Aina and I arrive early to Jomo Kenyatta airport. While we wait for our transfer, we get the hang on the first bird species. Little swifts, African palm swifts, red-throated crag-martins, African sacred ibis, and African pied wagtails are all first glimpsed above our heads. Pied crows, speckled pigeons, common bulbuls, and the stunning superb starlings are abundant, and we connect with the only red-winged starlings of the trip.

The road south of Nairobi borders the fences of Nairobi National Park. While we did not have time to visit, we connect with a long-tailed fiscal, a flock of helmeted guineafowl roosting on a tree, and the majestic gray crowned-crane.

The gardens of Wildebeest Eco Lodge are a true oasis. Despite our long journey, we spent hours energetically strolling through the vegetation of this haven, while we wait for our lodge tent to be ready for check-in. The central lagoon by the pool and the restaurant held a couple of smart malachite kingfishers posing for us, several grosbeak weavers caring of their chicks, spectacled weavers working on their nests, and dusky turtle-doves coming for a sip. The rocks around the pool seemed to be foraging grounds for a couple of Cape robin-chats.

The grassy area next to the pool was the feeding area of several hadada ibis, whose scream surprised us before becoming a usual sound during our days in Kenya. White-browed sparrow-weavers usually fed on the grass, too. The vegetation closeby held white-eyed slaty-flycatcher, willow warbler, and Baglafecht weaver, as well as a roop of vervet monkeys.

North from the pool up the lawn, we would stay in a tent with room for around 10 people under the shade of thick vegetation. The trees around there held white-bellied tit, several Rüppell’s robin-chats, and the only cardinal woodpecker of the trip. Abyssinian thrush became a usual sight there.

The chill out area by the pool is surrounded by flowering bushes. Good numbers of amethyst sunbirds, variable sunbirds, bronze sunbirds, and northern double-collared sunbirds fight for their territories, showing their impressive colors and providing a great show as we dipped our feet in the water. A gray-capped warbler was seen after following its song from these bushes, where several speckled mousebirds seemed to play hide-and-seek.

Between the pool and the reception area, some Acacias served as a more open perch for other species. The first spot-flanked barbet, chinspot batis, and cinnamon-breasted bee-eaters were soon spotted on the trees. Other specialties included the only sights of brown parisoma, buff-bellied warbler, and a stunning adult Klaas’s cuckoo feeding a youngster. A scarlet-chested sunbird seemed to like a bush closer to the reception, and a blue monkey was seen on the area as well.

Once the tent was ready, a long nap transported us to night time. After a light dinner, a quick walk around resulted in a couple of Jackson’s chameleons on the spotlight, sleeping in a bush on the roadside inside the camp. We were embraced by the sounds of the African night and quickly fell asleep again.

An early walk before breakfast around the gardens of Wildebeest Eco Camp yielded good views of some of the species seen yesterday, perhaps highlighting a confident speckled mousebird. New additions included a loud green-backed camaroptera singing around the Acacia area and a red-eyed dove drinking in the lake. Yellow-billed kites soared up in the sky as we had breakfast.

Soon enough, we were surprised to see all our friends from Finland coming to the restaurant after ouching down and checking in. After keeping up with each other’s trips, most of us joined our adventure of the day and we all soon waited for our Ubers at he entrance of the lodge.

A rushed morning packing up now that the tents were full with our newcoming classmates, we had breakfast and jumped into our cars after meeting our course professors Mar Cabeza, Pablo Manzano and Iñaki Abella. No much to note in Wildebeest Eco Camp, where I only added several European bee-eaters as novelties to the list.

The long journey ahead served as the first opportunity to connect with African mammals for the first time. As we got into savannah in Laikipia county, warthogs, plains zebras, impalas, and reticulated giraffes caused great impression among us.

A morning walk in a sandy area down the river served as an animal track identification workshop — we learned to recognize the tracks of hippos, lions, hyenas, impalas, dik-diks, elephants, mongooses, and giraffes, and managed o see some of them. Red-billed oxpeckers roamed in the backs of reticulated giraffes and African savannah elephants. New morning additions include Meyer’s parrot and red-chested cuckoo.

