Bird Watching and the Big 5 Safari

Continuing your exploration of the birdlife in the lakes of Kenya, after breakfast you’ll head northwards. Your next stop is Lake Baringo, the second most northernly lake in Kenya. With more than five hundred bird species present in this national park, the region is an important site of biodiversity in the world, and is waiting to be explored.

From the shores you will see some of the islands in the lake, including the extinct volcano called Ol Kokwe. As well as the plethora of avian species on show here, some terrestrial and amphibious animals can also be spotted, such as:

• Crocodiles
• Hippopotamuses
• Leopard tortoises
• Greater Kudu
• Mountain reedbuck

Along with others that live on the lakeside. The flamingos are, once again, a highlight with more than one million of the birds coming here. The waters of the alkaline lake seem to turn bright pink as the flamingos flock to the area, with higher concentrations in mating and feeding seasons.

Lunch will be served lakeside as a picnic so that you have plenty of time inside the national park to marvel at the creatures within. For dinner, you’ll head to your chosen camp or lodge within the park and take chance to reflect on the animals you’ve seen. This is chance for the dedicated ornithologists to update their records, too. The second day of your African safari adventure includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Lake Baringo National Park
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

It’s time to head south, down through the volcano-crafted lands of the Great African Rift Valley, Today’s destination is Lake Nakuru, up in the highlands at an elevation of over 1,700 metres above sea level. On the journey, there will be photographic wonders that your guide will be able to make brief stops for. As you enter the park to make your way to your chosen camp or lodge you will also have a game drive where you will catch first sight of the lake and hopefully some land mammals, too.

Once lunch at your accommodation is over, you will head out for a full bird watching and game drive for the afternoon. There is a wide range of birds that feed and nest here, such as:

• Great white pelican
• Black-tailed godwit
• Crab-plover
• Arrow-marked babbler
• Bateleur

Plus rare land animals such as the Rothschild giraffe and rhinos. There is a dedicated rhino sanctuary within the national park and you can go and try to spot these most endangered of animals.

As the sun starts to fall and the sky turns shades of orange, red, and pink, it’s time to return to your chosen camp or lodge for dinner. You can take in the evening over the plains on any terraces that are on offer, or get an early night, ready for the adventures tomorrow holds. Day three of your safari in Kenya includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Lake Nakuru National Park
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Another early start on your safari will see you have breakfast and then depart on a morning game drive through Lake Nakuru National Park. Along with the birds, look out for baboons, warthogs, and zebras in the grasses as another day begins to unfold lakeside. From this park, you will make your way south west to Lake Naivasha, a 140-square kilometre body of water high up in on the rift.

Before you head out to explore the lake and lands around, you’ll have lunch at your accommodation. From here you can take a boat out to Crescent Island, which is actually a peninsular attached to the mainland. Whilst out on the water you will be able to spot birds fishing and possibly some of the local hippos. Once on the island, you can take a walking safari with you guide to allow you get up close and personal with the wildlife in a way not possible when in your safari vehicle. As an option activity, there is a fee of $30 per person. A vehicle-based safari can be taken as an alternative to the boat trip and walking safari.

After exploring the shores, islands, and savanna of Lake Naivasha National Park, you will return to your camp or lodge for dinner. Indulge in any spa facilities that may be on offer or listen to the night across the park from the terraces. Day four of your Kenyan safari expedition includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Lake Naivasha National Park
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Right next to Lake Naivasha is the small and mighty Hell’s Gate National Park. Fill up with a hearty breakfast, for this day will be much more active than what you’ve already experienced. You’ll take bicycles into this park full of awe-inspiring geology and a huge range of animals, too. As you cycle through the park at a gentle pace, you can expect to see:

• Lions
• Buffalo
• Zebras
• Elands
• Hyenas

On the mammal front, as well as some hundred or so bird species including the lammergeyer vulture, if you’re lucky.

