DAY 1: SHIMBA HILLS

 

We will start South of the Coast, at the Shimba Hills National Reserve, which is a part of the southernmost mountainous forests of Kenya. We will spend the day enjoying birding there. This park is famous for hosting the Sable Antelope, one of the most beautiful Antelopes in Kenya.

We will spend the first night in Shimba Hills.

The following morning we will enjoy more birds that we may have missed earlier. We will then travel to Watamu in the afternoon, enjoy the rest of the day at the beach and spend the night there.

 

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DAY 2 AND 3: ARABUKO SOKOKE FOREST, SABAKI RIVER MOUTH AND MIDA CREEK

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On Day 2, we shall head to the Arabuko Sokoke forest. Birding at the coastal lowland is best during early morning hours, hence we will maximise the morning for forest birding. We will start very early at 0530hrs and end at around 1100hrs. We hope to see many bird species during these forest walks. If luck is on our side, we will be able to spot some of the elusive forest mammals as well. In the mid-day hours, we will relax and have some time to visit the local towns and enjoy the local culture.

In the afternoon, we will visit Mida Creek for the marine shorebirds, terns and gulls depending on the tides. Later, we can go for a night walk on the forest edge to look for nocturnal species of owls and nightjars.

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Day 3. We will visit the Arabuko forest again to look for missed species and in the afternoon we will visit the Sabaki River Estuary.

We will move on to and spend the night in Malindi.

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DAY 4: DAKATCHA WOODLAND

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We will head north of Sabaki to Dakatcha woodland after breakfast; home to the only known nesting site of the endemic Clarke’s Weavers. This vast area of wetlands and Brachystegia has a lot to offer.  We will spend time in the local Brachystegia and Cynometra forests searching for local forest specialties. We will also walk around semi-arid open habitats around the Galana ecosystem and look for more species. We will possibly spend the whole day in Dakatcha and leave in the evening and spend the night in Malindi.

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DAY 5: TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK

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The Tsavo East and West national parks form the largest wildlife protected areas in Kenya.

We will drive from Malindi enjoying many dryland birds on the way. We will then spend the rest of the day in Tsavo East, travelling through the vast array of different habitats searching for more birds from this magical destination.

We will spend the night in Voi.

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DAY 6: TAITA HILLS

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On the dawn of day 6, we will make a short trip to Taita Hills. Our main focus will be searching for the local endemics, Taita White-eye, Taita Thrush and Taita Apalis. This will be another endemic rich area,which will be one of the highlights of the trip. We will then head back to Voi in the evening and spend the night there.

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DAY 7 AND 8: TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK

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On day 7, we will start early with our journey to Tsavo West National Park and enjoy birdwatching the whole day at the park. This will give us enough time to cover the vast majority of the park. We will then visit the Mzima Springs; a magical sweet water spring that has its own special birds. We will also see a wide variety of mammals and then spend the night in Tsavo West.

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Day 8 will see us enjoy more birding in the park. There, we will visit the Lake Jipe area, which is touching the Tanzanian border. Here, we will look around for more wetland species, both on the lake shores and in the lake.

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DAY 9: MOMBASA ROAD-NAIROBI AND DEPARTURE

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On this day, we will enjoy birding along the Nairobi-Mombasa Road. We will have our lunch in Mtito Andei, where we will also enjoy some more birding. Thereafter, we will proceed to Nairobi. We will enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and then head to the airport for the flight home; marking the end to our lovely Coastal Kenya Birding Tour.

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Endemics

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Clarke's Weaver, Taita Apalis, Taita Thrush 

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Near endemics

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Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Pipit, Malindi Pipit, East Coast Akalat, Forest Batis, Amani Sunbird , Taveta Golden Weaver, Little Yellow Flycatcher , Fischer's Turaco

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Highlight birds

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Crested Guineafowls, Crowned Hornbill, Southern-banded snake eagle, Eastern green Tinkerbird, White-eared Barbet, Green-headed Oriole, Fischer’s greenbul, Mombasa woodpecker, Plain-backed sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Collared Sunbird, Böhm's spinetail, Mottled Swift, African Palm Swift, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Pallid honeyguide, Blue-mantle crested Flycatcher, African Paradise Flycatcher, African Wood Owl, Spotted ground Thrush, Tambourine Dove, Peter’s Twinspot, Pale Batis, Tiny Greenbul, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Green Barbet, African Golden Oriole, Green Woodhoopoe, Red-capped Robin-chat, Scaly Babbler, Chestnut-fronted Helmetshrike, Retz's Helmetshrike, Mouse-coloured Sunbird, Red-headed Quelea, Eastern Nicator, African barred Owlet, Trumpeter Hornbills, Dimorphic Egret, Crab Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Terek Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Gull-billed Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Palm-nut Vulture, Wooly-necked Storks, Yellow-billed Storks, Madagascar Pratincole, Lesser Flamingos, Three-banded Plover, White-fronted Plover, Sooty Gull, Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, Black-winged Stilt, Osprey, Bateleur, White-backed Vulture, Martial Eagle, African Pygmy Falcon, Eastern chanting Goshawk, African Grey Hornbill, Von der Decken's Hornbill, Red-billed Hornbill, White-headed buffalo Weavers, Red-billed Oxpecker, Black-faced Sandgrouse, Red-winged Larks, Pink-breasted Larks, Golden Pipit, Somali Bee-eater, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, Tsavo Sunbird, Taita White-eye, Evergreen forest Warbler, Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, African Dusky Flycatcher, Southern Black Flycatcher, Striped pipit, Yellow-bellied Waxbill, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Cabanis’s Greenbul, White-starred Robin, Eastern double-collared Sunbird, Hunter's Sunbird, Violet Woodhoopes, Giant Kingfisher, Black Heron, African Darter, Straw-tailed Whydas, Eastern Paradise Whydas, Fire-fronted Bishop, Whispered Terns, Black Drake, Purple Swamphen, Red-knobbed Coots, Squacco heron, Striated heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Goliath Heron, Purple Heron, Pink-backed Pelican, Great White Pelican.

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Highlight mammals and others

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Cheetah, Leopard, African Lion, Savannah Elephant, Black Rhino, Nile Crocodile, Nile Hippo, Fringe-eared Oryx, Lesser Kudu, Cape Buffalo, Golden-rumped Sengi.

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BOOKINGS

• WhatsApp/SMS/Call: +254702086676

• Email: info@swahiliecosafaris.com

• For any further assistance, be it pictures, more information or anything else, kindly do not hesitate to get in touch with us. We will be more than happy to help.

 

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Check out the top 10 best birds to spot in Kenya, written by The Kenyan Birder, our expert birdwatcher, HERE.

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