A Thousand Hills, A Million Smiles & Gentle Giants - a Rwanda and Kenya Safari

[michael-ibk]

We had spent a litte more time in Kakamega than planned since finding the Bee-Eater had taken quite a while, so we left Rondo at about 09:30. After about a five hours drive via Eldoret and the Keeriyo Valley ...

 

 

... we finally were in the Rift Valley again and had Lake Baringo to our feet.

 

 

 

The slopes of the valley may look green and fertile, but down there it´s very, very arid. Finding a good place to stay for our Baringo/Bogoria part was a bit complicated.

 

 

Like so many other lakes (Nakuru being a prominent example) the water level in Baringo had risen so much that many, many places are now under water and unusable. It was of course Safaritalk that came to the rescue, I asked around in this thread (http://safaritalk.net/topic/12006-lake-bogoria-accommodation/?hl=tumbili#entry168175), and @@armchair bushman and @@Ben mosquito recommended Tumbili Cliff Lodge - many thanks for that!

 

http://www.tumbilicliff.com/

 

 

Wonderful place to stay, one of our favourites on this trip. Right at the cliff´s edge, great view over the water, fabulous rooms, friendly staff and very good food - this was heavenly, and it would have been very nice to have an extra day here to just relax a bit and do nothing. This was a "private lodge" again for us - no other visitors.

 

The huge, airy and super-comfy rooms:

 

 

 

Open on the front, nice view to the lake, a breeze coming in - perfect!

 

 

 

 

The outside shower and bath.

 

Many birds around, like this White-Headed Buffalo Weaver:

 

 

 

Black-Headed Oriole

 

And Vervets stealing birds´ food.

 

 

 

The lounge, bar and dinner room.

 

And such a nice pool - unfortunately I never found the time to use it, @@AndMic did - and loved it.

 

 

My very artsy bar photo - I really have no idea what I did there, and no I was not drunk - yet!

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

We had to use our time here quite efficiently - on our only full day we would do a day trip to Bogoria (leaving early and coming back late afternoon). On the first afternoon we did some walking around the lodge with the birding guide, after returning from Bogoria I was looking for some specials with the guide (while @@AndMic was relaxing), and next morning we did a very productive boat trip.

 

As mentioned, very arid and dry habitat here:

 

 

But some beautiful desert roses still growing:

 

 

A really great place for birds - some shots:

 

 

Blue-Naped Mousebird

 

 

Jackson´s Hornbill

 

 

Beautiful Sunbird

 

 

Nubian Woodpecker

 

 

Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eater

 

A spot where we were right at the lakeshore was particularly beautiful, and the sun showed its friendly face for a few minutes again.

 

 

 

Woodland Kingfisher

 

 

Yellow-Billed Stork and his buddy.

 

 

 

Malachite

 

[amybatt]

The birds and flora photos in the last two installments are wonderful. So crisp and clear and the level of this last photo above makes me feel like I'm there.

 

Your trip report has been unfortunate for me in that I've already planned a safari and neglected to add Agakera and Kakamega. What an incredible endorsement for them both you've created here!

[michael-ibk]

The birding guides here do know their stuff - my "specials" walk was a bit like birding buffet - we drove to a few different places, and Bang!, guide Titus immediately lead us to them, like they had been waiting for us. The guides are in contact, and have the local kids keep tabs on them, so that´s how they know.

 

 

Heuglin´s Courser

 

 

The camouflage of this White-Faced Scops Owl was incredible. Guide Titus knew where its tree would be, but even then needed almost five minutes to spot it in there. I needed almost 10 to find it after he told me - it was only visible from one specific angle and otherwise completely invisible.

 

 

The Hemprich´s Hornbill is a Baringo specialty, quite a scruffy bird - they are found near the cliffs where they are nesting.

 

 

The home of this Greyish Eagle-Owl was a pretty deep canyon - I had to climb down at the side a bit and was very conscious of the height when trying to find an angle while keeping my balance - a long way down there.

 

 

 

See the bird? No? That´s how I felt when looking for them, even when they were only metres away. These are the absolute masters of camouflages, truly invisible birds - Nightjars:

 

 

Do you remember those 3D-pictures that were very in a long time ago, where you had to stare at a lot of spots and lines and saw nothing, but if you looked really hard (until your eyes were hurting) the spots and lines would suddenly form a Hare or a Horse? Trying to locate these birds is a bit like that.

 

 

We returned to this place (right next to the road) next morning when we left Baringo to show @@AndMic - even though Paul and me knew perfectly well where the birds were it was almost impossible to find them again, even though they were hiding in plain sight, almost right in front of us.

 

 

All Slender-Billed Nightjars

 

And, thrown in just because I like this display, a White-Browed Scrub-Robin.