We spent the day around camp working in plant identification and developing questionnaires for our focus groups and interviews with locals on the following days, and writing our memories. I managed to see new birds seen at the camp during breaks, such as Rüppell’s vulture, crimson-rumped waxbill, and emerald-spotted wood-dove. An exciting visitor was a Grévy’s zebra approaching the river on the bank opposite to our camp — while we had seen them in the plains, having one of these zebras visiting the camp was great, as this very rare species has less left than 2500 individuals left globally! An afternoon game drive helped us enjoy connecting with different mammal species again, as well as six crowned lapwings and a distant male Kori bustard.

At night, we grabbed some thermal cameras and jumped into the cars again, with loud speakers installed on top of them. We learned the methodology of hyena calling stations, and connected with a number of spotted hyenas and at least a striped hyena. Besides, we could see the shapes of warthogs, zebras, hippos, and other wildlife thanks to our gear. On the way back, a more-than-likely Verreaux’s eagle-owl flew next to the car as it drove, but he hour was late and stopping and looking for it was not in the agenda, so ID is inconclusive.

A morning game drive set the tone of the day, as spending a full-day in the field resulted in numerous memorable wildlife encounters. While driving Mpala ranch, one of the highlights seen were a first pair of common ostrich roaming along with a herd of East African oryx. Looking at the largest extant bird next to such a magnificent antelope I did not expect to see was an experience. Other morning savannah treats included straw-tailed whydah, white-bellied go-away-bird, Namaqua dove, tawny eagle, and two martial eagles up the river close to the camp.

The hike to Mt Mukenya was quite straightforward and refreshing, even if our 16-people group was constantly accompanied by four rangers holding guns and other staff to ensure our safety. A pretty shocking picture. The op of the rock provided Lion King-like views of the savannah plains, from where we could see elephants, giraffes, impalas, baboons, and many other large species from distance. On the way up, a rock hyrax, an augur buzzard, a Eurasian kestrel, and a large eagle pointed out by a ranger as a possible Verreaux’s eagle were seen. Once up the hill, there was a pied wheatear and several rufous-tailed rock-thrushes. On the way down, and while some rangers showed up how to light up a fire with mere branches and stones, several fan-tailed ravens showed up.

We stopped to learn about the whistling thorn (Vachellia drepanolobium) bushes and their close relationship with ants, and visited several herbivore-exclusion fences. These stops helped me connect with sentinel lark, lesser masked-weaver, Fischer’s sparrow-lark, and Hildebrandt’s starling. Back in the camp for lunch, I finally managed to spot two species that pretty much everyone had seen around by then: the striped ground squirrel and the beautiful African paradise-flycatcher. I also managed to shoot the bush hyraxes that are always chilling in the stone wall at the checkpoint in Mpala.

We reached the olive baboon troop of Ilpolei late in the afternoon after over three hours driving. For Aina and I, this was the first close contact with the species we focused our interest on during the course. Project staff monitors the movements of the troop daily, and are familiar with each individual of the troop, with over 150 baboons. We heard stories of the behavior and social status of some of the individuals that moved next to us: youngsters on top of their mothers, juvenile females, alpha males… The baboons, meanwhile, were heading up a hill where the steep slopes would keep them safe overnight once the sun set. What an experience.

The journey ack was not less productive. We connected with our first lions, with our car surrounded by a group of several individuals in the middle of the night. The views were awesome, as the lions approached our car, seemingly try to hide and ambush some prey to no avail. Additionally, we got good views of a grayish eagle-owl in the dark before reaching camp.

The morning starts extremely early as the possibility to spot a very sought-after species in Mpala raises. While we drive the ranch and meet researchers on the species on our way, we did not manage to spot the pack of African wild dogs we looked for. The game drive lead us to new spots, including a pond in a red soil area where mammals and birds drank. Numerous black-faced sandgrouse, crowned lapwings, greater blue-eared starlings, and a Namaqua dove were some highlights.

