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Kenya in March. (1 Viewer)

monkir

Well-known member
KENYA 1ST – 12 MARCH 2017

This was a short trip, mainly to places we had not been on previous visits. Kenya has notably changed since our last visit in 2007 with more traffic and new buildings. Tourist numbers were low at the time and the lodges were almost empty.

Arrangements.
We used a Kenyan company, Suntrek Safaris (http://www.suntreksafaris.com/) to make all the ground arrangements. We had used Suntrek before and found them reliable and efficient. Once the itinerary had been agreed and a price given we paid a 20% deposit by bank transfer. The balance was paid in US$ on arrival in Nairobi.
A large Land Cruiser and driver (Peter) was our transport for the trip. It had a pop up roof and there was ample room for four people, luggage and camera equipment.
Peter proved to be a very friendly and knowledgeable man and a good driver. He was excellent at spotting and identifying birds and animals and getting the jeep into the best position for photographs. Peter had his own binoculars and a “Birds of Kenya” book. Over the whole trip, he did far more than we expected and can be recommended.

Flights.
We used Qatar Airways, London Heathrow to Nairobi with a three-hour transit in Doha. Their schedule had convenient timings and price as good as any of the alternatives, and much better than Kenya Airways.

Weather.
Mostly hot and dry (27C) throughout the trip. A little rain one afternoon in the Masai Mara.

Food.
Most food was included in the price of our trip and was buffet style at the lodges. Bottled water was provided in all the lodges and also by Suntrek during our journeys and Game Drives. We had to pay for other drinks.
For the few meals we bought it was about £7 for a main course. Coca cola around £2 and Tusker beer £4.50. Wine was about £5 a glass.

Daily itinerary.
1st March.
The flight arrived mid-afternoon at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. We got our visa on arrival for £30 each. We had downloaded the application form and filled it in prior to travelling so the process was very quick.
Peter was waiting for us and Patricia from Suntrek who had been our contact since our first enquiry. We went through the itinerary again with her, checking the details, and then paid the balance in US$.
TIP: Only take new dollar bills with no writing on them as any marked bills will not be accepted anywhere.
We changed some money at the airport into Kenya Shillings (125KSh to £1). The hotel/lodges rates were much lower.
We then drove to our overnight hotel Royal Orchid Azure in Westlands. This is primarily a business hotel and very comfortable. Food was good here and they did an early breakfast for us at 6.30 am.
We agreed to meet Peter at 7am to ensure we escaped the Nairobi traffic.
TIP: Leave before 7 am or you will get stuck in traffic.

2nd March Nairobi to Mount Kenya.
Our first stop was at Blue Post Hotel to see Chania Falls and do some birdwatching along the river. A local guide showed us the way. The hotel charges 500KSh each for those non-residents who want to “idle about” as they put it!
Best birds seen: African Citril, Golden breasted Bunting, White-bellied Tit, Spot flanked Barbet, Grey headed and Giant Kingfishers, Green-headed, Marico, Bronze-winged and Variable Sunbirds.
We then carried on to Wajee Nature Park, famous for Hinde’s Babbler. A young man called Robert showed us around the site. Despite using a tape and searching we failed to locate the Babblers. This was probably due to the time of day (12.30-14.30). We did flush a Montane Nightjar, a Little Sparrowhawk and Tambourine Dove, but overall was a bit disappointing. Hinde’s Babbler is best looked for before 9 am.
We had a nice fish and chips lunch here and the staff were very friendly and helpful. We then left to drive on to Mount Kenya and Serena Mountain Lodge for two nights.
The rooms here are a reasonable size with an ensuite shower and flush toilet, and a balcony overlooking the waterhole. Food was very good here and the staff were excellent. A hot water bottle is put in the beds during dinner and it was most welcome as it got quite chilly at night. We were also asked at dinner if we wanted waking if any special animals arrived during the night.

I took a forest walk at 7.30 am with the resident naturalist, Benson, who proved very good.
Best birds seen: Purple-throated and Grey Cuckoo-Shrikes, Mountain, Cabani’s, Slender-billed and Yellow whiskered Greenbul, Grey Apalis, Red fronted Parrot, Hartlaub’s Turaco, White starred Robin, Yellow bellied Waxbill, Montane Oriole, Montane White-eye and Cinnamon Bracken Warbler,

From the balcony I saw, amongst others, Oriole Finch, Crowned Eagle, African Grey Flycatcher, Cape Wagtail, Rock Martin, Hunter’s Cisticola, and a large flock of Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon.
A steady stream of animals was around the waterhole : Defassa Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Cape Buffalo, Hyena, Impala, Baboons and Sykes monkey. The latter was very adept at getting into the room through open balcony doors and stealing the sugar from the tea trays! A Genet visited the feeding station on a high platform.
 
4th March. Mount Kenya to Lake Nakuru.
We left around 7.30am and, on the way, we stopped at Paul Muriithi’s famous Mackinder Owl spot. The sign is obvious on the Nyeri to Nyahururu road. Peter phoned Paul to guide us but he was not available so he sent his wife (Eunice). She ran all the way across the hillside to meet us. We drove back a few hundred yards and parked near a sign for a school. Eunice then took me down a steep track and along a valley which took about 20 minutes. She then pointed at a low cliff and I saw 2 Owls about 3 metres up the cliff face and 5 metres from where I was standing. After excellent views for 15 minutes we returned. I gave Eunice 500KSh. Well worth it!
After crossing the Equator about three times we arrived at Flamingo Hill tented Camp in time for lunch. It is situated within Lake Nakuru Park. The tents are fixed structures covered by a thatched roof, very large with a king-sized bed, electricity with plenty of sockets, hot showers and flush toilets. Again we were given hot water bottles although they weren’t strictly necessary here.
Food was good and the staff friendly.
We had time for an afternoon game drive. Water levels in the lake have risen about 1.5 metres above normal, dropping the salinity and making it unsuitable for Flamingos. All the Lesser Flamingos have gone. A few dozen Greater Flamingos remained. It is now impossible to drive to the shore of the lake except in one place – Rhino Point. Much of the Acacia Forest is underwater and dying.
We saw White Rhino, Rothschild’s Giraffe, Eland, Impala, Male Lion, Augur Buzzard, Tawny Eagle, Grey Crowned Crane.

5th March

Next day we took the short drive to Lake Elementaita and Soysambu Conservancy, which is part of the Delamere Estate. A well-known landmark here is a rock formation known as Delamere’s Nose or the Sleeping Warrior.
It is easier to reach the lake shoreline here and birds were more plentiful including a large breeding colony of Pelicans. We saw a group of about 15 Tawny Eagles and 5 Ruppell’s Vultures feeding on an Impala carcass.
Birds seen included a selection of Larks, Pipits, Cisticolas, Warblers and Flycatchers. On the lake with the numerous Great White Pelicans were Black-winged Stilts, with a few Spoonbills, Cormorants, Gull billed Tern, Little Stints and Cape Teal.
We returned to Lake Nakuru, by a different route, to eat our packed lunch and for an afternoon game drive in another area of the park.
 

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6th March
Today we made the long drive to the Masai Mara and Keekorok Lodge. The road is still rough for the last 80km but much improved from our previous visit many years ago.
We arrived in time for a late lunch and then took our first game drive here. Pipits, Larks and Cisticolas were common and every bush seemed to have a Grey backed Fiscal.
Black-bellied and White-bellied Bustards, Temminck’s Courser and Black-winged Lapwing were birds of note also seen.

7th March
This day we took a packed lunch so we could spend all day in the Mara. Peter suggested we drive to the Mara River Bridge and cross into the Mara Triangle. This proved a good decision.
Whilst looking at some distant Lions Peter shouted “Leopard” and there was a magnificent male Leopard lazing about in a low tree. After a while of great photography we drove on. More lions and elephants followed until, as we were heading towards our picnic spot Peter noticed another vehicle parked by a single tree. The driver beckoned to us and when we got there a Cheetah was dozing in the shade. After a few minutes a Kori Bustard suddenly popped up about 20 metres away.
At the bridge there were toilet facilities and you can walk around. Grey capped Social Weavers were nesting in a tree and White-headed Saw-wings were coming down to collect mud at a small pool.
We drove through the barrier to a worker’s compound. The first bird we saw here was a Silverbird, followed by Rufous Sparrows, Purple Grenadier, Namaqua Dove and Vitelline Masked Weaver.

8th March
Next day we had a morning and afternoon game drive. Star animal was a close Serval!
Birds included Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, Arrow-marked Babbler, Temminck’s Courser, Black-winged Lapwing.
After the morning drive Peter suggested a walk around the lodge grounds. There is a boardwalk to a Hippo pool and extensive grounds. These are unfenced so it is possible for any animals to wander into the grounds, especially at night, making it necessary to have an escort from one of the security men to and from dinner.
Best birds seen in the grounds: Grey-capped Warbler, Common Waxbill, White browed Scrub Robin, Chinspot Batis, Sooty Boubou, White-headed Barbet, Orange-bellied Parrot, Cardinal Woodpecker, White-bellied Canary, Hildebrandt’s Starling, Little Swift, Rattling Cisticola, Ruppell’s Robin Chat, Woodland Kingfisher, African Hoopoe and Red-fronted Tinkerbird.

