03 Aug 2025 - 20 Aug 2025 (18 days)
USD11,995 - 4 Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Gregory de Klerk
Tour price (Per person): USD11,995 * GBP9,582 * EUR11,529 * AUD18,460
Single Supplement: USD1,750 * GBP1,398 * EUR1,682 * AUD2,693
Tour Leader: Julian Parsons
Tour price (Per person): USD12,295 * GBP9,822 * EUR11,817 * AUD18,922
Single Supplement: USD1,850 * GBP1,478 * EUR1,778 * AUD2,847
Our Kenya Photo Tour highlights some of Africa’s most iconic and famous wildlife reserves. From the undulating plains of the Maasai Mara to impressive Mount Kenya this tour is a photographer’s dream with wildlife highlights at every turn. Our tour begins in Nairobi – one of the most species diverse cities in the world – before heading west to the famous Tsavo reserves where prolific birdlife and mammals abound. To the north of Nairobi lies Mount Kenya, shrouded in montane forest and offering a completely different suite of birds. After our time in the cool forests, we continue north to the dry savanna and riverine woodland of Samburu and Buffalo Springs for a plethora of incredible birds and mammals. We’ll then head southwest and descend to the nutrient-rich Lake Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley, with its inexhaustible numbers of Lesser Flamingos. Lastly, we head further south towards the vast plains of what is arguably one of the most fabulous game reserves in the world, the justifiably famous Maasai Mara! This tour offers incomparable wildlife and birding with plenty of exceptional photographic opportunities!
Highlights
Superb Starling; Lilac-breasted Roller; Grey Crowned Crane; Kori Bustard; Martial Eagle; Secretarybird; Saddle-billed Stork; Jackson’s Widowbird; Silvery-cheeked Hornbill; Kikuyu White-eye; Bar-tailed Trogon; White-headed & Grant’s Wood Hoopoes; Vulturine Guineafowl; Somali Courser; Somali Bee-eaters; Lesser & Greater Flamingos; African Fish Eagle; Hartlaub's, Ross's & Schalow’s Turacos; Bare-faced Go-away-bird; Yellow-throated & Black-faced Sandgrouse; White-starred Robin; Purple Grenadier;
African Elephant; African Buffalo; Leopard; Lion; Black & White Rhinoceroses ('Big Five'); Cheetah; Spotted Hyena; Rothschild’s & Maasai Giraffe; Guereza; Common Hippopotamus; Grant’s & Thompson’s Gazelles; Common Warthog.
lowland & montane forests, Acacia savanna, rivers and wetlands, rocky gorges, grassland, semi-desert
warm to hot, dry conditions, but cool at higher elevations and rain can be expected
6 with 1 Rockjumper Leader
Undemanding. Suitable for all photography / birding / wildlife interest levels and mobility capabilities. • Our Bird Photo Tours are a hybrid between our Classic birding tours and dedicated photographic tours. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have the biggest lens; this is for everyone with an interest in photography and birding. Whether you’re using a bridge camera or the latest body and prime lens, our aims are the same. • These tours are not aimed at seeing the most species possible on the route, rather taking time to photograph key targets and any other interesting species we may find. Naturally, the overall species list will be lower than a comparable birding focused tour. • Whilst we may use blinds, feeders and hide setups on some of these tours, we will not be spending an entire day nor even several hours fixed in one spot. • These tours are suitable for photographers who prefer opportunistic photography over entire days in a hide. • Our leaders will assist in helping everyone secure good photographic opportunities and advise as much as they can on camera setup. However, they are not professional photographic tour leaders.
Comfortable lodges & tented safari camps.
Undemanding. Most species provide good visuals in open conditions. Forest birding and photography is limited.
Maasai and other Kenya indigenous people, African curios
Excellent throughout. Mostly from the vehicle and in lodge gardens. No dedicated hides.
This trip far exceeded my expectations. Our guide, Greg de Klerk, was excellent in every way. He took the time to actually teach us about bird and animal behavior. When other tour vehicles were speeding away, we got to sit and really learn. Also our driver, Martin, was superb -- an excellent driver who navigated the rutted roads with great skill, but also proved himself to be an excellent spotter and birder. Greg and Martin made a wonderful team. The selection of game reserves that we visited on this trip was perfect, especially for me as a first-timer. I felt I got an excellent overview of the Kenyan countryside. Our accommodations were all comfortable, but some were better than others. I loved the Wildebeest Eco-Lodge in Nairobi -- a wonderful introduction to the country. Castle Forest felt magical, and even the annoyance of having only one plug per room did not dampen my enthusiasm. The Sopa Lodge at Sambura was comfortable and the staff were very accommodating; I just wish the doors and windows had been a bit tighter to keep out a startling array of large critters (crickets, spiders, and something very large with lots of legs), none of which appeared at any other location. The Lodge at Lake Nakuru was a treat and very unexpected. But I loved the low-key atmosphere of the Pride Inn at Masai Mara -- a lovely location, and again the staff were wonderful. I thought the food offered at the buffets in all our lodges was excellent overall. Thank you for a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go back.
Greg de Klerk was very friendly and competent. He worked diligently to ensure we all saw the birds. We were always given sufficient time to look closely and for some to take photos. A most enjoyable tour.
Stuart took my "hit list" and ensured that I saw as many as possible. Driver/guide Jack and local guides also helpful. Accommodation and food generally good. One negative was that Landcruiser was cramped and difficult to enter and exit, but apparently a 4X4 is necessary for this tour. Overall very happy with the tour and total list. Other participants also enjoyed it.
This was one of the best five of the 53 guided birding tours I have taken! Paul Josop is not only a truly excellent local guide who knows African birds and their calls phenomenally well, but is also extremely pleasant to deal with, polite, supportive of all levels of participant birding skills and very thoughtful. Paul also has an infectious sense of humor: We all laughed a lot on this tour! He loves to teach participants the finer points of the biology of the animals and plants encountered on a tour; he also managed group dynamics very well. It is clear that Paul enjoys guiding and he is very focused on getting all of the tour participants onto every bird species we encountered: He is living proof of my dictum that ""A good local guide is a thing of joy"". Our two local guide/drivers, Roger in Tanzania and Edson in Kenya, were also excellent: They dealt very well with severely pot-holed African roads and erratic African drivers and traffic; they also pointed out very many birds and big game as we bounced through the national parks, reserves and paved roads, all filled with aggressive opposing traffic! They have my highest recommendation. However, I do urge the local tour operator, Tanzania Birding and Beyond, to have their Land Cruiser passenger seats rebuilt - they were singularly uncomfortable on our long drives. This Rockjumper tour has my highest recommendation for all levels of participants' birding skills.
This was a first-rate trip. Itinerary, accommodation, people and , of course, Glen's great leading and bird-finding were all excellent.
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