 

[michael-ibk]

 

And the highlight - the boat drive on our last morning. Pretty expensive, we paid about USD 100,-- for two hours (which turned out to be more than 2 1/2). Too much really, and I should have bargained a bit but did not bother out of laziness - and I was in too good a mood.

 

 

 

Ready to go.

 

Lake Baringo is not a National Park, btw, but still a very important habitat for many birds - and fish of course. Apart from Lake Navaisha it´s the only freshwater lake in the Kenyan Rift valley. Some more facts: 130 km², elevation 970 m. It has no visible outlet but it has to have one otherwise it would long be saline.

 

The first half hour was a bit of a disappointment, the sun hid again, and it was very dark and gloomy. Still, it was nice getting very close to many species, the birds really did not mind the boat at all.

 

 

Striated Heron

 

 

Malachite Kingfisher

 

 

Purple Heron

 

The rising water has swallowed a lot of buildings.

 

 

 

 

Hamerkop

 

 

Village Weaver

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Later on the sun was friendlier, and I was super-delighted to get very close views of Northern Carmine Bee-Eaters - they are incredible beauties:

 

 

 

A Pied Kingfisher with a kill - the poor fish looks very unhappy (understandably so).

 

 

 

 

 

The island in the middle of the lake - we hoped to get a better look at a Hemprich´s here.

 

 

Success!

 

 

A double-headed Fish Eagle

 

 

A juvenile

 

 

Lots of places under water there, the cliffs in the background.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

And speaking of Fish Eagles, they were of course the highlight. Admittedly, this is cheating a bit, the guides buy some fish from the locals and throw them on the water and try to attract the Eagles.

 

 

Have fish?

 

And the Eagles do come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Patty]

The two headed fish eagle is great. Did you happen to go by Samatian Island? We stayed there years ago and I wonder how it fared.

[xelas]

Tumbilicliff Lodge and area looks fantastic. And reasonably priced, IMO. The Fish Eagle hunting sequence is awesome, @@michael-ibk ! But even more I like the landscape photos at the end of post #229.

[Botswanadreams]

Nice memories Michael. I think Zarek loved his first stay at Tumbili Cliff Lodge like we did. It's a lovely place.

[pault]

The owner of Tumbili isn't called Noah is he? Great birding. Lake Baringo gets a pass from us non-birders - it's lovely, birding is easy and the birds are extremely attractive. Still have happy memories of it over a decade after my only visit (yes, it's that long @@Patty Happy memories?)

[SafariChick]

@@michael-ibk just finished with the Kakamega part. Have to say your description of the lodge, the other guests, the Reverend, the staff, all had me laughing! Though I am not much more of a twitcher than @@AndMic I have to say the Great Blue Touraco and the Blue-headed Bee-eaters were spectacular and I loved seeing them! Looking forward to more!

[madaboutcheetah]

Michael, amazing report and I'm having a tough time just keeping up with your updates ...... Superb FE series!!!!

[SafariChick]

Ah all caught up now. Spectacular series of the fish eagle hunting the fish - even if it was cheating a bit, I don't care! And love the Pied Kingfisher with its kill - really terrific photos!

[Patty]

Still have happy memories of it over a decade after my only visit (yes, it's that long @@Patty Happy memories?)

2005 for us!

[pault]

 

Still have happy memories of it over a decade after my only visit (yes, it's that long @@Patty Happy memories?)

 

2005 for us!

Yes, I remember. Scary! But at least we can still remember the years.

 

Edit: I should add, just in case imy original post caused anyine to wonder - this isn't a "remember Paris" thing (or a stalker thing, if you have a lower opinion of me). Patty and I went the same year but at different times, with out respective partners. Haha

 

I shouldn't need to mention that but I am feeling very nostalgic and I might mention 2096 sometime soon!

 

Sorry Michael, you caused a nostalgia attack. It's a compliment to your report really!

Edited January 21, 2017 by pault

[Zubbie15]

I finally caught up on this @@michael-ibk, what a lovely set of areas that I certainly wasn't very familiar with. Too many beautiful (and beautifully captured) birds to choose my favourite, as well as some lovely landscapes.

[Atravelynn]

P.12

Don't let your mother read this: "The home of this Greyish Eagle-Owl was a pretty deep canyon - I had to climb down at the side a bit and was very conscious of the height when trying to find an angle while keeping my balance - a long way down there."

 

The sun worked with you for the lake photography. So many excellent birds. Those fish eagle shots are superb. For the PKF you didn't even have to cheat. The displaying White-Browed Scrub-Robin was a delightful chap.

[michael-ibk]

The birds and flora photos in the last two installments are wonderful. So crisp and clear and the level of this last photo above makes me feel like I'm there.

 

Your trip report has been unfortunate for me in that I've already planned a safari and neglected to add Agakera and Kakamega. What an incredible endorsement for them both you've created here!

