As we were getting ready to leave after breakfast, George loaded the van with our packed lunches, closed the sliding door but left the pop up roof open. A cheeky Vervet Monkey, George had not noticed until it was too late, seized the opportunity and descended from the acacia trees in the parking area, climbed…

By the Asnil Lodge, the Ewaso Nyiro (above) was reduced to narrow elongated pools that had attracted thirsty Grevy’s Zebra’s (below), Somali Ostrich, Warthogs, African Spoonbill, Woolly-necked and Yellow-billed Storks, Marabous, Wood and Common Sandpiper and Greenshank. Along another stretch there was an immature Palm Nut Vulture in a riverside Doum Palm, and a gathering…

The avian paparazzi were out in full force taking shots of Red-billed Hornbills, Rufous Chatterers and Dodson’s Bulbul as they ventured close to the dining area during lunch. As thunder echoed in the distance and the skies darkened we took an after-lunch walk along the pathway leading to the western end of the Serena lodge.…

Our afternoon game drive along the southern side of the river in Buffalo Springs included the ubiquitous Rattling Cisticola; a pair of Verreaux’s Eagle Owls (below) roosting apart from each other, and a short distance away a Pearl-spotted Owlet; Eurasian Golden Oriole and a Kori’s Bustard in flight. Working the drier slope towards the airstrip,…

Upon leaving the Serena we first crossed a sand bed and stopped to watch a large troop of Olive Baboons (above) interacting, playing and preening with each other. This was their social hour. Crossing the Ewaso Nyiro bridge we ventured into the Samburu reserve and immediately came across wonderful sightings. D’Arnaud’s Barbets (above) were dueting…

Eerie silence falls on the dry savanna during the heat of the midday hours. Mongoose and ground barbets retreat to the cool, underground labyrinths of termite mounds.  Noisy hornbills and go-away birds rest quietly in the canopy of stately Yellow-bark Acacias.  Giraffes, elephants and Impalas take up sentry positions in the shade of majestic Acacia…

Samburu is the northern most reserve that we visited and the name that the three adjacent National Reserves, Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba, generally goes by. Shaba is to the east, and unfortunately our planned visit was nixed as the park has been overrun by cattle and their herdsmen escaping the drought. The Ewaso Nyiro…

Ann, Betty, Sue and Jan on the Equator As we head north through the cool Central Highlands, we cross the equator at Nanyuki, 200 kilometers north of Nairobi. The elevation here is about 6400 feet and the Equator almost divides Kenya in half.  We are on our way north and will soon enter the hot,…

Set on a steep sloping hillside, the 22 acre Wajee Bird Sanctuary harbors one of Kenya’s most endangered birds, Hinde’s Pied Babbler; named after Sidney Hinde, a British naturalist and early twentieth century Provincial Commissioner in Kenya, it is one of only a handful of Kenyan endemic avian species. On our way down the track…

It was a gorgeous afternoon at Castle Forest Lodge set deep in the forested foothills of the southern slope of Mt. Kenya. While having lunch on the verandah (above), overlooking a fabulous valley below, we had circling Long-crested Eagle, a distant Mountain Buzzard and African Harrier Hawk. A resting Broad-billed Roller (below) perched in nearby…

We began the morning with an unexpected Little Sparrowhawk followed by a Great Sparrowhawk, both in the skies across the main road from the Blue Post Hotel in Thika. The lush grounds of the Blue Post are bordered by the twin waterfalls (above) of the Chania and Thika, both rivers originating from the nearby Aberdare…

Crater Lake Game Sanctuary, Naivasha The day before the tour was to begin, Ben and I headed just west of Lake Naivasha and north of Hell’s Gate National Park, to check out Crater Lake Camp. Once we had negotiated the winding track that led towards the lake, we were rewarded with a wonderful view of…