For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE.

See this triplist in printable PDF format with media only on page 1.

A flock of Fischer's Lovebirds visits a water hole. These small parrots were quite common on in the Serengeti. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Our July 2017 East Africa Highlights: Kenya & Tanzania tour took place in one of the driest seasons on record in northern Tanzania, but shortly after unusual July rains in Kenya. With global climate change, just which are the best months to visit these days comes largely down to luck, but luck, together with many years of experience in running tours in this area certainly helped this time. Just a few of our highlights were Lion, Leopard and Cheetah two days running in the Serengeti, Black Rhino - our very first day in Nairobi National Park, and of course a whole bunch of other mammals ranging from monkeys to ground-squirrels, Spotted Hyaena, elephant, zebra, giraffe, hippo, and a fabulous variety of antelopes and gazelles.

As always the birding turned out great, with well over 400 species including many glorious sunbirds, weavers, bishops and Thanks for joining me for this wonderful highlights tour. all in breeding plumage. And then there were the huge Southern Ground-hornbills, Martial Eagles and Kori Bustards. Delicate coursers were on the grassy plains, flamingos on the lakes, colorful turacos and barbets in the forests, and a huge variety of warblers, chats, flycatchers, starlings and waxbills occupying all other niches imaginable.

As usual we started in Nairobi National Park where we were soon watching Common Ostrich - the world's largest bird! At a couple of small dams we saw a variety of herons, egrets and ibis, plus fantastic looks at the normally skulking African Rail and some extrovert Black Crakes. In the grasslands, White-bellied Bustard were a highlight, while Speckled Mousebird, Common Bulbul, Broad-ringed White-eye, Abyssinian Thrush, Superb Starling, Bronze and Variable sunbirds, Kenya Rufous Sparrow and Speke's Weaver were all a good introduction to some of East Africa's common highland birds.

We then flew to Kilimanjaro International Airport in north Tanzania, before taking a four hour drive to Gibb's Farm on the slopes of the Crater Highlands. It was without doubt a long travel day, but we were now perfectly placed for our stay at Ngorongoro Crater and at two fine lodges in the world famous Serengeti National Park.

After a very pleasant night at 'Gibb's', we were soon walking the forest trail and finding our first Crowned and Long-crested eagles, Schalow's Turaco, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Chinspot Batis, Tropical Boubou, the beautiful Black-fronted Bushshrike, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, delicate White-tailed Blue-flycatchers, localized Gray-olive Greenbul and Brown-headed Apalises, and the the striking White-browed Robin-Chats - whose powerful songs are part of every dawn.

Heading on, it's only a short drive to the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, where we stopped to take in the amazing view before continuing to our next lodge for a two night stay. As always, a day in the crater (with a packed lunch) brings unforgettable wildlife interactions, sights and sounds - just some of the most memorable moments were flying Greater and Lesser flamingos over the sparkling alkaline lake, a variety of nesting herons, ibis and African Spoonbills at a small pool full of hippos, at least 30 Kori Bustards (some only a few feet from our vehicle), Grey Crowned-Cranes, our first Lilac-breasted Rollers, Abyssinian and Capped wheatears, Hildebrandt's Starling, both Red-billed and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers (now in their own family), endemic Rufous-tailed Weavers, our first Lion and African Elephant, and thousands of Blue Wildebeest, Thomson's Gazelle, African Buffalo and zebra.

We then continued west, stopping briefly at a Maasai village to see their cattle being let out for the day, check the layout of their houses and boma, and then a visit to their very own primary school where the children pounded out a stirring welcome song. From here we continued to another short stop - this time at Oldupai Gorge (no longer called Olduvai). Widely accepted as one of the places where 'Man was Born' we had a fascinating lecture from the resident expert archaeologist.

