20 Days Kenya Birding Tour

Begin in Nairobi National Park, birding savanna, woodland and wetland habitat by vehicle for raptors, bustards, grassland birds and mammals close to the city.

Leave early for Maasai Mara, pausing at a Great Rift Valley viewpoint. Bird en route and begin reserve exploration after arrival.

Spend a full day in Maasai Mara for grassland, woodland and wetland birds alongside big game. Migrants are most prominent from November to April, while general wildlife viewing is favored in the drier June-to-October period.

Take a final morning drive in the Mara, then travel to Lake Naivasha. Begin birding the freshwater lake, reed margins, acacia woodland and open grassland.

Use a morning boat ride on Lake Naivasha for waterbirds and shoreline species, then visit Kinangop Plateau in the afternoon for Sharpe’s Longclaw and highland grassland birds.

Continue to Lake Baringo and begin with an evening walk near the lodge, using local guidance for owls, nightjars, coursers, hornbills and dry-country specialties.

Walk the Baringo cliffs in the morning and search for nocturnal birds again in the evening, keeping the hottest hours lighter.

Take an early Baringo boat ride, then travel through the Tugen Hills and Kerio Valley toward Kakamega Forest with birding stops along the escarpment.

Walk Kakamega Forest in the morning and afternoon for rainforest birds, including Chapin’s Flycatcher and Turner’s Eremomela.

Travel toward Lake Nakuru, stopping at Timboroa Dam or Lake Narusha for waterbirds. Continue birding Nakuru’s lake edge and acacia woodland.

Search Lake Nakuru for missed birds, then travel to Nyeri via Nyahururu with lunch and a short birding stop near Thomson’s Falls.

Begin early near Nyeri for Hinde’s Babbler and Cape Eagle-Owl, then continue north to Shaba for Williams’s Lark and other lava-country birds.

Spend the day in Shaba and neighboring northern-reserve habitat for Vulturine Guineafowl, Somali Ostrich, larks and riverine species along the Ewaso Ng’iro.

Use the morning for remaining Shaba targets, then return toward Nairobi and overnight within Swara Plains Wildlife Conservancy, with local birding if arrival time allows.

Bird Swara Plains early, then travel via Kiboko to Tsavo West, using wetland and fruiting-tree stops before a slow late-afternoon park drive.

Explore Tsavo West with packed lunch, including Mzima Springs where walking is permitted. If time allows, continue toward Lake Jipe before proceeding to Taita Hills.

Start at 6:00 am for Ngangao Forest in the Taita Hills. Walk quietly with a community guide for Taita Thrush, Taita Apalis, Taita White-eye and other forest birds, then travel toward Arabuko–Sokoke.

Bird Arabuko–Sokoke’s Brachystegia, Cynometra and Afzelia habitats for coastal forest specialists, using patient observation for shy understorey birds.

Use another Arabuko–Sokoke morning for leaf-litter and understorey specialists such as Sokoke Pipit and East Coast Akalat. Local guidance supports searches for Kilifi Weaver, Amani Sunbird, Sokoke Scops Owl and possible night birds.

Visit Mida Creek on foot according to flight timing, focusing on Crab Plover, sand plovers, egrets and migrant shorebirds before departure arrangements.