Tour Leader: Quinton Paul Josop
Tour price (Per person): USD7,495 * GBP5,964 * EUR7,186 * AUD11,990
Single Supplement: USD1,180 * GBP939 * EUR1,131 * AUD1,888
Flight costs: USD140 * GBP111 * EUR134 * AUD224
Kenya is well regarded as one of the finest safari destinations on the planet, and rightly so. Our 2-week Kenya Highlights tour traverses a wide range of habitat from coastal forest and woodlands, acacia savanna and central African rainforest to papyrus swamps and rolling grassy savanna as we target a mouth-watering array of Kenya’s most special birds. The game viewing will also be a significant highlight as we explore famous Kenyan game reserves such as Tsavo West, Tsavo East and Lake Nakuru National Parks!
Our tour begins with an exploration of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Here we will endeavour to find some of the rarest birds in Africa, including the diminutive Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Pipit, Fischer’s Turaco, Amani Sunbird and Clarke’s Weaver. We then travel through both Tsavo East and West Parks, offering excellent game viewing and a huge bird list. We will also take time to visit the isolated Taita Hills, with its critically endangered species. We then head across to western Kenya to the famous Kakamega Forest. Here a plethora of forest specials await, with the gorgeous Blue-headed Bee-eater, Turner’s Eremomela, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye being notable targets. After exploring the papyrus swamps and moist woodlands along Lake Victoria for the striking Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary and numerous other wetland specialties, we’ll make our way to the famous Lake Nakuru National Park, supporting populations of both species of African rhinoceros and several other megafauna.
Join us for what promises to be an extraordinary tour offering an incredible diversity of wildlife, superb scenery, wonderful lodges and tented camps, and super-friendly tribal people!
Blue-headed & Somali Bee-eaters; Sokoke Scops Owl; Sokoke, Golden & Malindi Pipits; Clarke's & Golden Palm Weavers; Amani, Plain-backed & Tsavo Sunbirds; Green-headed Oriole; Fischer's & Black-billed Turacos; Equatorial & East Coast Akalats; Taita & Black-headed Apalis; Taita White-eye; Taita Thrush; Golden-breasted & Magpie Starlings; Turner's Eremomela; Yellow-bellied & Jameson's Wattle-eyes; Brown-chested Alethe; Blue-shouldered & Grey-winged Robin-Chats; Grey-chested Babbler; White-headed Wood Hoopoe; Red-headed Bluebill; Papyrus Canary; Papyrus Gonolek; Red-naped Bushshrike; Three-streaked Tchagra; Pringle's Puffback; Red-throated Tit; Miombo Wren-Warbler; Pangani Longclaw; Steel-blue & Straw-tailed Whydahs; Red-throated Twinspot.
Lion; Leopard; Cheetah; African Elephant; African Buffalo; Black Rhinoceros; Lesser Kudu; Golden-rumped Sengi; Sable Antelope; Serval; Spotted & Striped Hyaena; Aardwolf; Gerenuk; Beisa Oryx; Maasai & Reticulated Giraffe.
lowland coastal forest, grasslands, estuaries, beaches, mangroves, acacia savanna, temporary and permanent wetlands, rivers, central African rainforest,
warm to hot, dry conditions mostly but humid along the coast, cooler at higher elevations and rain can be expected
6 with 1 Rockjumper Leader
Moderate. Some long travel days, forest birding can be challenging.
comfortable safari lodges and hotels
A mix of forest & savanna birding. Most savanna species provide good visuals in open conditions. Forest birding is more challenging with some low-density species.
Maasai people, African curios
Good to excellent in savanna habitat from vehicle. Typical forest orientated lighting difficulties & skulking species.
We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our trip with Greg. He is the ultimate Bird Whisperer. His birding skills are outstanding! He has a great sense of humor and wonderful stories. He shared his extensive knowledge about all the animals and their behavior, which made every part of the trip so much more interesting. This was certainly one of our best trips with Rockjumper. In addition, we sincerely appreciate Rockjumpers flexibility in working with us to reschedule this trip, since we were originally planning to go in March 2020.
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.
We very much enjoyed our East Africa experience, finding it to be the adventure we dreamed it would be. With Greg de Klerk as our excellent and informative guide and the incredible wildlife, the tour exceeded our expectations. Greg took care of us all throughout the tour and was extremely patient and considerate to make certain that all were able to find the birds we were seeking. We had a group with different levels of birding experience and Greg worked so well with all. Thanks to all who made this wonderful experience happen for us.
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 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.
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
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