The day was mostly spent around camp, where we joined talks from different local and international researchers. While I was shooting the local family of wire-tailed swallows, I spotted four mosque swallows on a tree next to the main tent. In the afternoon, several birds were added to the camp list: red-headed weaver, yellow-spotted bush-sparrow, white-bellied canary, lesser honeyguide, and yellow-necked spurfowl. The usual northern red-billed hornbills, Von der Decken’s hornbills, and African paradise-flycatchers showed up too.

The main task of the day consisted on visiting Lekiji, where a women-led agriculture project has recently started as an alternative to herding. We conducted focus groups and interviews for the first time, and encountered many challenges that we discussed in the bonfire later at night. Getting to know this community and their initiative was a close contact with reality, after days in the comfort of the research camp. Besides, on the way there we connected with three gerenuks, perhaps my favorite antelope, which obliged while feeding on Acacia trees standing on their rear legs.

We departed early from the dreamy Mpala river camp. Our vehicles drive us across Laikipia while a big part of the group sleeps. I try to keep an eye out in the savanna and manage to see numerous big mammals, and numerous fences. We are starting to understand that, while fences are in theory meant to separate wildlife from people, in practice they are most effective at isolating people from people, and generate intense human-human conflict.

We gathered in the gate of a fenced area in Rugutu managed by Space for Giants, a conservationist company aiming at mitigating conflictive interactions between elephants and humans while bringing social and economic value to local communities. Several workers showed us the electric installation that makes the fence work, and we discussed about the good and the evil. We visited a nearby point where the fence is recurrently dodged by wildlife. My friend Mihika Sen has worked in these very fences for her fantastic thesis project about elephant and human coexistence in Kenya, and seeing the magnitude of fences across Laikipia in person made us understand the scale of the issue.

Moving some kilometers in different directions becomes interesting in these latitudes. Without leaving Laikipia, birds that I haven’t managed to see in Mpala become quite numerous in the Acacia trees of the few places we stop by during the fence lecture — Speke’s weavers, village weavers, or Kenya rufous sparrows are some examples. Others seem widespread instead, like the superb starling.

The long journey goes through different ecosystems. Black cotton soils have been widely used for agriculture for a large stretch of road — in these area I spot a black-winged kite, pied crows, and Egyptian geese. A lunch stop in Thompson Falls results in some intense touting from local shop owners. However, eleven wattled starlings sitting on a tall tree are a highly welcome add-up.

Towards Naivasha, the landscape changes again. Groves of endemic Euphorbia bussei in the higher areas flanked open woodlands (where we could find some Maasai giraffes) and extensions of flower farms — which has lately become the main economic activity in Naivasha. This economic switch has caused many people lose their livelihoods. Depression, drug addiction, and subsistence jobs that give room to new conflictive interactions with large mammals are challenges that many locals in Naivasha face today, as we would learn in this stage of the course.

A quick stroll in the KWSTI facilities after check-in was quite productive. Several Kenya rufous sparrows, brimstone canaries, streaky seedeaters, and purple grenadiers were noted in the vegetation. On wires and cables, white-fronted bee-eaters and red-throated crag-martins rested. One of the buildings was constantly visited by a flock of several Nyanza swifts.

We shared the rest of the day with local students. KWSTI facilities educate on different field job matters, and we got to know current and future professionals of National Parks in Kenya. We went through the photo-trapping material from our first days in Mpala together, and walked around campus quite close to impalas, elands, warthogs, and other creatures that roamed the facilities. On a quick outing after dinner, Aina and I were warned to run carefully back inside as buffalos roamed around at night.

The course was not focused on birds whatsoever but this had been the most birdy day of the course. We visited a satellite lake of Naivasha, where Asociación Bio+ has launched a conservation project involving local men and women that have lately switched their livelihoods into unlicensed fishing. Their life-long knowledge of the area proved suitable to work as ecotourism guides for birdwatching tours along the lake.

