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Kenya & Tanzania:
Birding and Wildlife 30-Day Safari

Kenya and Tanzania are world-renowned as a wildlife destination par excellence with a breathtaking range of often easily approachable mammals and birds in landscapes of immense beauty. Our tour takes in two of Kenya’s finest game reserves, Samburu and the Maasai Mara, visits the alkaline and freshwater lakes of the Rift Valley and the central highlands along with the rainforest at Kakamega. In Tanzania we begin in Tarangire, with a landscape dominated by huge baobab trees, and spend 4 days in the Usambara Mountains searching for the endemics and localized sub species that make this part of northern Tanzania unique. We end our tour in south eastern Kenya with visits to coastal forests, tidal estuaries; the arid bush of Tsavo East and the forests of the Taita Hills. We’ll encounter myriads of birds, including brilliant kingfishers and rollers, hornbills, Gray-crowned Cranes, Ostriches and a wide assortment of bustards and vultures.

Everywhere pulsates with life, from the acacia-dotted savannahs of arid Samburu, arguably Kenya’s finest mammal reserve, to the endless undulating grasslands of the legendary Maasai Mara, perhaps the best place on earth to see large mammals in abundance, including herds of thousands of Wildebeest. At Nakuru National Park the incredible sight of over a million noisy Lesser Flamingos ringing the soda lake is surely one of the great wildlife spectacles. A boat ride along the shore of Lake Baringo will take us close to African Spoonbills, Goliath Herons, Jacanas, diminutive Malachite Kingfishers and majestic Fish Eagles, common inhabitants of the lakeshore as are hippos and Nile Crocodiles. Throughout our tour we will encounter many of Africa’s colorful birds including gem-like sunbirds, beautiful bee-eaters and impossibly bright starlings. There are also a tremendous variety of raptors ranging from the tiny Pygmy Falcon, a bird no bigger than a starling, to the weird and wonderful Secretary Bird. Kakamega is Kenya’s last remaining rainforest where the fauna of the Congo basin reaches it most easterly point. Tsavo East and Amboseli with its back drop of Kilimanjaro are two spectacularly different parks both with large concentrations of elephants. The more humid Kenyan coast offers a different habitat with coastal forests, tidal estuaries and creeks where Crab Plovers and an assortment of shorebirds winter. The northernmost stand of Brachystegia forest is located at Arabuko-Sokoke where several endemics can be found here including Sokoke Scops-Owl, Sokoke Pipit and the nomadic Clarke’s Weaver.

Tanzania’s is not only home to the ‘cradle of mankind’ it is also here that the word ‘safari’ originated, coming from the Swahili word for journey. At Tarangire we’ll see confiding Yellow-collared Lovebirds and Ashy Starlings around the grounds of our camp while in the park we’ll search for the elusive Leopard. The isolated Usambara Mountains are home to a number of restricted range species including Long-tailed Tailorbird and the endemic Usambara Akalat. We will need our 4 days here to locate them as we explore the montane and lowland forests. While our time in Tanzania is brief there will a great deal to see.

This is a wonderful trip for photography. The combination of unusual scenery, beautiful and often very approachable wildlife, and rural Kenyan 'scenes' means that there is plenty to shoot on this ultimate Wildlife Safari.

ITINERARY outline:
Day 1 / Sept 24 – Arrive in Nairobi
Day 2 – Thika & Mt. Kenya Forest
Day 3 & 4 – Samburu NR
Day 5 – Shaba GR
Day 6 – Shaba, Naro Moru
Day 7 – Aberdares NP & Lake Naivasha
Day 8 – Nakuru NP
Day 9 – Nakuru NP & Lake Baringo
Day 10 – Lake Baringo & Lake Bogoria
Day 11 – transfer to Kakamega Forest
Day 12 – Kakamega Forest
Day 13 – Lake Victoria & Mara Escarpment
Day 14 & 15 – Maasai Mara & Siana Springs
Day 16 – transfer to Nairobi NP via Limuru Ponds
Day 17 – Amboseli NP
Day 18 – Amboseli NP & Lark Plains
Day 19 – Tarangire NP
Day 20 – Tarangire & S. Pare Mts
Day 21 & 22 – Western Usambara Mts
Day 23 & 24 – Eatsern Usambara Mts
Day 25 – transfer to Shimba Hill GR
Day 26 – Shimba Hills GR & Mida Creek
Day 27 & 28 – Arabuko-Sokoke Forest & Sabaki River
Day 29 – Tsavo East
Day 30 / Oct 23 – Taita Hills & depart Nairobi

Cost: from $10,500 based upon 5 participants and double occupancy. Single Supplement $1250.00. If you do not request a single room and we are unable to find you a roommate, you will be charged the single supplement

What is included in the Cost: All ground transportation in a 4wd safari minibus with pop-up roof in Kenya and Land Cruiser in Tanzania; game drives; boat rides and park entrance fees; all meals from breakfast on Day 2 through dinner on Day 30; all accommodations; services of Professional Guides; Flying Doctors Medical Travel Insurance throughout the safari and bottled water while on game drives.

What is not included in the Cost: Airfare to Nairobi; Airport taxes (if applicable); Visas for Kenya ($50) and Tanzania ($100); Travel Insurance; Items of a personal nature; Beverages; Tips to waiters, porters, guides and drivers.

Group Size: A maximum of 5 participants per vehicle.