From Oldupai it's not long to the Serengeti - a vast, flat, seemingly endless plain. We started with two nights near the Seronera area, taking both morning and afternoon drives in our our open top 4X4 Landcruiser. Highlights were numerous, but just a few of them included more than 20 Lions (including one eating a warthog), 3 Leopards, a mother Cheetah with two young, the uncommon Serval Cat, at least 15 Spotted Hyaena, and thousands of plains game. A few of the birding highlights included the endemic Gray-breasted Francolin, Secretary-bird, Lappet-faced and White-backed vultures, Chestnut-bellied and Yellow-throated sandgrouse, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Green Woodhoopoe, Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, Striped Kingfisher, Pygmy Falcon, Meyer's Parrot, Fischer's Lovebird, Magpie Shrike, Red-throated Tit, Black-lored Babbler, Silverbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Swahili Sparrow, Gray-headed Social-Weaver, and gorgeous Blue-capped Cordon-bleu's and Purple Grenadiers.

We now began heading back to the east and the wonderful Tarangire National Park. But first we spent another night in the Serengeti, this time at an old favorite - Ndutu Lodge. Although the landscape was far drier than we'd ever seen before, everyone thoroughly enjoyed our visit, with a chance to catch up on a few of our earlier misses and simply enjoy repeated good looks at many of the birds and mammals we'd already seen!

The final part of our stay in Tanzania was at Tarangire, a national park very different from what we'd seen so far. No longer the open grassy plains, Tarangire is a wonderful mix of rolling hills, a huge marsh, a river, and wooded country with palms, sausage trees and giant baobabs. Right at the gate we were met by Yellow-collared Lovebirds and Ashy Starlings - both Tanzanian endemics, and then on our drives within the park we added Red-necked and Yellow-necked francolins, African Openbill, Double-banded Courser, White-bellied Go-away-bird, Southern Ground-hornbill, Gray Kestrel, Red-bellied Parrot, White Helmetshrike, Mosque Swallow, Greater Blue-eared Starling and Eastern Paradise-Whydah. Mammals included Black-backed Jackal, Banded Mongoose, at least 300 elephants, a herd of 900 - 1000 African Buffalo, more than 2000 Blue Wildebeest, and a fabulous male Lesser Kudu.

After a flight back to Nairobi (and a night there) we drove north for a one night stay at Lake Nakuru. This alkaline lake within the Great Rift Valley soon provided us with a variety of close up waterbirds, while new species in the wooded grasslands included Klaas's Cuckoo, Hemprich's Hornbill, White-fronted Bee-eater, African Black-headed Oriole, White-bellied Tit, Little Rock-Thrush, Mocking Cliffchat, Green-headed Sunbird and a Long-tailed Widowbird in breeding-plumage. New mammals included the rare Rothschild's Giraffe.

One of the main ideas behind the way we run this tour is to visit as many different habitats as possible, and so we now climbed into the Western Highlands for a three night stay at the lovely Rondo Retreat - set in beautiful gardens in Kakamega Forest. So many birds were new here, and we certainly all enjoyed a chance to be out on foot, picking up Black Goshawk, White-spotted Flufftail, Great Blue Turaco, a gorgeous Bar-tailed Trogon, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Yellow-billed and Yellow-spotted barbets, Jameson's Wattle-eye, Luedher's Bushshrike, 9 species of greenbuls, Black-faced Rufous-Warbler, the endangered Turner's Eremomela, Equatorial Akalat, White-tailed Ant-Thrush, and the striking Red-headed Malimbe.

Heading back to the Rift Valley we then spent two nights in the Baringo-Bogoria area, another place of dry acacia bush, but here with a fresh water lake, dramatic lava cliffs, and a more northerly location than any of our previous stops. Almost 50 new birds were added in this area, with just a few being Blue-naped Mousebird, Jackson's Hornbill, Woodland Kingfisher, White-throated Bee-eater, Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Wahlberg's Honeyguide, Pygmy Batis, Somali Tit, Mouse-colored Penduline-tit, Pale Prinia, Bristle-crowned Starling, Kenya Violet-backed Sunbird and Green-winged Pytilia. However, perhaps most outstanding were the 'stake out' nocturnal species that our local guide had waiting for us; Spotted Thick-knee, Three-banded Courser, African Scops-Owl, Northern White-faced Owl, Grayish Eagle-Owl and Slender-tailed Nightjar were all seen amazingly well and all in daylight!

