Lake Naivasha And Hell’s Gate National Park Birding Day Tour

LAKE NAIVASHA AND HELL’S GATE NATIONAL PARK BIRDING DAY TOUR

Trip duration

1 day

DAY 1: LAKE NAIVASHA AND HELL’S GATE NATIONAL PARK

We shall start the Lake Naivasha And Hell’s Gate National Park Birding Day Tour from your hotel or house. Our guide shall pick you up and drive to the lake’s entrance gate. You may spot some few roadside birds during the drive to the lake. Enjoy the culture and rhythm of Nairobi City, as you drive along.

Our main birdwatching adventure will then commence as we sample the various habitats within and around Lake Naivasha. Most of the birding will be done on foot. We shall also enjoy a boat ride on the lake, which will help us reach many more aquatic species.  

During our tour, we shall sample different habitats in and around Lake Naivasha. These include woodlands, bushland, savannah grasslands and the lakeshores. We shall also ride around the famous Crescent Island, a spot that is quite popular on our Lake Naivasha And Hell’s Gate National Park Birding Day Tours.  

Lake Naivasha is one of the best birding destinations in Kenya, with over 400 bird species recorded here. It is located in the Great Rift Valley. Lake Naivasha is a fresh-water lake, hosting many species adapted to fresh waters. It is also one of the colder lakes in the Great Rift Valley, due to its high altitude (1,890 metres).

In the afternoon, we shall enjoy birdwatching in Hell’s Gate National Park. This is a very scenic park located close to Lake Naivasha. The park hosts amazing rocky cliffs, where we shall search for several species. Near the cliffs, other habitats will also be explored, such as bushland, woodland and savannah grasslands. 

We shall then drop you off back to your hotel or other desired spot within the city. This marks the end to our exciting Lake Naivasha And Hell’s Gate National Park Birding Day Tour. 

Highlight birds

African Spoonbill, Great White Pelican, Pink-backed Pelican, White-breasted Cormorant/ Great Cormorant, Ruff, Common Greenshank, Common Ringed Plover, Kittlitz’s Plover, Spur-winged Lapwing, Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Grey-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, White-winged Tern, Red-billed Teal/ Red-billed Duck, Blue-billed Teal, African Jacana, Goliath Heron, Black Heron, Hamerkop, African Black-headed Oriole, Red-capped Lark, Abyssinian Wheatear, Lanner Falcon, Augur Buzzard, Ruppell’s Griffon/ Ruppell’s Vulture, Long-crested Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, White-fronted Bee-eater, Red-fronted Barbet, Bearded Woodpecker, Nubian Woodpecker, Eastern Grey Woodpecker/ Mountain Grey Woodpecker, Black-lored Babbler, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Buff-bellied Warbler, Grey-capped Warbler, Lynes’s Cisticola, Rattling Cisticola, Hunter’s Cisticola, Bronzy Sunbird, Red-headed Weaver, Grey-backed Fiscal, Tropical Boubou, Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike/ Orange-breasted Bush-shrike, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Grey-crested Helmet-shrike, Black Cuckoo-shrike, Black Cuckoo, Red-chested Cuckoo, White-bellied Tit, Streaky Seedeater, Kenya Rufous Sparrow, African Grey Hornbill, White-browed Robin-Chat, Northern Anteater-chat, Mocking Cliff Chat, Little Rock Thrush, Mosque Swallow, Hybrid Lovebird, Ruppell’s Starling, Superb Starling, Hildebrandt’s Spurfowl/ Hildebrandt’s Francolin, Green Wood-Hoopoe, African Hoopoe, Nyanza Swift, Mottled Swift, Horus Swift, Lilac-breasted Roller, Giant Kingfisher, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Greater Honeyguide, Lesser Honeyguide, Wahlberg’s Honeybird/ Brown-backed Honeybird, Purple Grenadier, Plain-backed Pipit   

Highlight mammals

Maasai Giraffe, Defassa Waterbuck, Black-backed Jackal, Bat-eared Fox, Spotted Hyena, Common Zebra, Common Warthog, Common Eland, Common Impala, African Buffalo, Naivasha Dik-dik, Rock Hyrax, Olive Baboon, Vervet Monkey, Mau Forest Guereza Colobus Monkey, Common Hippopotamus, Grant’s Gazelle, Thomson’s Gazelle, Coypu/ Nutria

Highlight reptiles and amphibians 

Common Striped Skink, Battersby’s Green Snake, Black-necked Spitting Cobra, Southern African Rock Python, Nile Rocket Frog, Anchieta’s Rocket Frog, Senegal Kassina, Northern Clawed Frog, Common Reed Frog, Nutt’s River Frog

Habitats covered

Woodland, Bushland, Rocky Cliffs, Grasslands, Wetlands

Photographic opportunities

Excellent

Special moments

East African endemic birds, Lake Naivasha, Great Rift Valley, Hell’s Gate National Park, Aberdare Ranges views, African Big Game