Lake Oloiden water level is high during our visit, and it was connected to the waters of lake Naivasha. The lake has traditionally been isolated, with periodical fluctuations, being hipersaline through evaporation and bearing a limited population of fish but plenty flamingos. This change has opened the possibility for people to fish in Oloiden, but has also brought an important number of territorial hippos. The locals explain these facts while surrounded by hamerkops, marabou storks, gull-billed terns, pink-backed pelicans, and hippos watching us from the water. Closer to the shore, I spotted a giant kingfisher and a yellow-billed egret.

A couple of boats guide us through Oloiden. Large flocks of barn swallows and plain martins sit on dead branches. Waterfowl are less diverse than I expected, but Egyptian geese are abundant. Pairs of the stunning African fish-eagle sit every few trees apart where there is the world’s highest density of the species. Gray-headed gulls, African jacanas, pied kingfishers, and malachite kingfishers are also present.

As we sail through the shore, an incredible number of pierid butterflies fly in all directions, providing a dreamy image. Plains zebras, Maasai giraffes, waterbucks, vervet monkeys, and impalas are noted. A corner of the lake held a colony of common pelicans, close to which there were several white-bellied cormorants, reed cormorants, and two impressive saddle-billed storks. A single lesser flamingo sat in the shore in very bad shape, as so did another individual in the very middle of the lake where we also saw a red-knobbed coot.

The connecting area between lakes Oloiden and Naivasha was particularly full of birds. Yellow-billed stork, goliath heron, gray heron, great egret, black crake, African sacred ibis, ospreys, and western marsh harriers foraged in the area, and a distant white-backed vulture flew over. Even mammals were plentiful, highlighting the silhouettes Maasai giraffes as part of the landscape, and the hippos that had been abundant throughout the trip.

After the productive outing, we spend some time interviewing the locals about their take on how things are changing in Naivasha area, and their new livelihoods. Fishing was new to most of them, and had put many on risk. Most had close people who had experienced conflictive encounters with hippos, in some cases ending up in fatalities.

Naivasha Raptor Center director Shiv Kapila introduced us to their facilities and showed us their daily tasks and the birds they kept at the moment. Some of them would be seen during the trip — Rüppell’s griffon, white-backed vulture, African wood owl, black goshawk, or augur buzzard. As we also had the chance to enter some cages, it was the first time being up close to a big raptor for many.

The Kilimandege Sanctuary area where the center is located was quite diverse. A photogenic augur buzzard obliged — a declining species due to new metal poles being installed across Kenya. African hoopoe, Northern anteater-chat, hamerkop, willow warbler, and greater blue-eared starling are also seen in the entrance area. Close to a Verreaux’s eagle-owl cage, a yellow-breasted apalis showed up.

Before leaving KWSTI, a morning walk provided good views of African red-rumped swallow, northern gray-headed sparrow, a family group of African gray flycatcher, and several yellow-billed kites on a same tree as morning highlights. White-fronted bee-eaters, wire-tailed swallows, brimstone canaries, and impalas obliged with great close looks.

Once again on the road, off southwest to a new area of Kenya. On the way, I noted a couple of Cape crows and a group of over 25 Abdim’s storks. On some tiny puddle next to the road, two gray crowned-cranes foraged with cattle egrets and Egyptian geese.

A midday lunch in the middle of the road brought the attention of a group of Maasai kids who joined us. The presence of Maasai became evident, as large groups of cattle could be seen in the fields. The fences were also very present. On these fences, I spotted the first (of many to come) pin-tailed whydah males displaying — an image I dreamed of witnessing in the wild when I first learned about these tiny creatures in some old book back home as a kid.

We check-in in Kileleoni Guest House for the following days. The rest of the day is meant for reading and summarizing wildlife reports and research papers for some presentations we do at night. Wildebeest and zebras walk relatively close to the guest house fences. A walk around the garden provides great looks of bronze sunbird, golden-breasted bunting, spot-flanked barbet, and a group of red-billed oxpeckers that behave oddly, perching on the roof tiles every now and then instead of the back of some large herbivore.