You’ll be given lunch at a picnic site inside the park, giving you opportunity to drink in the landscape as you eat a meal for energy to go into the afternoon. From here, you’ll leave the bikes behind and head to the amazing towering columns and the gorge that’s in the park. There are also two extinct volcanoes in the area, watch out for the interesting rocks that have formed after their previous eruptions.

A day filled with activities and fresh adventure will be richly rewarded with a big dinner and an evening with time to do your own thing back at your camp or lodge inside Lake Naivasha National Park. You can choose to take any optional spa treatments available or spending the evening surrounded by nature on terraces or viewing platforms that may be available. The fifth day of your bird watching safari includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Lake Naivasha National Park
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

After five days looking for birds and indulging in some of the best spots for ornithologists in Africa, it’s time to head to one of the best parks in Africa for spotting the big five of African safari:

• Elephants
• Lions
• Leopards
• Rhinos
• Buffalo

In the Masai Mara. You’ll move south and west towards this most iconic of parklands, ready to explore a different side of Kenya to what you’ve already seen, once you have breakfast. Along the way you’ll go through the Kenyan countryside and be able to see the transition from the lake-filled highlands to the grassy lowlands.

A brief game drive upon arrival will see you make your way to your chosen camp or lodge where you’ll be met with lunch after your travels. The afternoon is spent out on the plains, dotted with myriad animals in concentrations rarely rivalled in parks across Africa. Your first afternoon exploring these plains is but a brief introduction to the days ahead.

Head back to your camp or lodge to rest up and eat dinner, for tomorrow will be an action-packed day out in the Masai Mara. The sixth day of your safari in Africa includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Masai Mara National Reserve
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Exploring the Masai Mara offers a wonderful opportunity to surround yourself in nature, which is what is planned for this whole day once you’ve had breakfast. Animals abound in this ancient savanna. Along with the predators and grazers this area is known for, you can continue on your quest for bird spotting opportunities by looking out for:

• Ostriches
• African darters
• Black-crowned night herons
• Cattle egrets
• White storks

After a picnic lunch inside the park, next to the Mara river, you are invited on an optional visit to a village of the Masai people. These nomadic tribes have been grazing their cattle across the savanna for centuries uncountable and have a near-symbiotic relationship with the land. Your visit will start with a traditional song and dance performance, followed by a tour of their village and the chance to go inside one of their homes to really learn about their way of life. As an optional activity, there is an additional fee of $20 per person for this visit.

Once the sun sets on your first full day inside the Masai Mara, it’s time to return to your camp or lodge. Here, you will have dinner and be able to use any optional facilities available or just soak up the atmosphere and sounds of the savanna at night. The seventh day of your safari in Kenya includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Masai Mara National Reserve
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Much of your safari so far will have been spent looking skywards, watching the birds of East Africa as they soar and swoop, breed and feed in the area. This morning, you have a chance to see the Masai Mara from their perspective, with an option hot air balloon ride at dawn. You will ascend high over the plains, taking in the landscape from an angle usually the preserve of the birds. The first light over the savanna is wonderous shades, ready to be captured in your photographs. To round off this breath-taking experience, your breakfast will be accompanied by champagne and served on a viewing platform above the vast expanse. This activity has an additional cost of $425 per person.

Alternatively, your morning can be spent on a dawn game drive followed by breakfast at your camp or lodge before setting out on a packed day out in the grasslands. The Masai Mara is packed with wildlife, including the three most famous big cats of the continent:

• Lions
• Leopards
• Cheetahs

Which you should be lucky enough to spot with plenty of time to find them combined with the expertise of your Kenyan safari guide.

Keeping you in the park for as much of the day as possible, you’ll have a picnic lunch out on the plains once again. Once the sun has fallen below the horizon one last time on your safari trip, you will take one final dinner back at your accommodation and have one more evening to soak up the atmosphere in the wilds of Kenya. The final full day of your Kenyan safari includes:

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Masai Mara National Reserve
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra