14 Days Bird Watching Safari in Kenya
Explore Kenya’s central region for this amazing 14 days Kenya birding Safari tour. The Ornithological destinations mentioned in this itinerary are homes to the Endemic Bird Species, among other bird species. Some of these destinations are; Nairobi Museum, Nairobi National Park, Embu at Irangi Forest, Mount Kenya National Park, Samburu National Park, and Aberdare national Park.
Itinerary Highlight for 14 Days Kenya Birding
Day 1: Welcome to Nairobi
Day 2: Full Day Itinerary
Day 3: Embu- Iringa Forest
Day 4, 5: Mount Kenya National Park
Day 6, 7, 8, 9: Samburu National Park
Day 10: Mount Kenya Safari Club For Leisure
Day 11, 12: Aberdare National Park
Day 13: Drive back to Nairobi Hotel
Day 14: Deeparture
Detailed Itinerary For 14 Days Bird Watching Tour
Day 1: Welcome to nairobi
Bushtroop Tours and Safaris Driver guide will pick you up from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Thereafter you will be briefed, then proceed to your Hotel.
Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 2: Full Day Nairobi Excursion
Enjoy breakfast in the Morning and depart for your birding activity starting with Nairobi National Museum, where you may take about 4 hours. Enroute, You will have lunch as you proceed to Nairobi National park for more birding safari walk. Birds to look out for include; Madagascar Squacco Heron, Corncrake Lesser Kestrel, Red-throated Tit, Jackson’s Widow bird, the ostrich, and black headed weaver among other birds. While in the Nairobi Safari walk areas look out for the little bee eater, weaver as well as the forest trail section.
Return in the Lodge for dinner and an overnight sleep.
Day 3: Nairobi – Embu
Wake up early for breakfast and drive to Irangi Forest for birding, as you pass through the third largest pineapple plantation in the world owned by Delmonte firm. Great sightings of birds are incredible while in the forest which holds many birds as; Ayre’s Hawk-Eagle, African Crowned Eagle, Mountain Buzzard, Rufous-breasted Sparrow hawk, Bronze-napped Pigeon, Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, Bar-tailed Trogon, Fine-banded Woodpecker, Mountain Wagtail, Mountain Greenbul, African Hill Babbler, hunter’s Cisticola, Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Montane Oriole, Kendrick’s Starling, Waller’s Starling, Olive Sunbird, Brown-capped Weaver, White-tailed Crested Flycatcher, Black-throated Apalis, Black-headed Apalis, Brown Woodland Warbler, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Abyssinian Crimson-wing, thick-billed seed eater and Grey-headed Negro-finch.
Dinner and overnight at Izaak Walton Inn
Day 4: Mount Kenya National Park
Breakfast will be served early, then you will be transferred to Mount Kenya National Park, birding enroute as you approach the National Park. Reach the Lodge for check-in and Lunch at the Lodge. utilize the afternoon resting,or otherwise, you may also look out for animals such as buffaloes, forest hogs, and bush pigs and luckily enough you might spot lions too as they come to drink water near the natural salt lick.
Dinner and overnight at the Lodge
Day 5-9: Mount Kenya National Park
After breakfast, head on to the forest trails to search for more bird species in Mount Kenya national park, especially from the different vegetation zones of; montane forest, the montane grassland, the bamboo and the moorland, Birds you expect to spot include; lesser Kestrel, Sharpe’s Long claw, Abbott’s Starling, Jackson’s Widow bird, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Brown-Hooded Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Grey-olive Greenbul, Zanzibar Sombre Greenbul, Brown-backed Scrub-Robin, Black-Throated Wattle-eye, Singing, Red faced, Winding, Rattling, Croaking Cisiticolas, Mountain Yellow Warbler, African-moustached Warbler, Broad-tailed Warbler, African Golden Weaver, Yellow-crowned Bishop, African Fire finch, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, and Abyssinian Crimson wing.
Others include; Green Ibis, Long-crested Eagle, Mountain and Augur Buzzards, Rofous-breasted Sparrow hawk, Red-fronted Parrot, Red-throated Wryneck, Common Stone-chat, Kenrick’s and Waller’s Starlings, Oriole Finch, Montane White-eye, African Hill Babbler, Montane Greenbul, White-headed Hoopoe, Grey , Black-throated, Black-headed, Chestnut-throated Apalises, Green, Olive, and Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeons, Lemon, and Tambourine Doves, Moustached Green Tinker bird, White-headed and White-eared Barbets, Scarce and Alpine Swifts, Eastern and Northern Double-collared sunbirds, Green Headed, Golden- winged and Tacazze sunbirds among more common species.
Lunch, dinner and overnight at at the Lodge
Day 9: Mount Kenya National Park – Samburu Game Reserve
Wake up to delicious breakfast, and later on proceed to Sambuiru national Park, arriving in time for Lunch. Check in at the Lodge, then continue to the Park to for game viewing drive to spot animals like beisa oryx, grevy zebra, gerenuk, Somali ostrich and reticulated giraffe as well as birding.
Common birds to look out for include: yellow billed hornbill tend to move down closer to the river, bristle-crowned starling, night heron, vereaux’s eagle-owl (also known as the South African Fish-Eagle), pigmy falcon, Donaldson-Smith’s sparrow weaver and the red- headed weaver.
All meals at and an overnight lodge
Day 10: Mount Kenya Safari Club
After breakfast bid farewell to samburu and drive to the elegant Mount Kenya Safari Club for a leisure stay. Enjoy the facility of this club as once was a colonial establishment. You can also opt to visit the adjacent sanctuary whereby you can see the chimpanzee at an additional fee.
Lunch, dinner and overnight at MKSC
NOTE: dressing for dinner is strictly casual. Can hire one in the club if you do not have one.
Day 11-12: Aberdare National Park.
After breakfast drive to Aberdare national park , where you will arrive in time for lunch at treetops lodge’s. After lunch, expect to spot many water birds from Tree tops water hole such as; the black-headed heron, hammerkop, yellow-billed stork, African green ibis and the hadada ibis.
Other species to encounter are; silvery-cheeked hornbill, Hartlaub’s turaco, Narina and bar-tailed trogons, green pigeons, tambourine dove and purple-crested cuckoo-shrike.
While birds of prey include; the African crowned eagle which preys on monkeys, guineafowls, francolins and even known to take duickers. More birds of prey may include the mountain buzzard and agar buzzard, long crested eagle, owls, the rare Ayre’s eagle and the palearctic birds such as Montagu harrier and steppe buzzard. Other forest birds include the cinnamon-chested bee eater, African paradise fly catcher, and white headed hoopoe. The bamboo region has the white –starred robin, Jackson’s francolin and in the moorland region expect to see the cisticolas- the Aberdare cisticolas, hunter’s cisticolas and the L’evaillant and wing – snaping cistocola.
sunbirds include the Tacazze sunbird and the malachite sunbird. The Kinangop grasslands which are on the plateau west of Aberdares are home of the Sharpe’s long craw found nowhere else in the world.
Lunch, dinner and overnight at treetops
Day 13: Drive back to Nairobi
Today, we finally come to the end of our bird watching activity. Morning starts with a heavy breakfast, after which you will be driven back to your Nairobi Hotel. Lunch will be en route, while dinner will be at the Carnivore Restaurant. After dinner , return to the hotel for an overnight.
Day 14: Departure
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Airport for your flight back home, as you bid Kenya farewell
Cost Includes:
Use of a 4×4 wheel vehicle with a photographic roof during your.
Park entry fee for all parks that are stated in the itinerary
All meals as per the Itinerary.
Service of an expert English birding driver guide.
Game drives as per the Itinerary
Driver allowances and park fees for vehicle and driver
Government taxes
Excludes:
Extras at the lodges –tips, drinks, telephone, laundry or any other personal expenses
Optional activities:
Nairobi city tour
Visit to Sweet waters and Ol Pejeta conservancy at an additional fee
Visit the Samburu homesteads while in Samburu at an additional cost
