8-Day Amboseli + Tsavo birding tour  

This tour stays on the southern part of Kenya. You start with Nairobi NP, just 20 min out of the city. The next 2 days will be Amboseli NP at the foot of the snowcapped Kilimanjaro. Expect a lot of water birds, savannah birds and big game. We finish with 3 days in Tsavo NP. This tour can be combined with our 15-day birding tour or with a beach extension. 

DAY 1: NAIROBI - La Mada hotel or equivalent

Arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi.  Reception and transfer to the La Mada Hotel or equivalent hotel in Nairobi.  

DAY 2: NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK - La Mada hotel or equivalent  

A day to relax and wear off jet lag but not without an introduction of the Kenyan birds.  A walk in the garden of our hotel will give our first count of African birds: Northern Pied Babbler, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Speckled Mousebird, Dusky Turtle Doves and numerous Sunbirds. After breakfast we cross over (by bus) to the Nairobi National Park, which despite being only a few kilometers from the city, is a home to big game.  In its open grasslands scattered with acacia trees we will see the first game like Gazelles, Zebras, Giraffes and maybe some of the Cats.

If the season is right the wildebeest, which migrates from Tanzania through Masai Mara, will also be there.  This afternoon we will see Ostrich, Secretary Bird, Crowned Crane, Vulture, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Tawny Eagle and a herd of Buffaloes should provide Red-billed Oxpecker perched on their backs.  Black Kite, Marabou Stork, Pied Crow and African Palm Swift are also available in the park.  

A walk around the Hippo pools should give us our first sighting of the Nile Crocodiles and the Helmeted Guineafowl.  In the Yellow-backed Acacia, look out for Grey Crowned Crane, Red-throated Tit and Chestnut-banded Plover.  

At the picnic site Baboons will quickly assemble on our arrival and just as quick they will easily walk away with a lunch box.  The Agama Rock Lizard is common here. 

Overnight at the La Mada hotel or equivalent hotel in Nairobi.   

DAY 3 + 4: AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK - Ol Tukai Lodge After breakfast we head south east of Nairobi towards Amboseli National Park.  On the road we have the chance to see Kori Bustard, Hoopoe, Pale Chanting Goshawk and the very common Augur Buzzard that feels comfortable perched on telephone posts along the road. Amboseli is at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro and has the advantage of having many swamps that are fed by underground rivers coming from the mountain.  This attracts a large population of water birds like the African Jacana, Red Knobbed Coot, Egyptian Goose and a wide range of Herons and Egrets.   With 425 species of birds, our 2 days here should be able to give us a chance to see Vultures, Eagles, Bustards, Sandgrouses, Ground Hornbills, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Sooty Chat, Falcons, Barn Owl, Spotted Redshank, Temminck’s Stint, Saddle-billed Stork and the hyperactive Black Crake.

In the plains and the scrublands we should be on the look out for the Go-away-bird, and a variety of Larks: Red-capped, Rufous-naped and Short-toed, which are common in Amboseli.  

The magic of Amboseli is seeing the big game including the Elephants, Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Impalas, Grants Gazelles and Elands with the backdrop of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro.  This is a place for great photos justifying our tour as a photography safari.  

Overnights at the Ol Tukai Lodge.

DAY 5, 6 + 7: TSAVO - Severin Safari Camp

After a pre-breakfast birding we’ll drive through open bush country dotted with acacia trees on our way to Tsavo National Park.  

This is the largest national park in Kenya, divided into Tsavo West and East by the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.  Along the way we’ll be on the look out for the White-bellied Go-away-bird, White-headed Mousebird, Bare-eyed Thrush, Scaly Chatterer and the Black-cheeked Waxbill.

Coming to Tsavo, immediately after Amboseli, presents us with an opportunity to compare how similar species of wildlife look different just because of their habitat. The elephants of Tsavo are of a deeper color than those of Amboseli.  Again while in Amboseli the joy was in seeing the elephant families in the open plains, in Tsavo it is the surprise of seeing a family at the least expected moment emerging from a bush.

The bird life here is equally exciting with dry acacia scrub species such as Crested Francolin, Somali Golden-breasted Starling, Black-headed Plover, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Hunter’s Sunbird and Golden-breasted Bunting. We will be staying at the Severin Safari Camp and a visit to the Mzima Springs will probably yield 5 species of Kingfishers: the Pied, Striped, Grey-headed, Giant and the Brown-hooded one. Other possible sights will be of the Red-knobbed Coot, Common and Lesser Moorhen, Rosy-patched Bush-shrike, Herons, Sandpipers and Black-tailed Godwit.

We stay for 3 nights at the Severin Safari Camp, a luxury tented camp with superb sightings on the surrounding hills.

DAY 8: BACK TO NAIROBI

After breakfast we head back to Nairobi in time for a late lunch.  Day rooms are at your disposal until 6 p.m.  Evening transfer to the airport where we say goodbye.

Itinerary changes may be made due to local conditions beyond our control.