Lake Victoria Gems and Beyond

Upon your arrival in the lakeshore city of Kisumu, you will be transferred to Acacia Premier for breakfast and some valuable briefing. From here we will visit while boating and birding. This will 2-hour boat ride will introduce us to some of the Lake Victoria biomes restricted species notably; Greater Swamp Warbler, White-winged Warbler, Little Egret, Papyrus Gonolek, Swamp Flycatcher, other birds including Pied Kingfisher, Whiskered Terns, Yellow-billed Stork, White-winged Tern, Red-chested Sunbird, African Thrush, Black-headed Gonolek, Copper Sunbird, and Slender-billed Weaver. We will have our picnic lunch at the Dunga Community boardwalk where more papyrus bird species will be seen. We will then do our light afternoon birding experience as we explore the lakeshore surroundings where we may see; Double-toothed Barbet, Black-faced Barbet, White-headed Barbet, and much more. As we drive out of the city we will stop at the Kavirondo escarpment for a different altitude which brings different bird species namely; Lizard Buzzard, Red-faced Cisticola, Purple-banded Sunbird, Ross’s Turaco, Great Sparrowhawk, and much more. We will check-in at the Ciala Resort for dinner and the night.

This morning, we will wake up for an early birding around this luxurious resort. Our morning birding will enable us to see; Eastern Grey Plantain Eater, Grey Woodpecker, Arrow-marked Babbler, Black-lored Babbler, White-throated Bee Eater, Little Sparrowhawk, Lanner Falcon, African Hobby, and if lucky we will also see the Bat Hawk. We will walk back to the resort for breakfast and then checkout for a ferry crossing on Lake Victoria which is the second largest lake in the world. While on the ferry, we may see White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Little Egret, Pied Kingfisher, and Grey-headed Gull, among others. Upon our arrival, we will do our birding on the slopes of Gembe Hills where we will also enjoy our picnic lunch with great views of the lake. On these slopes, we are looking forward to seeing: Silver Bird, White-headed Saw-wing, Black-lored Babbler, Angola Swallow, Bare-faced Go away Bird. We will later drive to Rusinga Island and proceed with some birding on this pre-historical Island where we will check-in at the rustic Rusinga Island Lodge on the shoreline of the lake. This is a home to some of the most stable African Fish Eagle population, Black Kite, Malachite Kingfisher, Hadada Ibis, Sacred Ibis, Malachite Kingfisher, and much more. Dinner and overnight say at the Rusinga Island Lodge.

After an early breakfast, we will leave the island for Gwassi Hills. These breathtaking sceneries ride on the shoreline of the worlds’ second largest freshwater lake is comparable to nothing else in Kenya. Gwassi Hills comprises a much overlooked highland massif in southern Nyanza Province with a hitherto completely unknown avifauna. Here we detail our findings with a focus on forested habitats above 1800 m. We confirm the presence of the forest-dependent species, including a globally near-threatened forest raptor, the Crowned Eagle as well as the first known occurrence of the Western Citril in Kenya. We will enjoy our walk exploring the forest's varied terrain with some magnificent birding options while enjoying the greatest views of the Lake Victoria region. We will later travel back to Rusinga Island for the night and dinner.

Ruma is the only terrestrial park in the entire lake Victoria region, Kenya. Initially, established as a game reserve to protect the indigenous population of rare Roan Antelopes The park is sandwiched in the Lambwe Valley with the towering Gwassi, Ran’gwa, and Gembe hills while the dramatic Kanyamwa escarpment commands some elegant views around it. The park is home to the not locally spotted Black-backed Cisticola, the migrant Blue Swallows, and the African Moustached Warbler among other birds. We will enjoy a full day of birding and a picnic lunch in this least visited park. In the evening, we will drive back to Rusinga Island Lodge for dinner and the night.