The night comes and we set off to sleep after a session of presentations of our papers read over the day. Some people camping out in the garden had an awful night, with loud spotted hyenas calling and wandering in the fences, quite close to their tents.

A slow morning in terms of birds and mind. We hiked the interesting slopes of Mt Kileleoni following the fresh path opened by an elephant ahead of us and interpreted the flora in the area: camphor trees, sandalwood and other relevant plants could be found there, but no notable birds. In the camp, I took some time to wash clothes, go through my pictures, write some lines, and take some proper pictures of the birds of the garden: purple grenadier, common bulbul, pied crow, and two raptors flying overhead together: a steppe buzzard and an augur buzzard. A young bateleur showed up too.

We entered the Maasai community next to our accommodation, where we also aimed at carrying out our focus groups and interviews about perceptions of human-wildlife conflicts. We were greeted by music and dances, and were shown a face of these villages that is now becoming more and more widespread: that of tourism. Locals understood we were tourists and were surprised that we carried notebooks and not cameras with us, but proceeded to tell their fairytale-like stories aimed at captivating foreigners. After the whole tourist visit, we all managed to communicate and understand each other’s purpose better and it all ended in a fun anecdote. Unsurprisingly, we noted how the stories we were told during the tourist-oriented visit were full of adornments and quite distant from what we could hear when we addressed our questions. Maasai communities have reinvented their livelihood recently but still hold important pride of their identity and social dynamics, and current times do not make them any distant from living in close contact by wildlife.

The community chief joined us for a couple of game drives. The most attractive one happened at night, when we connected with numerous eastern springhares and several spotted thick-knees.

The morning started with a game drive around Mara North plains along with the guide that joined us yesterday for the night drive. Thomson’s gazelles and Grant’s gazelles are abundant, and we approach a reticulated giraffe. Bird highlights include a close encounter with a lappet-faced vulture, several pallid harriers, a steppe eagle, Jackson’s widowbirds, displaying pin-tailed whydahs, a helmeted guineafowl, and a puddle where gray crowned-cranes and vitelline masked-weavers foraged.

On our way back to the guest house, we visited the bomas by the guest house where Maasai herders keep their cattle safe overnight. We go through different boma types, made out of wood and wires. Moving the bomas periodically brings a dynamism to the ecosystem relatively similar to that of large herbivore migrations. Forsging the dung for insects, I noted several western yellow wagtails, an African pied wagtail, and a wattled starling. Flying over, two lappet-faced vultures and a young bateleur passed by.

There is always some nice smell coming from the kitchen at Kileleoni guest house. As we waited for lunch, I observed a northern fiscal feeding its youngster, and several superb starlings and greater blue-eared starlings in the garden.

Later in the afternoon we drove south to Talek, right at the border with Maasai Mara National Reserve. Along the way, Mwanza flat-headed gock agamas are very common in a stretch of the road, as so are displaying Fischer’s whydahs. New birds noted on the road include a silverbird, several red-cheeked cordonbleus, and capped wheatears.

Down in Talek, a group of local women and men joined us for a focus group about their takes of different policies regarding herding and land protection, and their perceptions and knowledge of wildlife. We sat on the ground and talked, surrounded by tens of marabou storks and a flock of birds that might have been magpie shrikes. Looking at the group dynamics was enjoyable, given that they were husband and wives and friends among them, and we had become better interviewers and observers by then.

The last field day of the course takes place in a dream location. Once again, we hop onto our two cars very early and drive south from our accommodation. Along the way, lilac-breasted roller, capped wheatear, and straw-tailed whydah are spotted, as well as a group of banded mongoose and two pairs of black-backed jackals — interestingly, two individuals were in bad shape and seemed to follow the other two, more fit.

Talek gate area is a hub for locals trying to sell souvenirs to tourists. Little swifts nest on the gate itself and several white-browed bee-eaters, Hildebrandt’s starlings, plain martins, and crag-martins were seen around.

