Half day in Kenya, 26th Feb
We only had a brief stopover in Kenya on our way to Ghana as we'd had to change our flight plans. Our taxi driver from the airport, Paul Njoroge, kindly offered to take us to the Nairobi National Park, just 8km from the town centre, for a couple of hours' birding before dark. Having seen SO many birds in Ethiopia, new birds were hard to come by and of the 56 species we recorded, only 7 were new for The Biggest Twitch, including Long-tailed Fiscal and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater. But for once the birds were eclipsed by 12 species of mammal, the undoubted highlight being the King of the Jungle, a magnificent male lion in his prime tucking into a fresh kill, close by the official picnic site, one place where you are allowed out of your car!
We'd like to thank Chege of Birdwatching East Africa [www.birdwatchingeastafrica.com] for his very kind offer of help, but sadly due to our lack of internetb access in Ethiopia we did not receive his email to take him up on this. And if you ever need a very friendly and helpful English-speaking driver in Nairobi, do give Paul a call on his mobile: +254 720 900 648.
Posted 11am 28th Feb, Accra