Coastal Kenya Birding Safari

Overview

A 12-day birding tour from Nairobi to the Kenyan coast: Amboseli at the foot of Kilimanjaro, Tsavo West and Mzima Springs, the Taita Hills endemics, the Shimba Hills, three days in Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Mida Creek and the Sabaki River Mouth, and Tsavo East on the way home.

Itinerary

Day by day

1. 1

   Day 1

   Arrival in Nairobi

   We shall arrive on our Coastal Kenya Birding Tour via Nairobi, the tourism capital of Kenya.

   Depending on your arrival time and how tired you may be from the flights, you can choose to add an extra birding session this afternoon. Otherwise, you can relax and enjoy the local city birds from your hotel.

   Night in Nairobi (Eka Hotel or Tamarind).

2. 2

   Days 2–3

   Amboseli National Park

   • Amboseli

   We shall start our Coastal Kenya Birding Tour in Amboseli, in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. This scenic park is graced by the mighty savannah elephants and hosts the longest and most famous elephant research programme in the world. The mammals here are great indeed and we shall take time to enjoy them, and the local birds are great too.

   We shall leave Nairobi early and head straight for Amboseli, arriving in time for lunch, then spend the afternoon on game drives in the park enjoying the local birds and mammals. We bird here again the following day as we seek species we may have missed earlier.

   Nights in Amboseli (Kibo Safari Lodge, Ol Tukai Lodge or Sentrim Amboseli).

3. 4

   Days 4–5

   Tsavo West National Park

   • Tsavo West

   Continuing our Coastal Kenya Birding Tour, we shall leave Amboseli early to have ample time on the way. The roadside has some great birds to see.

   Our destination is the vast Tsavo West National Park, where we shall bird for the next days. Tsavo is a very expansive area and our tour allocates enough time to explore it comprehensively, including some more days later on the tour.

   A visit to Mzima Springs, a superb wetland where birding can also be done on foot. There will also be great mammals to look forward to.

   Nights in Tsavo West (Kilaguni Serena Safari Lodge, Salt Lick Safari Lodge or Taita Hills Safari Lodge).

4. 6

   Day 6

   Taita Hills

   • Taita Hills

   Leaving early, we make a day trip to the Taita Hills, mainly searching for the local endemics: Taita White-eye, Taita Thrush and Taita Apalis. This indeed forms a great location on our Coastal Kenya Birding Tour and the endemics here are always a highlight.

   There will be many other exciting birds of this area to enjoy as we seek the endemics; then we head to our lodge, scoring more roadside birds.

   Night in Taita (Taita Hills Safari Lodge).

5. 7

   Day 7

   Shimba Hills National Reserve

   We head south to the Shimba Hills, a remnant of the southernmost mountain forests of Kenya, arriving around midday. We spend this afternoon and the next morning birding in the Shimba Hills National Reserve.

   This area is famous for the rare Sable Antelope, one of the most beautiful antelopes in Kenya.

   Night in Shimba Hills.

6. 8

   Days 8–10

   Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Sabaki River Mouth and Mida Creek

   Birding at the coastal lowland is best during the early morning hours, so we shall maximise the mornings for forest birding. Forest birding starts early each day, with afternoons dedicated to aquatic habitats. We hope to see many bird species during these forest walks. The local endemic sengis and monkey species will also be plenty.

   In the afternoons we visit the marine wetlands for water birds. On one afternoon we visit Mida Creek for the marine shorebirds, terns and gulls, depending on the tides, among many other abundant birds. Another afternoon we visit the Sabaki River Mouth, a haven for gulls and terns.

   On one evening at Arabuko, we shall try a search for nocturnal species of owls and nightjars.

   Nights in Watamu.

7. 11

   Day 11

   Tsavo East National Park

   • Tsavo East

   Our Coastal Kenya Birding Tour makes another call to the vast Tsavos. Today we visit Tsavo East National Park, which has more open savannah than its sister Tsavo West. This very diverse area occupies a vast land mass across the drylands of eastern Kenya, bathed by the massive Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, the lifeline of this great park. Birding and other wildlife will be very interesting and you can expect lots of diversity.

   We drive from Malindi enjoying many dryland birds on the way, then spend the rest of the day in Tsavo East, scoring more birds from this magical destination.

   Night in Tsavo East (Ashnil Aruba Lodge or Sentrim Tsavo East).

8. 12

   Day 12

   Tsavo East National Park to Nairobi

   We enjoy birding in Tsavo East National Park before departing for Nairobi, with lunch en route at a restaurant where there is more birding to enjoy.

   Later in the afternoon we proceed to Nairobi and on to the airport for the flight home, marking the end of our lovely Coastal Kenya Birding Tour.

Highlights

What you may see

Highlight birds

Cardinal Quelea, White-headed Mousebird, Saddle-billed Stork, Jameson’s Firefinch, Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit, Acacia Tit, Harlequin Quail, Two-banded Courser, Scaly Chatterer, Southern Banded Snake-Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Taita Thrush, Red-tailed Ant-Thrush, Four-coloured Bush-Shrike, White-bellied Canary, Taveta Golden Weaver, Golden Palm Weaver, Clarke’s Weaver, Taita White-eye, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Eastern Nicator, Tiny Greenbul, Fischer’s Greenbul, Zanzibar Greenbul, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, Crested Guineafowl, East Coast Akalat, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Fischer’s Turaco, Trumpeter Hornbill, Blue-capped Cordon-bleu, Somali Bunting, Taita Apalis, Tiny Cisticola, Pale Prinia, Evergreen Forest Warbler, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Little Yellow Flycatcher, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Thick-billed Cuckoo, African Wood Owl, Green Barbet, White-eared Barbet, Green Tinkerbird, Böhm’s Spinetail, Forest Batis, Pygmy Batis, Pale Batis, Eastern Olive Sunbird, Plain-backed Sunbird, Violet-breasted Sunbird, Amani Sunbird, Tsavo Sunbird, Common Greenshank, Crab-plover, White-fronted Plover, Grey Plover, Sooty Gull, Greater Crested Tern, Sokoke Scops Owl, African Barred Owlet, Sombre Nightjar, Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar, Nubian Nightjar, Slender-tailed Nightjar, Fiery-necked Nightjar, Striped Pipit, Malindi Pipit, Sokoke Pipit, Mangrove Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Brown-headed Parrot, Somali Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Golden-breasted Starling, Shelley’s Starling, Magpie Starling, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, Red-and-yellow Barbet, Flappet Lark, Red-winged Lark, Friedmann’s Lark, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark, African Cuckoo-Hawk, African Hawk-Eagle, Grasshopper Buzzard, White-headed Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Broad-billed Roller, Narina Trogon

Highlight mammals and others

Cheetah, Leopard, African Lion, Savannah Elephant, Black Rhino, Nile Crocodile, Nile Hippo, Fringe-eared Oryx, Lesser Kudu, Cape Buffalo, Golden-rumped Sengi

Habitats covered

Savannah, Wetlands, Semi-arid Scrubland, Eastern Arc Forest, Coastal Forest, Coastal Beach

Photographic opportunities

Excellent

Special moments

Star gazing, the Indian Ocean, Mt Kilimanjaro, the African Big Five, Kenya’s endemic birds