The other side of the gate seemed a completely different world. Vast plains and hills of green and yellow covered beyond the reach of the sight, with the only exception of very few Acacia trees here and there, and an unimaginable density of dark dots, large mammals that foraged in the distance. Herds of elephants, buffalos, topis, kongonis, wildebeest, and zebras that we would approach as we drove through the plains.

The Talek area produced good views of Kori bustards, common ostrich, and gray crowned-crane, as well as most of the above-mentioned herbivores. We glimpsed a secretarybird in the distance that was unfortunately missed by the other car. Finally! What a bird.

Montagu’s harriers and pallid harriers cut the sky above the grass. Bateleurs soared in pairs, and solitary lappet-faced vulture and hooded vulture were also seen over the grassland plains. Within the grass, fan-tailed widowbirds and different cisticolas were readily seen.

A group of cars queueing somewhere close to an Acacia tree was a sign of a big cat. While we waited in line, we saw white-winged widowbird, gray-backed fiscals, and several waterbirds in a pond including green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, wattled lapwing, and white-faced whistling-duck. The amount of cars swarming around the animals made some feel uneasy, concerned about animal welfare. Just for the record, the pack of sixteen lions under the tree sleeped completely unbothered by our presence.

Driving through the plains for the whole day produced incredible landscapes and close encounters with many species. Lilac-breasted roller, gray kestrel, rufous-naped lark, and plain-backed pipit were seen up close. As we approached two lions mating, we were shown a spotted eagle-owl roosting on a bush — an uncommon species in Maasai Mara.

The lunch stop was awesome, in an area chose by our drivers after driving around all the trees in order to make sure no big cat hid under the shadow. An awesome diversity of beetles, butterflies, and hoverflies roamed around. Winding cisticola and African gray flycatcher sat on the tree above us. All around, a massive herd of elephants walked together — we spent some time recognizing their sex and age, and just admiring them.

Later we approached the Mara river crossing area, famous in wildlife documentaries. Wildebeest, zebras, hippos, and crocodiles were all present, but this is not the time of the year when the dramatic migration takes place. In fact, even if we had seen tens of wildebeest, most of them now forage in the other side of the river — we couldn’t picture in our minds the density of wildebeest the other half of the year.

Driving around that area, a spotted hyena sleeps in the open on the trail side. Spur-winged lapwings, stout cisticola, and little bee-eaters were seen in the crossing area. A common sandpiper walked funnily on top of the hippo backs.

The drive back was enjoyable too. It was sad leaving Maasai Mara, especially knowing that we missed many specialties (leopard, cheetah, ground-hornbill…). But close encounters with awesome species and incredible landscapes compensated. The last lights produced a Temminck’s courser on the road back to Mara North, and perhaps the most beautiful sunset of the trip was the end of a wonderful day.

Garoda beach is simply spectacular. Even if we arrived at high tide, the dreamy combination of white sand and deep blue water was breathtaking. Tourists walked down the beach and pied kingfishers perched on the boats. Ethiopian swallows were regularly seen over the beach, as so were gull-billed terns and lesser crested terns.

We walked south to the Mida Creek mouth, where a massive flock of birds flying low over the ocean was visible in the distance at a certain point, when the reflection of the descending sun allowed. Hundreds of waders flew back and forth from their roosting site, on a sandy shore flanked by impregnable rock walls that make the little beach unaccessible during high tide. We climbed some pointy rocks to get distant views of the flock once birds sat: hundreds of crab-plovers and greater sand-plovers, along with several whimbrels, bar-tailed godwits and gull-billed terns. An incredible show with the main character being one of my favorite birds, the crab-plover, belonging to a monotypic family and a personal lifer. Pied kingfishers hovered around and African palm swifts were also present.

After walking back to A Rocha, we got some motorbikes drive us to town to get some cash and explore Watamu, a western tourist-centered coastal town. We headed back to A Rocha for a family dinner with the people staying at the community, and then called it a day. Ghost crabs foraged everywhere: inside the toilets and the living room, on the paths, and all around our camp. Their little legs walking over leaf litter plus the extreme heat and humidity at night made sleeping difficult.

