In mid July 1983 Nick
Preston had just qualified as a teacher and started work in September. We were keen to get away somewhere but had
left it rather late to sort anything out.
I was passing Flightline, at that time a new travel agent in Brighton’s
Queens Road, and saw cheap flights advertised to Nairobi. There was availability on a flight at the end
of the month but it was with Uganda airlines via Entebbe. The added problem was that full payment would
be needed almost immediately, Nick was in Liverpool and I didn’t have enough to
cover both our flights. Thankfully
Flightline took a chance and booked the flights for us before receiving the
full amount. We decided, mainly for
reasons of cost but also as I couldn’t drive, to do what we could on public
transport. This meant that the big game
parks were off limits but there were sufficient areas of forest for a
reasonable trip, and one that complemented my visit in 1977/78.
The following account is based on unreliable memories and scanned slides. The slides were of varying quality to start with and some haven't aged particularly well, although the same could probably be said of me.
We left Gatwick less than two weeks
later although being told by the UK check in staff that we were very brave
flying with Uganda Airlines wasn’t the greeting we wanted! Not that we knew what the fuss was about as
the flights went without a hitch. We
arrived in Nairobi late morning of 28 July after a brief stop-over at Entebbe. We got a bus into town and found our way to
Mrs Roche’s campsite near City Park and spent the rest of the day birding. We returned to City Park the next morning then
packed up the tent and made our way to the bus station for an overnight bus to
Kakamega in far west Kenya. Highlights
in City Park were Great Sparrowhawk, Lemon Dove, Emerald Cuckoo,
Lilac-breasted Roller and White-bellied Tit which was very common.
30 July-5 August 1983. We spent a week camping at Kakamega, mainly
at the Forest Station. Food was available
there but comprised everlasting beans (no matter how many one ate the bowl
never seemed to empty) and leathery greens.
On one occasion one of the wardens who we’d befriended invited us back
to his house for a meal and we were very much looking forward to a change. Unfortunately it was beans, greens and ugali,
the latter might have looked like a heavy mashed potato but seemed more like
congealed wallpaper paste. It was very
nice to be offered such hospitality but our rather precious palettes found it hard
to take. We birded mostly along the
excellent grid trails at the Forest Station or along the roads, once making a
day of the walk to the Ikuywa River and back.
We returned to the Irkuywa River for our last night and camped in a
small clearing just out of sight of the road.
Just after dark several locals piled into the clearing as a vehicle went
past, presumably not wanting to be seen on the road. They seemed as concerned with our presence as
we were with theirs and after a few grins all round promptly disappeared. We saw lots of good birds at Kakamega, the
most enjoyable ones being Grey Parrot, Great Blue Turaco, Narina Trogon,
Blue-headed Bee-eater, Black & White Casques Hornbill (very common),
Mountain Wagtail, Brown-chested Alethe, Blue-shouldered Robinchat,
Pale-breasted Illadopsis, the brilliant Jamieson’s Wattleye and Red-headed
Bluebill The next morning (5 August) we got a but to Eldoret and then Nakuru
where we camped and birded the rest of the day.
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| grid trail at Kakamega provided superb access to the forest |
6 August 1983. Morning at Nakurua, where best birds were
African Fish Eagle, Little Sparrowhawk, Pearl-spotted Owlet and Arrow-marked
Babbler. Bus to Naivasha where spent the
rest of the day.
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| young Mr Preston at Nakuru, intently studying inadequate field guide! |
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| still, it was good enough to identify White Pelicans |
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| Impala and Defassa Waterbuck at Nakuru |
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| dusk at Naivasha |
7 August 1983. All day birding at Naivasha. Best birds were Africna Fish Eagle, Great
Spotted Cuckoo, Malachite Kingfisher, Grey-rumped Swallow and Zebra Waxbill.
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| African Fish Eagle, very evocative of the Rift Valley lakes |
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| local fishermen at Naivasha |
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| probably not as accomplished as this one - Goliath Heron |
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| or this one, Black-headed Heron |
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| Red-billed Duck |
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| Spur-winged Plover |
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| juvenile Kitlitz's Plover |
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| Three-banded Plover |
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| ... taking flight |
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| Blacksmith Plover - spectacular, common and noisy |
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| male Pied Kingfisher |
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| joined by his mate |
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| males have two black bands and females one |
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| Malaxhite Kingfisher and chemical spill, fortunately on the slide |
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| Great Spotted Cuckoo, presumably the East African resident race |
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| Grey-rumped Swallow |
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| African Pied Wagtail |
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| Grey-backed Fiscal |
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| Superb Starling, deserving of a much better photograph |
8 August 1983. Morning at Naivasha seeing White-throated
Bee-eater and Quailfinch. Bus to
Nairobi, overnight bus to Mombassa.
9 August 1983. bus to Malindi where walked to Sabaki River,
camping in dunes. Highlights were 21 Crab Plovers, Sooty Gulls, various terns
and Slender-tailed Nightjar at dusk
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| Crab Plovers in Sabaki dunes |
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| flying with a Curlew Sandpiper |
10 August 1983. Morning at Sabaki River, now 36 Crab Plovers,
Water Dikkop and identifiable Saunder’s Terns.
Mutatu (minibus) down the coast to Gedi where we were about to camp
beside the last house in the village when Nick thought he’d better go in and
ask if it was OK to do so. He came out
with an invite to stay with the VSO ex-pat living there. Nice not to camp and our host enjoyed some bits
of news from the UK.
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| Sabaki dunes with the Indian Ocean in the distance |
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| White-fronted Sand Plover |
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| Water Dikkop |
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| Water Dikkop |
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| me having tested the water, pleasantly cool |
11 August 1983. All day birding at Gedi. Not many birds but those seen were good ones,
notably Spotted Ground Thrush, Red-capped Robinchat and Pigmy Kingfisher. We also encountered a large (8 foot)
olive-grey snake on the trail ahead of us that was in no hurry to move. Nick threw a stick towards it hoping to
encourage it to go but his aim was a bit off and the stick hit the snake. It reared up with lightening speed and for a
heart-stopping moment looked set to attack but fortunately decided to move off
instead. Later investigation suggested
it had been a Black Mamba, highly venomous, aggressive and reputed to be the
fasted snake in the world. We could
vouch for the last two characteristics and considered ourselves very fortunate
not to have tested the first. I never
have liked snakes and that episode did nothing to change my view.
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| Gedi Ruins. Much to our envy an African Pitta was seen here a couple of weeks after we left, it is still very high on my wanted list. |
12 August 1983. Morning at Gedi seeing similar birds, but
thankfully no snake, afternoon at Sokoke where camped in village. We met a group of ringers staying in Malindi
during the University vacation and were generously invited to join them. We saw some birds in the hand we probably
never would have done in the field and at dusk were taken onto the red soil to
look for Sokoke Scops. This was successfully
and we also saw Pigmy Kingfisher, Eastern Bearded Scrub Robin and Green-backed
Twinspot.
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| the aptly named Tiny Greenbul |
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| Crested Flycatcher |
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| Eastern Bearded Scrub Robin, superb |
