LAST SPACES NOTE
Only two spaces remain open on our Jul 4, 2012 departure.

Not everyone has the time for our comprehensive 29-day Kenya Safari Spectacular tour. The solution? This newly designed itinerary visits the highlight birding and wildlife sites in incredibly rich and diverse Kenya in just 19 days. From the Great Rift Valley, where we should see more than 100 species including Augur Buzzard, Speckled Mousebird, and Variable Sunbird in the highlands, and Eastern Chanting-Goshawk, Von der Decken's Hornbill, and many others in acacia country, we'll head to Mountain Lodge on Mt. Kenya for some avian novelty (think Hartlaub's Turaco, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Rueppell's Robin-Chat, and more) and our first opportunity for close large mammals. Then, in Samburu's arid bush, we'll bird spectacular country for "Somali" Ostrich, Pygmy Falcon, Somali Courser, Golden-breasted Starling, and numerous "northern specials." Samburu is excellent for mammals: herds of elephants along the river, perhaps a Leopard in a twisted acacia, groups of Grevy's Zebra, Beisa Oryx, and Gerenuk on the plains. Another Rift Valley stop at Lake Baringo will bring Goliath Heron, Three-banded Courser, Grayish Eagle-Owl, and Green-winged Pytilia (just a few of the choices!), then three nights in famed Kakamega Forest will feature another feast of new birds (White-spotted Flufftail, Great Blue Turaco, African Broadbill...). What a contrast coming from open country to walk quietly through lush forest in search of fabulous birds!

An overnight at famed Lake Nakuru (flamingos galore), then we'll wrap up amidst the Masai Mara's immense vistas--vast rolling plains and rounded hills, scattered acacia woodlands and thornbush, and luxuriant riparian woodland along the Mara River. In every direction are herds of ungulates, and with luck we could encounter a family of Cheetahs or a pride of hunting Lions. Birds include everything from Ostrich, Secretary-bird, Temminck's Courser, and Southern Ground-Hornbill on the plains to Saddle-billed and Woolly-necked storks in the marshes. In forest patches we'll look for Ross's and Schalow's turacos, and on the western escarpment Ayres's Hawk Eagle, the endemic 'Usambiro' D'Arnaud's Barbet, a noisy Rufous-necked Wryneck, or by night African Wood-Owl. It's a wonderful way to experience Kenya!

Note: The limit for this tour is just six participants. Transportation will be primarily in pop-top, nine-passenger minibuses ("safari cruisers") especially adapted for wildlife viewing. Each participant will have a window seat, and there is room for everyone to stand up through the open roof. We will be staying in hotels and lodges that offer an amazing degree of comfort and convenience in some of the finest birding habitats in Kenya.

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