Our course professors shared some contacts with us to prearrange a walking tour on the nearby National Park. We connected with Jonathan Mwachongo from Arabuko Walking Safari, a very knowledgeable guide we strongly recommend. We arranged a half-day tour with a list of species that was almost completely satisfied, even if the half-day ended up being full day! A tuk-tuk came to pick us up in A Rocha still in the dark.

Jonathan received us at Arabuko Sokoke NP headquarters and soon magic starts. After a quick introduction and paying for the park fee (600 KSH, 4.3 EUR per person), we get into the forest. Around the main office, three African wood-owls rest on top of a tree. Soon after, we spot the first ashy flycatchers and black-bellied starlings of the day. A golden-rumped sengi, a diurnal elephant-shrew mainly restricted to Arabuko Sokoke coastal forest, forages quietly — we would see four of them along the day, rabbit-sized creatures running under the vegetation.

There are three main forest types in Arabuko Sokoke. The beginning of our walk took place in mixed forest, a diverse formation of tall trees and dense vegetation. Here we connected with several green barbets, European golden orioles and African black-headed orioles. A side path brought us to a thick area where we got brief views of the skulky eastern nicator, as well as a pair of the extremely range-restricted Amani sunbird associated to several collared sunbirds.

An open forest area provided an opportunity to connect with distant birds. White-throated bee-eaters, striped kingfisher, Dodson’s bulbul, spotted flycatchers, black-backed puffback, pale batis, and black-and-white mannikin are some of the species we spotted, plus lizard buzzard heard. On a different area with similar habitat configuration, we heard Fischer’s turacos close to their nest and, while waiting for them to show up (they never did!), an African goshawk carrying a prey flies fast over us at close distance.

Things got very interesting when we got into a thicker forest after the open area — perhaps the most rainforest-like birding of the whole trip. We bumped into several mixed-species flocks, and Jonathan paid great effort to help us connect with all the species within them. Yellow flycatchers seemed pretty abundant in the flocks, and we struggled to photograph them due to their skulky, very active behavior — like most of the species seen in this area. Short-tailed batis, African crested flycatcher, black-headed apalis, plain-backed sunbird, olive sunbird, sombre greenbul, tiny greenbul, and Fischer’s greenbul were also part of the flocks. Even a black goshawk made a quick appearance. The intensity felt when surrounded by one of those flocks contrasted with the calmness during the rest of the walk. A male dark-backed weaver flew over the trail and we soon spotted a nest hanging from a branch over the path. Monospecific flocks of chestnut-fronted helmetshrike provided good views at times. The loud calls of red bush squirrels and the noises from jumping Sykes’s monkeys made them evident.

Although trucks and cars crossed the roads of the park often, we walked during the whole day. A considerable part of the trails are open enough to let the scorching sun in, and the torrid temperatures made us feel exhausted during most of the 25 km route. Walking allowed us to connect with over 50 species, but things got very intense at a certain point in the thick forest, when big noises came from merely few meters right from us in the forest. A lone male savanna elephant aimed to cross the road as we walked next to the point where it foraged unnoticed. A quick adrenaline shoot made us three run away further up the trail and hide in some distant bushes, between laughs of surprise and relief. Savanna elephants are uncommon in the park and Jonathan informed us that this rarely happens — I never expected to ever run away from one, but it all turned into a funny, adventurous anecdote.

At some point we reached the second forest type in Arabuko Sokoke, the Brachystegia woodland. This stretch was long and sunny, and we had a hard time keeping up. Most birds noticed were only heard, including tambourine dove, white-browed coucal, European bee-eater, Zanzibar boubou, and scaly babbler.