After an early breakfast, we will leave Rusinga Island for the Kakamega Forest. On our way, we will have a stopover at the alkaline Lake Simbi. We are here for the alkaline water birds namely the Black-winged Stilts, Little Grebes, and much more. If are lucky we may also come across the Lesser and Greater Flamingos who are normally migrants from the Great Rift Valley lakes. From Lake Simbi, we will continue with our drive to the Ahero rice paddies where a conglomeration of water birds should be well present. From Ahero we will head to Kakamega Forest arriving here in good time for lunch. This pristine rainforest has very different bird species, most of which are only found in this western area within Kenya. We will numerous species of greenbuls, among them Joyful Greenbul, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, and Cabanis’s Greenbul. Other nice birds were Black-headed Oriole, Brown-chested Alethe, Yellow-billed Barbet, Equatorial Akalat, and the majestic Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill. We will walk back to Rondo Retreat for dinner and the night.

This morning after an early breakfast we will begin our second-day birding in the forest with our main focus on the Isiukhu River, where we expect to see; Red-headed Malimbe, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, and African Blue Flycatcher, African Yellow White-eye, Chubb’s Cisticola, and plenty of others.
The rest of the day will be spent hiking the forest trails. Starting with the fish pond area, where we will be searching for the White-spotted Flufftail and Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Great Blue, and Ross’s. We will walk back to the luxurious Rondo Retreat for dinner and the night.

Leave Kakamega Forest early in the morning for a drive to the less-visited wilderness of Lake Elementaita which has more than 400 bird species having been identified in the area. Lake Elementaita has the largest populations of the Great White Pelicans and flamingos too. It is believed that approximately 90% of all of Kenya’s Black-necked Grebes and Cape Teals are found here. Our walking safari will take us along the shores of the lake to have an up-close view of the feathered visitors from as far as Europe and Asia. Dinner and overnight at the Pelican Lodge.

Early breakfast, pack up and drive to Crater Lake Sanctuary, stopover at Lake Oloiden for flamingos and possible water birds then explore the sanctuary where we expect the endangered Grey-crested Helmet-shrike, Scaly-throated Honey-guide, Greater Honeyguide, Southern Black Flycatcher, Grey Woodpecker, Bearded Woodpecker, African Fish Eagles and much more. From Crater Lake, we will drive to the Elsamere Conservation Centre for the Adamson’s museum, a video show, and some English tea on the lawn. While at Elsamere, we will still have some excellent birding opportunities with the most notable bird being the African Fish Eagle. We will later drive back to Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge for dinner and the night.

This morning after an early breakfast, we will drive to Hell’s Gate National Park where Verreaux's Eagle, Augur Buzzard, Ruppelll’s Vulture, Schalow's Wheatear, Red-capped, and Rufous-naped Lark, and some game will be seen too. We will drive back to the lodge for a late lunch that will be followed by some easy birding on the grounds of the lodge. Dinner and the night will be at Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge.

Early breakfast and depart for the Gatamaiyu forest. This forest perched on Kenya’s Rift Valley escarpment is home to some of the most astounding bird species notably; Hartlaub’s Turaco, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis, Brown Woodland Warbler, Abbott’s Starling, Cape Wagtail, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Brown-chested Alethe, African Hill Babbler, Hunter’s Cisticola, Green-headed Sunbird, White-browed Crombec, White-headed Wood-hoopoe, African Olive Pigeon, Mountain Buzzard, Olive Ibis, Malachite Sunbird, Common Stonechat, Grey Crowned Crane, Great Egret, Mountain Greenbul, Black-fronted Bushshrike, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Bar-tailed Trogon among other birds. From the forest, we will pass by the Manguo swamp which may provide sights of Maccoa Duck, Southern Pochard, Northern Shoveller, Red-knobbed Coot, Common Moorhen, and much more. Our arrival in Nairobi will be in the evening for dinner and the night at the Ole Serani Hotel.

Early breakfast with packed lunch depart to Nairobi National Park for a full day of birding, expecting to see a variety of species such as Kori Bustard, Saddle-billed Stork, Ruppell’s Robin-chat, White-tailed Lark, Rufous-naped Lark, Red-throated Tit, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Martial Eagle, African Crowned Eagle, Jackson’s Widowbird, African Water Rail, Spotted Thick-knee, Speke’s Weaver, Secretary Bird, Northern Pied Babbler, Pangani Longclaw, African Quail-finch, Zebra Waxbill, Lappet-faced Vulture, Violet Wood-hoopoe, Nairobi Pipit, Croaking Cisticola, Desert Cisticola. After all these fun-filled activities of the day, we will transfer you to the airport for your flight back home.