The final part of our tour took us east to Mt. Kenya, with a night at Mountain Lodge, and then south as we completed our circuit back to Nairobi. Along the way a flowering bottle brush tree at Thomson's Falls was literally full of sunbirds, with Amethyst and Tacazze being the most numerous and both being new. And then, during our night at Mountain Lodge we added many more species, as we birded from the gate to the lodge and from the roof top viewing platform. Favorites here included Scaly Francolin, African Hawk-Eagle, Rameron and Delegorgue's pigeons, Hartlaub's Turacos feeding in a fruiting tree, massive Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, Moustached Tinkerbird, Red-fronted Parrot, Black-tailed Oriole, Black-throated Apalis, Yellow-crowned Canary, and an inquisitive pair of Spectacled Weavers.

As a final word, no matter how unusual the East African weather may be, we were all very happy with a total of 429 species of birds and 46 'large' mammals - and for a combination of both birds and mammals nowhere on earth can compare!

Thanks for joining me for this wonderful highlights tour. Our next East Africa Highlights: Kenya and Tanzania tour runs January 13 to February 2, 2018.

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

We saw many Common Ostriches, including this male that put on quite a show! The pose looks awkward here, but as he displayed, he was waving his neck and wings back and forth. This image caught him with his head hidden from view. Photograph by participant Jean Rigden.

A tree full of Yellow-billed Storks, part of the nesting colony we saw at Lake Manyara. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

This handsome young Lion has a lovely expression. He was one of about 30 individuals that we saw. Photo by participant Mary Krenz.

This Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, seen at Ndutu in the Serengeti, looks like it's not quite ready for the day (or night!) to begin. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

We saw the lovely Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse in the Serengeti and at Tarangire. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

We saw a few Brown Snake-Eagles. This one sat nicely for a portrait. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Our guide at Baringo knew where to find this Grayish Eagle-Owl, and we had a wonderful view. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

We saw several tiny Pygmy Falcons. This beautiful little raptor was photographed by participant Mary Krenz.

We had some nice looks at colorful D'arnaud's Barbets. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

The wonderful Bateleur was seen a number of times. We had nice looks at a few perched birds at Tarangire. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Burchell's Zebras are common, and we saw many, including these two having a dust bath. Photo by participant Becky Bradley.

We saw quite a few Black-headed Herons, including this one standing in the grassland. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Yellow-necked Francolin was seen at Tarangire. Photo by participant Mary Krenz.

In addition to many birds, we saw some wonderful examples of African mammals, including this lounging White Rhino family. Note the crowd of Red-billed Oxpeckers standing on the adults. Photo by participant Mary Krenz.

We saw 9 species of hornbill, including this Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

This Purple Heron was the only one we saw, but we had a very good look as it posed for us at Lake Baringo. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Yellow-billed Oxpeckers were common. These two are stting on the back of an African Buffalo. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Rothschild's Giraffe is rare, but we were able to see 18 at Lake Nakuru. Photo by paticipant Mary Krenz.

The imposing Kori Bustard was common on the plains of Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Photo by participant Jean Rigden.

Participant Becky Bradley captured this image of a crowd of Hippos.

The beautiful Serval is uncommon, and we were quite lucky to see this one. Photo by participant Becky Bradley.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Reptiles seen on the tour included;

Nile Crocodile; 1 at Nairobi NP.

Mwanza Rock Agama; several in the Serengeti.

Red-headed Rock Agama; about a dozen in the Baringo-Bogoria area.

Green Tree Agama; 1 at Ngorongoro, and 1 in the Serengeti.

Striped Skink; several at Lake Nakuru.

Leopard Tortoise; 1 at Bogoria.

Water Monitor; 1 at Lake Baringo.

Totals for the tour: 429 bird taxa and 46 mammal taxa