The Brachystegia woodlands grow over white soils whereas the third forest type, the low-height Cynometria thicket, grows in red soils. The abrupt change in the soil composition creates seasonal lagoons. One of them, the Elephant swamp, is located between the trail and the forest edge. Several knob-billed ducks and family groups of white-faced whistling-ducks sat on the wet grassland around the lake. African jacanas, wood sandpipers, hadada ibises, black-headed heron, and gray herons were also present.

Getting into the Cynometria thicket was a relief as the highlight of the tour only lives in this forest type, over 10 km away from the park gate. At our arrival, Jonathan manages to spot a calling green tinkerbird which provides obliging views, unlike a Mombasa woodpecker that I missed for a second. We keep on walking for a good couple of kms, entering the forest at different points. Eastern nicators and Zanzibar boubous could be heard in the woods.

In one of the pit stops, Jonathan spotted a roosting pair of Sokoke scops-owl, one orange morph and the other gray morph. This beautiful tiny owl has most of its global population living in this Cynometria forest patch. Very little is known about their biology — although Brachylaena trees provide numerous holes (favored by other scops-owl species), Jonathan explains how the nest of this species has never been documented. We rush to take tens of pictures of this picturesque pair sitting deep in the vegetation from a distance, trying to avoid unnecessary stress, and soon leave. At that point, the walk felt completely worth it.

Satisfied after finding the owls, we headed back along a different trail, less sunny but still long and perhaps less eventful than the morning, with some chestnut-fronted helmetshrikes and fork-tailed drongos seen. Fresh elephant dung was visited by many colorful butterflies, but its presence made the next encounter obvious. The same male savanna elephant happened to be again next to this different path, but this time we noticed it at a point when we couldn’t continue walking the path safely. Jonathan suggested entering into the thickness on the other side of the path and creeping through ahead, keeping a safe distance from where we thought the elephant was and hoping it wouldn’t mind us. Hesitating but with no other options, we followed his fast and skillful pace through the vegetation. After several intense minutes and a couple of wounds from piercing branches, we left the forest safe and sound.

The last stretch of road produced a flyover juvenile martial eagle displaying its cracking pied looks. Not too far, a brown-morph European honey-buzzard was an unexpected addition. A yellow-billed kite was another raptor seen right before reaching a different park gate where the tuk-tuk driver waited for us.

We shared breakfast in the morning with several Danish women who have spent every winter here for the last decade and share experiences and suggestions. They tell us how they sight guitarfish and sharks on their walks along the beach during low tide in the morning. Today we have different plans, but we’ll give it a shot tomorrow. A Rocha staff called a tuk-tuk for us to a new place.

There is a visitors area at the entrance of Mida Creek where locals play kickball. From this point, a trail of boardwalks over the mangrove woodland starts. Numerous crabs display on the muddy sand everywhere. Little swifts and African palm swifts fly over. Flocks of speckled mousebirds and European bee-eaters are also noted. A fork-tailed drongo and a black-backed puffback reveal themselves in a mangrove tree.

The boardwalk arrives to a hide overlooking the tidal mudflats. The diversity of waders foraging for food is astonishing. Tens of crab-plovers, greater sand-plovers, common ringed-plovers, black-bellied plovers, and little stints can be seen at close distance from the hide. Among them, there are several Tibetan sand-plovers, curlews, Terek sandpipers, common greenshanks, curlew sandpipers, and sanderlings. Winter-plumage gull-billed terns are also quite numerous.

Farther away, lesser crested terns fly up and down the river, where several fishermen worked. Several yellow-billed kites flew over, as so did a palm-nut vulture, one of the target birds of the trip that came rather unexpectedly. In the distant border of the shore, three African sacred ibises, a little egret, and two Eurasian oystercatchers (an uncommon visitor in Kenya!) forage together. On the other side of the river, once we get closer, I scope a white-fronted plover on the shore of tthe other side of the creek, another uncommon species. Besides birds, we managed to tell apart four species of fiddler crabs (thanks to iNaturalist fellows), and found numerous giant mangrove whelk snails (Terebralia palustris), mangrove upsidedown jellyfish (Cassiopea andromeda), and starfish (Astropecten sp.).