DES 008 - 7 Days Birding On The Western Circuit

Day 1: Nairobi – Lake Nakuru – L. Baringo (One night)

08:00 hrs. Leave Nairobi for Lake Nakuru National Park. This is on the floor of the Great Rift Valley. Drive through a mosaic of landscapes provided in the short distances between various ecosystems from highlands to the Eastern escarpment of the valley droping to the floor of the valley. The Lake is home to greatest Flamingo spectacle in the world. The Park is also home to a variety of waterbirds that colonize the lake, chance also to see wild game inclusive of the white rhino. Dinner and overnight at the lodge or camp.

Day 2 – L.Nakuru – Lake Bogoria / Baringo

07:30 hrs. Leave for L. Baringo to be there by 09:00 hrs. This is one of the two fresh water lakes in the Rift Valley. Baringo is home to a different species of regionally threatened species. Its also a well-known destination for birdwatchers and home for over 500 bird species having been recorded. Later in the afternoon visit the hot springs geysers in L. Bogoria. Spend the night at L. Baringo Club or Lake Bogoria hotel.

Day 3: Lake Baringo – Eldoret – Kakamega Forest – South Nandi

08:00 hrs. Leave for Kakamega Forest through the Kerio valley. Have hot lunch at Eldoret and to arrive early evening. Dinner an overnight at Rondo retreat or cheaper accommodation at Isecheno guests house.

Day 4: Kakamega Forest

Kakamega forest is a mid-altitude tropical rainforest, the eastern outlier of the Congo Basin forests. Its West African affinities are unique in Kenya, and the forest contains many species found nowhere else in the country. Have a full day's birding experience in Kakamega forests to maximize on the wide variety of fauna and flora.

Day 5: Nandi Forest

Day out to South Nandi Forest. The site is almost certainly the most important site in the world for the threatened Turner's Eremomela. The avifauna is mainly Afromontane including the Grey-chested Illadopsis.

Day 6: Kakamega Forest – Lake Victoria – Kinangop Grasslands

Leave early for Kisumu's papyrus wetlands home to the endemic globally threatened Papyrus Yellow Warber. Other papyrus specials are the Papyrus Gonolek and Black- headed Gonolek and many others. Have hot lunch in Kisumu and proceed to Kinangop montane grasslands. Kinangop is known to be the strong hold for the globally threatened Sharpe's Longclaw.

Overnight at Kinangop Guest house. Dinner and overnight at the Guests house. Other specials to watch out for are Jackson's Widowbird, and Long-tailed Widowbird. The elusive Aberdare Cisticola can also be sighted in the near-by Aberdare Mountain forests.

Day 7: Kinangop Grasslands – Kereita Forest - Nairobi

07:30 hrs. Leave for Kereita forest a highland forest home to globally threatened Abbott's Starling. Other forests specialist species are numerous here. Carry packed lunch since it's a whole day's birding. Arrive Nairobi early evening.