 

Thank you, @@amybatt , that´s really a very nice thing to say! Don´t worry about neglecting them, lots of safaris in the future for you to rectify that.

 

The two headed fish eagle is great. Did you happen to go by Samatian Island? We stayed there years ago and I wonder how it fared.

 

Thanks, @@Patty ! No, we did not. Since we knew from the start we would do a day trip to Bogoria the island camps would not have been very practical for that, so we did not really consider Samatian.

 

Tumbilicliff Lodge and area looks fantastic. And reasonably priced, IMO. The Fish Eagle hunting sequence is awesome, @@michael-ibk ! But even more I like the landscape photos at the end of post #229.

 

#230 I assume? The work of @@AndMic of course. And thanks, @@xelas , I agree, it is very good value.

 

Nice memories Michael. I think Zarek loved his first stay at Tumbili Cliff Lodge like we did. It's a lovely place.

 

They certainly deserve to get more visitors, @Botswanadreams - thanks !

 

The owner of Tumbili isn't called Noah is he? Great birding. Lake Baringo gets a pass from us non-birders - it's lovely, birding is easy and the birds are extremely attractive. Still have happy memories of it over a decade after my only visit (yes, it's that long @@Patty Happy memories?)

 

@@pault I´m sorry, no idea - no owner/manager was present. I seem to remember that the owner is French - but I could have misunderstood.

And don´t worry about the nostalgia attack, I always suspected you and Patty had a shady secret in the past.

 

@@michael-ibk just finished with the Kakamega part. Have to say your description of the lodge, the other guests, the Reverend, the staff, all had me laughing! Though I am not much more of a twitcher than @@AndMic I have to say the Great Blue Touraco and the Blue-headed Bee-eaters were spectacular and I loved seeing them! Looking forward to more!

 

@@SafariChick Thanks, and while it was a bit weird I took it with a laugh as well. And be careful, maybe I will manage to convert you in time and make a full-blown twitcher out of you.

 

Michael, amazing report and I'm having a tough time just keeping up with your updates ...... Superb FE series!!!!

 

Thanks, @@madaboutcheetah - to tell you a secret - had three chances, and the sequence is a wild mixture of those.

 

Ah all caught up now. Spectacular series of the fish eagle hunting the fish - even if it was cheating a bit, I don't care! And love the Pied Kingfisher with its kill - really terrific photos!

 

Thanks again, Jane , that was a really cool sighting I was very happy about - the fish less so.

 

 

I finally caught up on this @@michael-ibk, what a lovely set of areas that I certainly wasn't very familiar with. Too many beautiful (and beautifully captured) birds to choose my favourite, as well as some lovely landscapes.

 

Thanks, @@Zubbie15 ! I think the greatest appeal of Kenya is its incredible diversity.

 

P.12

Don't let your mother read this: "The home of this Greyish Eagle-Owl was a pretty deep canyon - I had to climb down at the side a bit and was very conscious of the height when trying to find an angle while keeping my balance - a long way down there."

 

The sun worked with you for the lake photography. So many excellent birds. Those fish eagle shots are superb. For the PKF you didn't even have to cheat. The displaying White-Browed Scrub-Robin was a delightful chap.

 

Well, @@Atravelynn , I´m afraid it´s too late for that. And anway, heights should not scare her, we do live in the Alps after all. PFK - ok, it seems to be acronym time on ST . I´m only glad you did not say WBSR , that one would have been a toughie.

 

[michael-ibk]

Doing a daytrip to Bogoria from Baringo works very well - it´s only a bit more than an hour to get there. The road could be better but is servicable - or maybe I just developed a more generous attitude after the hellish Mara road and that thing passing as a road on the way to Kakamega for the first stretch.

 

 

This photo is very practical, contains all the facts about the lake, so no need to repeat them.

 

Unlike Baringo, Bogoris IS a (KWS-managed) national park. The entry fee is USD 50,--. Unfortunately the land part is really anything but well managed - the roads are very bad, and everything is overrun by cattle and goats. The grazing pressure must be enourmous (and certainly anything but sustainable), and Paul told me most animals retreat far back from the lakeside during the day, and only come out when the thousands of cows and the many (child) shepherds guarding them are gone.

 

 

Zebras, Cows and Donkeys - that´s mostly the look of the park. We did see a few Impalas, one or two DikDiks and a few troops of Baboons. Buffalos and Grant´s are said to be present as well, but we did not see them. The park also claims to have Leopard and Hyena (maybe) and also Cheetah. I have a hard time believing the latter, the area is absolutely unsuitable for these, but who knows. Maybe there are more animals around East of the lake, the Siracho escarpment forming a natural barrier there is quite steep, and it seemed to me that area (not accessible for tourists) would be more untouched than the overrun West.

 

But mammals are not the real attraction here - especially since Lake Nakuru has more or less lost its former pink glory Bogoria is now the most accessible Rift Valley lake in Kenya to see the Flamingo spectacle.

