Tailormade Kenya

The Masai Mara is the best known wildlife reserve in Africa and, with the adjoining Serengeti in Tanzania, it is the place in which to experience East Africa’s huge herds of migratory plains game – arguably the world’s greatest wildlife spectacle. Its vast rolling grasslands and scattered acacia woodlands, particularly those along the Mara River, span 1,500 square kilometres. Those seeking a ‘big game’ experience will not be disappointed! Here, such iconic mammals as African Elephant, African Buffalo, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Warthog, Black-backed Jackal, Spotted Hyena, Eland, Topi, Thomson’s and Grant’s Gazelles, Masai Giraffe and Hippopotamus can be seen throughout the year. But it is the period from July to October when the great herds of Blue Wildebeest and Plains (Grant’s) Zebra move into the Masai Mara from the Serengeti to feed on fresh grass following the ‘long rains’, making the hazardous crossing of the Mara River in the process. The birdlife of ‘the Mara’ is equally diverse. Huge Southern Ground Hornbills and elegant Secretarybirds stride across the grasslands alongside Kori Bustards, Grey Crowned-cranes and smaller species such as Temminck’s Courser, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Yellow-shouldered Widowbird and Holub’s Golden Weaver. Lone bushes and dead trees provide lookout perches for a variety of bee-eaters and rollers, whilst above them soar Martial Eagles, Lappet-faced, African White-backed, Hooded and Rüppell’s Vultures, the latter four always on the look-out for a recent kill.

Situated in the ‘arid north’ of Kenya, Samburu is perhaps the most beautiful of all the country’s reserves, and is a photographer’s paradise. Characterised in particular by its Doum Palms and rugged outcrops, the reserve’s grasslands, acacia woodlands and lush riverine forests comprise an attractive and diverse mosaic of African habitats that make the reserve one of the finest, in terms of both mammal and bird variety. As well as all the typical East African mammals, a number of more northern, dry-country species are found here, amongst them Beisa Oryx, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk and Grevy’s Zebra. Lions are the top predators, but Samburu also offers one of the best opportunities in Kenya to see Leopard, and Cheetah are also possible. Amongst the wealth of birdlife, African Pygmy Falcon, Vulturine Guineafowl, Red-bellied Parrot, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Northern Crombec, Pygmy Batis, Golden Pipit, Golden-breasted Starling and Somali Bee-eater are some of the specialities. Morning and afternoon game drives are the usual method of exploring this most scenic of reserves, and a number of good lodges service the area. Samburu Sopa is excellently located, but should you prefer a more luxurious stay, you might consider the Elephant Bedroom Camp which has 14 luxurious tents and a fantastic team offering an extremely high level of service.

The montane forests that clothe Mount Kenya’s slopes offer a special and very different habitat for the visiting wildlife enthusiast. Here there is the chance of seeing some of Kenya’s most elusive forest mammals, amongst them Bush Pig, Giant Forest Hog, Large-spotted Genet, White-tailed Mongoose, Tree Hyrax, Suni, Blackfronted Duiker and perhaps even a rare Bongo! The best chance of seeing these is at dawn and dusk, and through the night, from the hides overlooking the forest waterhole at Mountain Lodge. The birdlife is also very special, with such high-altitude and forest specialities as Green Ibis, Red-fronted Parrot, Hartlaub’s Turaco, White-starred Robin, Moustached Green Tinkerbird and Montane Oriole amongst many others. This avian variety, and the fabulous flora of Mount Kenya, is best enjoyed on walks through the forest from the lodge and other access points.

