01 Apr 2025 - 13 Apr 2025 (13 days)
USD6,795 - 4 Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Paul Varney
Tour price (Per person): USD6,795 * GBP5,428 * EUR6,531 * AUD10,457
Single Supplement: USD600 * GBP479 * EUR577 * AUD923
31 Mar 2026 - 12 Apr 2026 (13 days)
USD7,395 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Nigel Redman
Tour price (Per person): USD7,395 * GBP5,908 * EUR7,108 * AUD11,381
Single Supplement: USD830 * GBP663 * EUR798 * AUD1,277
Our Kenya Relaxed tour highlights some of Africa’s most iconic and famous wildlife reserves. Our tour begins with an exploration of Nairobi – one of the most species diverse cities in the world – before heading a little further north to Mount Kenya, shrouded in montane forest. After our time in the cool forests, we continue north to the dry savanna and riverine woodland of Samburu and Buffalo Springs for a completely new suite of 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 in the space of just two weeks!
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; Grey-crested Helmetshrike; Hartlaub's & Schalow’s Turacos; Bare-faced Go-away-bird; Yellow-throated Sandgrouse.
the “Big Five” (African Elephant; African Buffalo; Leopard; Lion; Black & White Rhinoceroses); Cheetah; Spotted Hyena; Rothschild’s & Maasai Giraffe; Guereza; 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 may be expected
8 with 1 Rockjumper Leader
Our Relaxed series of tours are designed to focus on having an enjoyable holiday with a bird and wildlife focus. Where possible; we have reduced or removed long drives, single night stays and poor/rustic accommodation. We have also sought to reduce or remove difficult hikes, narrow/muddy trails and otherwise oppressive environmental conditions. Early starts and night birding are mostly optional, and we will not spend much time searching for difficult and/or skulking species. These tours are not suitable for hardcore birders and listers, or dedicated photographers.
safari lodges and hotels
mostly easy birding, slightly tougher in forest
Maasai and other Kenya indigenous people, African curios
excellent
Heinz Ortmann was charming and funny, outstanding on the birds and other animals, and excellent in dealing with the logistics. I would be very happy to travel with Heinz again.
David Hoddinott and indeed the drivers and Alison were all amazing - making this a life-changing experience. Everything went far better than expected throughout the tour in my opinion. I do not see how it could have been improved. Well done to all!
Paul Josop is a top notch and amazing tour leader - at all times he was knowledgeable, patient, attentive and engaging. We loved the trip and feel that much of its success was because of Paul's excellent guiding skills. We feel very fortunate to have experienced all that we did.
We have birded with David Hoddinott previously. As usual, David was exceptionally talented at finding birds and other wildlife, plus making certain that all participants were able to see them. David maximized our exposure to viewing birds and wildlife which made the tour a pleasurable experience.
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.
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game III 2024 - April 2024
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game I 2024 - April 2024
Kenya - Birds & Big Game (Relaxed) II 2024 - February 2024
Kenya - Highlights II 2023 - November 2023
Kenya - Highlights I 2023 - October 2023
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game IV 2023 - April 2023
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game III 2023 - April 2023
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game I 2023 - March 2023
Kenya - Mega Birding Tour I 2023 - March 2023
Kenya - Relaxed 2023 - March 2023
Kenya - Highlights 2022 - November 2022
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game V 2022 - September 2022
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game II 2022 - April 2022
Kenya - Mega Birding Tour 2022 - March 2022
Kenya - Highlights I 2021 - December 2021
Kenya - Highlights III 2021 - November 2021
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game III 2021 - April 2021
Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game V 2020 - November 2020