9th March

We had the long drive back to Nairobi to Margarita House. A stop at the Mara/Narok Police post had a pair of White-fronted Bee-eaters on the wire, and a coffee stop at a curio shop had Speke’s Weaver in a nearby tree.
Before arriving at Nairobi we made a detour to take a boat ride on Lake Naivasha, and have lunch. The boat ride seemed expensive at 30US$ each but we had it to ourselves and the boatman went slowly around the banks so that we were close to the birds.
Margarita House is a Guest House in Karen, ideally located for the airport. It has very large rooms with a balcony and TV. It also has a large outdoor swimming pool. Meals are made to order and were excellent. The young staff were very pleasant and friendly. It made a pleasant change from the usual corporate Nairobi hotels.
 

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10th March
We had decided to visit Lake Magadi so took a packed lunch with us. We left at 6.30am and headed off to the lake about 120km away. Reports suggested getting to Corner Baridi (the start of Magadi Road) at first light but we found this area birdless with no activity at all. We did not see or hear a bird until we stopped at a small police post with a large tin chapel opposite. Here, with the sun up, at about 7.45 the birds started to show.
Violet-backed Sunbird, Banded Parisoma, Blue-naped Mousebird, Lynne’s Cisticola, Southern Grosbeak Canary and White-bellied Go-away Bird.
Further on we stopped at a large, yellow building with ‘WATER’ written on the side. Masai were bringing their animals here for water. I saw Black-necked Weaver, Red & Yellow Barbet, Northern Wheatear and Taita Fiscal.
Later we turned off towards Olorgesaiilie Pre-historic Site. On the approach road we had our only Von der Decken’s Hornbill of the trip! We also saw Red & Yellow Barbet and White-throated Bee-eaters.
At the site there are several huts and a small museum with a water trough outside. This only attracted Grey capped Social Weavers and Bulbuls, not the Finches I was expecting.
A walk to the dig site produced Brown-backed Woodpecker, Grey Wren-warbler and Spot-flanked Barbet!
The staff at the museum were quite rude and we were glad to leave! It was very hot here.
There is no food and drink available here but there are toilets.

Further down the road we saw a Nubian Woodpecker and a pair of Red-billed Hornbills. We did not see the “Camel Rock” or “Icross” sign mentioned in some reports.
The last 10km to Magadi town the road deteriorates and is quite pot-holed but passable.
We stopped just before the barriers and scanned the pools for the star bird here, Chestnut-banded Plover, but only found one! A common bird here according to some reports.
We drove into the town and picked up a local man who said he knew where the birds were. We drove across the causeway over the first lake and up a rocky track. We stopped here for Fisher’s Sparrow Weaver near the track. Continuing over another causeway, more rocky tracks until we reached another lake. At last some birds appeared. About 500 Lesser Flamingos, 700 Greater Flamingos, 15 Chestnut-banded Plovers and numerous Black-winged Stilts, Little Stints, Ruff and a few Avocets. No ducks were seen.
It is very hot at Magadi (35C) and it is a working town. Everyone is employed by the soda processing factory owned by Tata. There is a private social club where sandwiches and cold drinks could be purchased but, as we had our picnic lunch, we found a shelter further on and then returned to Nairobi.

11th March
Our final day and, as we had a late afternoon flight, we went to the Giraffe Centre and Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage before lunch at The Carnivore.
At the Giraffe Centre there is a small bird reserve and nature trail just across the road that is worth a look. I only had White starred Robin and Northern Brownbul.
Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage is very commercialised compared to our previous visit. There must have been 400-500 people crowding around the arena. Good for funds but not necessarily for the Elephants!
Carnivore is worth it for the experience, very theatrical. The only bush-meat now served is Crocodile, and Ostrich meat balls which could really have been any meat!

Conclusion:
An excellent trip, very well organised by Suntrek. We had excellent views of all the top animals and a few surprises, like the 2 Servals.
The birding was strange! Some common birds that were expected were not seen, or in very low numbers, like Hornbills, Waxbills, Finches and Ducks. Flamingo were only present at Lake Magadi apart from a few Greater Flamingo and Lake Nakuru.
However, I did get some target birds like Mackinder’s Eagle Owl, Chestnut-banded Plover and Mountain Greenbul, and a few surprises like Black-winged Lapwing and Banded Parisoma.
During our time in the Masai Mara we only saw 15 Vultures.
A total of 281 species was recorded.
The above itinerary can be recommended for a short, affordable safari for birds as well as all the big animals
 

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Lastly a few of the cats, big and small
 

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Interesting read and some great sightings too, however I think your idea of affordable might not fit everyone's ! I am put off from Kenya for so many reasons, price being one of them.
 
It's all relative. Compared to the prices the bird companies, and even ordinary tour operators, charge it was about £2000 cheaper.
 
I wonder how safe Kenya is these days doing a trip on your own? I did many in the early eighties with no problems.
 
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