 

 

Apparently the number of Flamingos varies seasonally, at times there are said to be as many as 2 Million there! I have no idea how many we saw, the lake is long (about 18 km length), Flamingos were everpresent, on both sides, lots of them in the lake as well, so who knows. Tens of thousands? Hundreds of Thousands? I really have no idea, I only know that it was beautiful and that we loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

There are two species, the Greater (which looks more white) and the Lesser (more pinkish) Flamigo. Lesser Flamingos are more numerous. Wiki says there are only about 120,000 Greater Flamingos in the sub-Saharan population, whereas there are more then 3 Mio. Lesser Flamingos. Though their general numbers are not too bad both species are not really safe, they have very few breeding sites (mainly Lake Natron in Tanzania for Lesser) and are very sensitive to disturbances. The number of Greater Flamingo is decreasing in Africa, but the other populations (Europe and other places) are increasing.

 

 

 

 

Spot the odd one out!

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

And not only Flamingos there, Bogoria is a Ramsar site, and home to lots of waterbirds.

 

 

 

I´ve never seen a place with more Black-Winged Stilts, they are abundant in Bogoria. Concerning waders, there are also lots of Little Stints and Ruffs, several Plovers, and we also saw a Red-Necked Phalarope. Yellow-Billed Storks, Ibis, Fish Eagles of course, a good number of Little Grebes, and several Ducks and Geese.

 

 

White-Faced Whistling Ducks

 

 

Juvenile Kittlitz´s Plover

 

 

Superb Starling

 

 

I mentioned the human pressure before - all these houses are inside the park.

 

 

Grey-Headed Kingfisher

 

 

The original road network along the lake shore is mostly gone - the water has risen here as well, and most of the old roads are submerged. Sometimes we tried to follow them but invariably they would always end in water - like here:

 

 

 

Cape Teals (with some Stilts and Ruffs)

 

 

Laughing Dove

 

 

Some kids would run after the car for a while - but everytime we stopped they immediately turned around and ran away.

 

 

Red-Billed Oxpecker

 

 

A Leopard Tortoise seen on the way back from the South of the lake - it had started raining quite heavily.

 

 

Whiskered Tern

 

Bogoria is one of the few places in Eastern Africa with a good chance of seeing Greater Kudu. We scanned the bushland around the lake quite thoroughly for them, but to no avail. But finally, finally at the very South, almost the end of the road, we saw a nice Bull in the distance - which was very shy and disappeared immediately. Luckily a youngster was a bit more curious and lingered a few moments before he went into hiding.

 

 

Our first East African Greater Kudu!

 

If you want to find them, the very South is the best bet. Most tourists don´t go farther than to the Hot Springs, and there were also definitely far fewer cattle and goat herds there.

 

[Treepol]

@@michael-ibk, how sad that Baringo is over-run by domestic animals. Your flamingo shots are spectacular and its good to know that this memorable pink tide can still be seen in Kenya.

[michael-ibk]

Part 3 of the "Mating Birds" series - Ostrich now, something I´ve never seen before, and very funny to watch:

 

 

A male eager to please.

 

 

 

He puts on the charms, and she was wooed!

 

 

 

 

 

They apparently did not appreciate the voyeuristic donkey.

 

 

Ostrich parts you never wanted to see.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

The Hot Springs of Bogoria are a well-known tourist attraction:

 

 

 

They used to be much more spectacular, the fountains could erupt more than five metres into the sky. But the higher water level has changed that, and at times there is nothing more than a soft blubbering on the surface apparently. Still, a fun place to see.

 

 

 

The Flamingos do not appreciate the springs apparently, they kept their distance to this place - but note the pink ribbon on the other shore.

 

 

 

 

Not really sure how natural this green stuff is - would like to think that it is. But I´ve also read that Bogoria is very vulnerable to siltation and pollution. The lake has only one major river that feeds it, the Waseges river which drains into the lake originates on the northern edges of the Aberdare ranges. In the upper zones on the slopes of the Aberdare range, the river transverse through intensive agricultural lands where coffee is grown with heavy input of agro-chemicals.

 

 

 

The hot springs are really hot - I burnt my toes doing this!

 

 

This was the only place in the park where we encountered other people. In this case, it was a whole busload of people. A local visitor group arrived like a whirlwind, stormed out, posed for selfies, and was gone again after 15 minutes, and we had the place to ourselves again. Unfortunately it´s very noticable that the springs are popular - way too much rubbish lying around, and I really was angry about the plastic bottles people had just carelessly dropped. Is it really too much to ask to take your rubbish with you?

 

Apparently it´s also quite popular to boil eggs in the springs - well, at least the Vitelline Masked Weavers do appreciate that:

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

What other way to conclude the Bogoria part of the report than with - pinkpinkpink! More Flamingos: