the journey recorded at about seven hours plus short stops. After arrival and a rest, use the accommodation nature trail for highland birds such as African Black Duck, Mountain Wagtail, Rüppell’s Robin-Chat, Grey-headed Negrofinch and White-starred Robin.

Enter the Mount Kenya area for focused highland and forest birding. Jackson’s Spurfowl, Alpine Chat, Mountain and Augur buzzards, African Crowned Eagle, Montane Oriole, Bar-tailed Trogon, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Tacazze Sunbird and Abyssinian Crimsonwing are among the programme’s named possibilities.

Leave the central highlands after breakfast and continue to Shaba National Reserve, east of Samburu and Buffalo Springs. Riverine forest, scattered woodland and dry grassland mark the habitat change. Williams’s Lark, Friedmann’s Lark, Pink-breasted Lark and Somali Courser are listed as priorities where conditions allow.

Move west through Buffalo Springs to the adjoining Samburu area. Northern wildlife possibilities include Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and Beisa oryx. The bird list features Somali Ostrich, Vulturine Guineafowl, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Golden-breasted Starling, Somali Bee-eater and dry-country hornbills, sunbirds and weavers.

Use a second full day in the Samburu ecosystem to revisit riverine and semi-arid habitats. Field priorities can be adjusted to species already seen, weather and local bird activity, without guaranteeing any named bird or mammal.

Check out after breakfast and drive back to Nairobi, then continue with the included airport transfer for the onward flight. The programme notes early starts, some walking in Kakamega, Busia, Baringo and Mount Kenya, and several long road journeys.