Epilogue, Kenya - 14 Jul 2013

Now that Robin's and my trip to Kenya is officially in the history books, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude and thanks to my brother Charles for giving us (easily) the greatest trip of our lives. Charles, meeting you was the highlight of our two weeks in Nairobi, The Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru, and Amboseli. You gave us the smiles and welcome of the African people, and provided us with more adventures and photos that we could have imagined. I could not imagine doing this trip of a lifetime without you, and I miss you dearly.

You owe me 600 Ksh (~$6 US).

I've finally tallied the long list of species observed during our trip, and with the help of Guy, Andrew, Deb and Sandi was able come up with 241 spp. for the trip. This included 39 animal / reptile species, and 202 avian species. I had offered Charles 10 Ksh for each species observed on the trip, and made good on our final day together.

I now make a shameless plug for anyone thinking of visiting the Nairobi area of East Africa. Contact Charles Masese if you need a personal driver and/or guide when visiting any part of Kenya. Charles is a professional driver and a top animal spotter, and if you've read any of my blogs, you'll know that to navigate your way through the streets of Nairobi, the two-lane mountains, and rut-filled roads of the National Parks and Reserves, you need the absolute best driver on the planet. I will kid you not. Charles was able to get us through some of the most treacherous driving conditions on the planet, to get us to some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet, with grace and poetic ease. He does it with a smile. His contact information is:

Charles Masese
Tel +254 723 214 888
charlesomase@gmail.com

For the rest of my traveling family, Thank you! Guy St. Clair, you allowed Robin and me to travel with you, Andrew, Sandi and Deb, and we are eternally grateful for the opportunity. Hopefully we didn't wear out our welcome. And to you, Dada yangu Nerisa Kamar, thank you for your hospitality, and the greatest smile and personality we had the pleasure of enjoying during our (too) short visit!

Ndugu Yangu Charles, I will collect my money when I return.

Nairobi, Masai Mara NR, Lake Nakuru, Menengai Crater, Amboseli NP - July 2013

Animals/Reptiles Acacia Rats African Genet African Hare African White Rhinoceros Agama Lizard Banded Mongoose Black-backed Jackal Bushbuck Cattle Egret Cheetah Common Zebra Defassa Waterbuck Dik-Dik Eastern Wildebeest Eland Elephant Feral Cat Fruit Bat Giraffe Grant's Gazelle Hartebeast Hippopotamus Impala Klipspringer Koki's Hartebeast Leopard Tortoise Lion Nile Crocodile Olive Baboon Rock Hyrax Rothschild Giraffe Serval Spotted Hyena Thompson's Gazelle Topi Vervet Monkey Warthog Western Wildebeest Wildebeest

Birds Abyssinian Scimitarbill Abyssinian White-eye African Black Duck African Blue Flycatcher African Darter African Fish Eagle African Goshawk African Grey Flycatcher African Grey Hornbill African Hawk Eagle African Jacana African Marsh Harrier African Mourning Dove African Paradise Flycatcher African Pied Wagtail African Silverbill African Spoonbill African White-backed Vulture Aftrican Grey Flycatchers Anteater Chat Auger Buzzard Baglafecht Weaver Bare-faced Go-away Bird Bateleur Eagle Black Heron Black Kite Black Saw-wing Black-backed Puffback Black-bellied Bustard Black-chested Snake Eagle Black-headed Heron Black-shouldered Kite Black-throated Barbet Black-winged Stilt Blacksmith Plover Blue-naped Mousebird Bronze Sunbird Bronzed Mannikin Brown Parrots Buffy Pipit Cape Buffalo Cape Robin-Chat Cape Rook Cape Teal Cardinal Quelea Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Chin-spot Batis Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater Cisticola sp. Cisticola sp. Collared Pratincole Collared Sunbird Common Bulbul Common Fiscal Common Greenshank Common House Martin Common Moorhen Coqui Francolin Crested Francolin Crowned Plover D'Arnaud's Barbet Dark Chanting Goshawk Double-banded Courser Eastern Chanting Goshawk Eastern Red-billed Hornbill Egyptian Goose Emerald-spotted Wood Dove Fisher's Sparrow-Lark Fisher's Starling Fork-tailed Drongo Gambaga Flycatcher Glossy Ibis Great Blue-eared Starling Great Cormorant Great Egret Great White Pelican Greater Blue-eared Starling Greater Flamingo Grey Crowned-crane Grey Heron Grey-backed Fiscal Grey-capped Social Weavers Grey-capped Warbler Grey-headed Gull Hadada Ibis Hammerkop Helmeted Guineyfowl Hildebrant's Starlings Hooded Vulture Hottentot Teal House Sparrow Intermediate Egret Kittlitz's Plover Kori Bustard Lappet-faced Vulture Lesser Flamingo Lesser Masked Weaver Lesser-striped Swallows Lilac-breasted Roller Little Bee-eater Little Egret Little Grebe Long-crested Eagle Long-tailed Fiscal Long-toed Plover Maribou Stork Marico Sunbird Masai Giraffe Mountain Wagtail Namaqua Dove Northern Black Flycatcher Northern Pied Babbler Northern White-crowned Shrike Olive Thrush Osprey Ostrich Palm-nut Vulture Pectoral-patch Cisticola Pied Crow Pied Kingfisher Pink-backed Pelican Plain Martin Purple Grenadier Purple Heron Pygmy Falcon Pygmy Kingfisher Rattling Cisticola Red-backed Shrike Red-billed Buffalo Weaver Red-billed Firefinch Red-billed Oxpecker Red-billed Quelea Red-capped Lark Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu Red-faced Crombec Red-rumped Swallow Ring-necked Dove Rock Martin Rosy-breasted Longclaw Rufous Sparrow Rufous-naped Lark Ruppel's Long-tailed Starling Ruppell's Griffon Vulture Ruppell's Long-tailed Starlings Sacred Ibis Saddlebilled Stork Schalow's Wheatear Secretary Bird Silvery-cheeked Hornbill Slate-colored Boubou Sooty Chat Speckle-fronted Weaver Speckled Mousebird Speckled Pigeon Speckled Weavers Spot-flanked Barbet Spur-winged Goose Spur-winged Plover Squacco Heron Streaked Seedeater Streaky Seedeater Superb Starling Taveta Golden Weaver Tawney Eagle Thick-browed Seedeater Three-banded Plover Tropical Boubou Usambiro Barbet Variable Sunbird Verreaux's Eagle Von Der Decken's Hornbill Water Thick- knee Wattled Plover Wattled Starling Western Banded Snake Eagle Whinchat Whiskered Tern White-backed Vultures White-bellied Bustard White-bellied Canary White-bellied Go-away Bird White-browed Coucal White-browed Robin Chat White-browed Scrub-Robin White-browed Sparrow Weaver White-fronted Whistling Duck White-headed Buffalo Weaver White-headed Saw-wing White-headed Vulture White-rumped Swallow White-rumped Swift Yellow-billed Duck Yellow-billed Oxpeckers Yellow-billed Stork Yellow-crowned Canary Yellow-necked Spurfowl Yellow-throated Longclaw Unknown warbler sp. Unknown cisticola sp. Unknown cisticola sp. #2 Unknown weaver sp. Unknown warbler sp. #2