RFI: Southern Kenya in Jan/Feb 2024 (1 Viewer)

[StevePreddy]

I've just booked two weeks in Kenya in Jan / Feb 2024. The flights and a 7-day small group safari are booked (locations below) so I'm looking for advice on the remaining days.

I've got two days to play with at the start. It's my first time in East Africa so there should be more than enough around Nairobi to keep me entertained. I plan to do Nairobi NP on one of those dates - suggestions on how best to do this would be appreciated (hire a car? with/without driver/guide?). And ideas for sites for my other day would also be welcome (current suggestions are the Museum gardens and arboretum, which also means I get to see a bit of central Nairobi, but feel free to suggest other/better options). Also, can anyone recommend a hotel in Nairobi with decent gardens that will help with familiarising myself with the common birds?

Then it's the safari: Masai Mara (2 nights), Lake Naivasha, Amboseli, Tsavo West, Taita Hills. That leaves me five days to play with, and I want to finish at Watamu for Crab Plover which would be a family tick. The plan that's forming is to spend some time trying for the Taita endemics, then on to Tsavo East for Somali Ostrich and any bush stuff I've missed at the other sites, and then a day or two at Arabuko-Sokoke for the coastal endemics plus Yellow Fly & Nicator (also both family ticks). Is African Broadbill still reliable there at this time of year? If so, that, that would be a family tick too. Can anyone recommend any guides for this final leg?

Is there anything obvious missing from this itinerary? Any other tips anyone has would also be gratefully received. And is there anything I should be particularly concerned about on the health / safety front, apart from the obvious?

Thanks

 

[James Lowther]

I can only speak from experience but Nairobi National Park is exceptionally good for birding. I did a private bird focused day tour with Cisticola tours which was excellent. I’m sure there are cheaper ways of doing it but mammal focused group tours for regular tourists are unlikely to stop to check cisticolas etc. I’m sure self drive is possible but I’m not sure I would fancy it.
hotel wise I stayed in the Ole Sereni which is a big business hotel but right on the edge of the NP with great birding from the terrace.
Cheers
James

 

[StevePreddy]

I can only speak from experience but Nairobi National Park is exceptionally good for birding. I did a private bird focused day tour with Cisticola tours which was excellent. I’m sure there are cheaper ways of doing it but mammal focused group tours for regular tourists are unlikely to stop to check cisticolas etc. I’m sure self drive is possible but I’m not sure I would fancy it.
hotel wise I stayed in the Ole Sereni which is a big business hotel but right on the edge of the NP with great birding from the terrace.
Cheers
James

Thanks James. Cisticola operate in the southeast too, I believe, so that could be a good option.

Is that hotel also known as "254 Ole Sereni"?

 

[James Lowther]

Yes I think so, it looks like it might have expanded with a new sister hotel right next door. I think the one I stayed in was the western of the two. Can’t guarantee the new hotel has the same views but they would be pretty crazy not to utilise the location!
James

 

[Mwangi wa Gitau]

I've just booked two weeks in Kenya in Jan / Feb 2024. The flights and a 7-day small group safari are booked (locations below) so I'm looking for advice on the remaining days.

I've got two days to play with at the start. It's my first time in East Africa so there should be more than enough around Nairobi to keep me entertained. I plan to do Nairobi NP on one of those dates - suggestions on how best to do this would be appreciated (hire a car? with/without driver/guide?). And ideas for sites for my other day would also be welcome (current suggestions are the Museum gardens and arboretum, which also means I get to see a bit of central Nairobi, but feel free to suggest other/better options). Also, can anyone recommend a hotel in Nairobi with decent gardens that will help with familiarising myself with the common birds?

Then it's the safari: Masai Mara (2 nights), Lake Naivasha, Amboseli, Tsavo West, Taita Hills. That leaves me five days to play with, and I want to finish at Watamu for Crab Plover which would be a family tick. The plan that's forming is to spend some time trying for the Taita endemics, then on to Tsavo East for Somali Ostrich and any bush stuff I've missed at the other sites, and then a day or two at Arabuko-Sokoke for the coastal endemics plus Yellow Fly & Nicator (also both family ticks). Is African Broadbill still reliable there at this time of year? If so, that, that would be a family tick too. Can anyone recommend any guides for this final leg?

Is there anything obvious missing from this itinerary? Any other tips anyone has would also be gratefully received. And is there anything I should be particularly concerned about on the health / safety front, apart from the obvious?

Thanks

Museum grounds combined with the adjacent Michuki Park are excellent birding spots. Gatamaiyu forest which is a 45-minute drive from the city is also worth visiting, it is an indigenous montane forest, part of the larger Aberdare National Park, birding is conducted on foot which brings you close to the forest bird species. For Nairobi National Park, I would advise you to hire a guide, birding is confined in a vehicle but there are places where walking is allowed

 

[StevePreddy]

Museum grounds combined with the adjacent Michuki Park are excellent birding spots. Gatamaiyu forest which is a 45-minute drive from the city is also worth visiting, it is an indigenous montane forest, part of the larger Aberdare National Park, birding is conducted on foot which brings you close to the forest bird species. For Nairobi National Park, I would advise you to hire a guide, birding is confined in a vehicle but there are places where walking is allowed

Thanks Mwangi

 

[lgonz1008]

Give the Ngong Forest Sanctuary a try too, the area is a nice patch of mixed habitat and I got a couple of species there that I wouldn't see anywhere else in Kenya such as Crowned Eagle, Narina Trogon and African Citril. In total I got to see 40+ species in 3 hours during the afternoon.