One of a wealth of large lakes in the Great Rift Valley, each with its own different character and wildlife, Lake Nakuru is a soda lake that supports an astonishing avifauna. Pink-backed and White Pelicans, Yellow-billed and Marabou Storks, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbills, and a host of ducks, waders, terns and gulls all add to the spectacle, whilst the ubiquitous African Fish Eagles and a range of other raptors sail overhead! Mammals are plentiful too, particularly Bohor Reedbuck, Defassa Waterbuck, African Buffalo, Warthog and the rare Rothschild’s Giraffe, and anyone tiring of the lakeside spectacle will find a differing set of birds in the surrounding scrub and woodlands. In the latter, Leopards are also regularly seen, Nakuru being a top site for this elusive cat, and a rhino is always a possibility since the national park is an important rhino sanctuary, protecting a population of over 60 Black and 40 White Rhinoceros.

Lake Naivasha is a tranquil freshwater lake set in the Kenya countryside. Over 350 bird species have been recorded here and it’s an idyllic place in which to relax or enjoy the birds and other wildlife on foot and by boat. Waterbirds are plentiful, and include White and Pink-backed Pelicans, Yellow-billed Stork, Goliath Heron, Little Bittern, Black Crake, Purple Swamphen, Spurwinged Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Hottentot Teal, Spur-winged and Long-toed Plovers, Malachite Kingfisher and many more, while, in the surrounding open woodlands of Yellow-barked Acacia trees and Candelabra Euphorbias such species as Klaas’s Cuckoo, Speckled Mousebird, Fischer’s Lovebird, Green Wood-hoopoe, Grey-capped Warbler, and both Amethyst and Golden-winged Sunbirds may be found. Troops of beautiful Guereza Colobus are a common sight here, and various ungulates graze around the lake in which Hippos wallow happily.

Lake Baringo is one of Kenya’s many Rift Valley Lakes, but it is quite unique in its setting, being one of only two freshwater lakes in the Rift’s chain of soda lakes (the other one being Lake Naivasha). Set amongst dry, rocky, acaciacovered hills, and spectacular rugged cliffs and plateaux, Lake Baringo is remote and peaceful. It is in Kenya’s ‘outback’. With such a variety of habitats in the vicinity, it is no wonder that the birdlife is both plentiful and varied with such specialities as Verreaux’s Eagle, Spotted Eagle Owl, Heuglin’s Courser, Hemprich’s Hornbill and Bristle-crowned Starling. Generally, mammals are hard to see here, but hippos and Nile Crocodiles are plentiful! Exploration of the area is mainly on foot, thanks to the lack of land-based predators in the area. However, we recommend that you also explore this magical lake and its diverse birdlife on a boat trip from Lake Baringo Lodge.

Amboseli National Park sits beneath the towering snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, and is one of the country’s most scenic reserves. Indeed, it is here that one can enjoy that classic East African scene of African Elephants or Masai Giraffes striding across the plains in front of the great iced cone of Kilimanjaro. Amboseli’s acacia-dotted plains and dry rolling grasslands also support a wealth of other game including Plains Zebra, African Buffalo, Blue Wildebeest, Thomson’s Gazelle, Warthog, Black Rhinoceros and Spotted Hyena. Predators such as Cheetah and Lion do occur in Amboseli, although they can be elusive here.

Tsavo West, when combined with Tsavo East (the less accessible neighbouring park), covers over 20,000 square kilometres, thus creating one of Africa’s largest conservation areas. This is a classic East African game reserve watched over by the distant snow-capped summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a place of wide horizons and undulating dry acacia woodland, home to graceful parties of Masai Giraffe, Plains Zebras and herds of African Elephants, known here as ‘Red Elephants’ due to the red soil in which they cover themselves. In addition, Impala, Thomson’s Gazelle, African Buffalo and good numbers of Lion and Cheetah may be seen. Indeed, the Lions of Tsavo are descendants of the legendary man-eaters that brought the construction of the Nairobi to Mombasa railway to a standstill at the beginning of the last century. Friendlier inhabitants include a wealth of birdlife! An amazing 600 species have been recorded here, amongst them Ostrich, Kori Bustard, Saddle-billed Stork, Black-breasted Snake-eagle, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Woodland Kingfisher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird and many more.