Kenya

We have just returned from a 2 week trip to Kenya booked through Late Deals. We flew from Gatwick which is such a pain for us to get to, that coupled with a car transporter on fire on the motorway made the journey absolutely horrendous. That was soon forgotten when we landed at Mombasa airport the following morning.  The first thing that hit us was the heat, the second thing was the price of the visas. They certainly know how to fleece you before you clear customs. Now why don't we do that to visitors in our country? We were soon in the transfer bus and on our way, eyes peeled to start the bird list.

We were based at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Watamu. Quite close to Mida Creek and the Arabuko Sokoke Forest. We had booked Albert Baya from Spinetail Safaris as a birdguide. Albert had good reports from other trips and proved to be one of the best guides we have ever had. He had eyes like a hawk, never missing a bird even when he was driving. He was a brilliant birder and conservationist with total commitment to the environment. Albert was also a bird ringer who rang at Mida Creek.

Turtle Bay was a wonderful place to stay. It was spotless clean and the food was lovely with plenty of choice at each meal. Highly recommended and would love to go back one day. Albert would pick us up at 6am every day but by 10am the heat was too much for birds so back to Turtle Bay we came to spend the day by the pool. We had the best of both worlds. Albert would then pick us back up at 4pm until dark. The sites we visited included Mida Creek, Arabuko Sokoke Forest, Lake Jilore, Sabaki River Mouth, Lake Roka, Lake Chem Chem and Tsarvo East. A fantastic holiday with just over 300 birds, 120 of them being new for us.

The best two weeks ever !