Kenya 21.12.2012

The first day of traveling in Kenya was a tiny little taste of what was to come. Both me and the rest of the family had high hopes for this journey into what we had only seen on TV before we came there. I did not know what to expect to begin with, due to the totally new setting I found myself in, but I had high hopes for this adventure.

The first thing that I was happy with was that the driving-conditions were very much better than I had feared, and the roads out of Nairobi were like any good road in Europe. The thing that was different was the buildings that we drove past that I dont think anybody would have lived in unless they really had to in Western Europe. But this just added some spice to this experience.

When we were almost out of Nairobi and the surrounding suburbs, we noticed that something was wrong with the car. The driver/guide stopped the car, and we got to confirm that the rear suspension had broken on teh car. The guide told us that we should wait at a small petrol-station/shopping-araea, and that he would be back in an hour. My mother did not believe anything in this, and the rest of us did not really think that this would be the reality, but we needed ther so we waited. I of course used the occasion to look for birds, and got to see several birds where I was able to figure out the species by the help of my bird-guide. This book was lying at my feet all the time we were in the car, and due to all the new birds it was used more or less constantly.

When an hour had passed, and people started to say "I tol you so" and such things, our guide actually came back. In total he had used about five more minutes than the hour he said he would use. And the drive could continue. We drove to Mountain Lodge, situated under Mount Kenya, the highest mountain in Kenya. This lodge was situated next to a waterhole so that we could look at Waterbuck and Bushbuck comming out to lick salts, while the Warthogs and the Giant Bush Hog were grazing just behind. And of course, as a birder, the Marabou that came in to feed on the food that had been laid out for the Common Genet. A great start to the adventure that was to come.

Nice traffic going out of Nairobi

The first Marabous of the Trip, still inside Nairobi

How to stop cars the Kenyan way

Entry to Mountain Lodge

Sykes Monkey

Mantled Guereza

Long-Legged Buzzard(Ørnvåk)

Long-Crested Eagle(Toppørn)

African Dusky Flycatcher (Smussfluesnapper), hiding in the jungle

Marabou

Marabou, a contestant for the title: "Ugliest bird"

I will be pasting in the list of birds seen every day in the different places, and new birds will be marked with red. These are the bird species that I could recognise.

Nairobi

Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus
Sacred Ibis - Helligibis - Threskiornis aethiopicus
Sunbird sp. - Solfugl sp.
Weaver sp. - Vever sp.
Lanner Falcon - Slagfalk - Falco biarmicus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus

Nairobi - Maountain Lodge

Black Kite - Svartglente - Milvus migrans
Olive Trush - Auroratrost - Turdus olivaceus
Pied Crow - Hvitbrystkråke - Corvus albus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Common Bulbul - Hagebylbyl - Pycnonotus barbatus
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploveus beglafect
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Sacred Ibis - Helligibis - Threskiornis aethiopicus
White-Browed Sparrow-Weaver - Hvitbrynvever - Plocepasser mahali
Lesser Striped swallow - Bredstripesvale - Hirundo abyssinica
Black-Headed Heron - Svarthodehegre - Ardea melanocephala
Yellow-Rumped Seedeater - Gulgumpirisk - Serinus reichenowi
Dusky Turtle Dove - Rustvingedue - Streptopelia lugens
Cattle Egret - Kuhegre - Bubulcus ibis
Scarlet-Chested Sunbird - Skarlagenbrystsolfugl - Chalcomitra senegalensis
Common Fiscal - Svartryggvarsler - Lanius collaris
House Sparrow - Gråspurv - Passer domesticus
Red-Billed Firefinch - Rødnebbamarant - Lagnosticta senegala
Horus Swift - Horusseiler - Apus horus

Mountain Lodge

Crowned Hornbill - Bantutoko - Tockus alboterminatus
Grey Heron - Gråhegre - Ardea cinerea
Red-Billed Oxpecker - Rødnebboksehakker - Buphagus erythrorhynchus
Marabou - Marabou - Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Red-Eyed Dove - Rødøyedue - Streptopelia semitorquata
Eastern Bronze-Naped Dove - Krittnakkedue - Columba delegorguei
Mountain Greenbul - Østfjellbulbul - Andropadus nigriceps
Cabani's Greenbul - Jungelbulbul - Phyllastrephus cabanisi
Green Sandpiper - Skogsnipe - Tringa ochropus
White-Tailed Crested Flycatcher - Hvittippfluesnapper - Trochocercus albonotatus
African Dusky Flycatcher - Smussfluesnapper - Muscicapa adusta
Egyptian Goose - Niland - Alopochen aegyptiacus
Hartlaub's Turaco - Blåkroneturako - Tauraco hartlaubi
Grey Wagtail - Vintererle - Motacilla cinerea
African Pied Wagtail - Afrikaerle - Motacilla aguimp
Cape Wagtail - Askeerle - Motacilla capensis
Rock Martin - Ravinesvale - Hirundo fuligula
Red-Fronted Parrot - Rødpannepapegøye - Poicephalus guliemi
Long-Crested Eagle - Toppørn - Lophaetus occipitalis
Long-Legged Buzzard - Ørnvåk - Buteo rufinus
White-Starred Robin - Stjerneskvett - Pogonocichla stellata
Cinnamon-Chested Bee-Eater - Bergbieter - Merops oerobates
Beglafect Weaver - Bergvever - Ploveus beglafect

Totalt number of bird-species seen after day one: 40

Animlas seen day one:

Waterbuck, Imbabala (Bushbuck), Warthog, Giant Forest Hog, Common Genet, Mongoose sp., Rabbit sp., Duiker sp., African Buffalo, Sykes Monkey, Mantleded Guereza, Bat sp., Squirrel sp. 13 species in total.