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Kenya - Mega Birding Tour

© Cheetah by Adam Riley
Kenya - Mega Birding Tour 2026

14 Oct 2026 - 05 Nov 2026 (23 days)

USD11,595 SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: James Wade Lee

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Tour Price (Per person): USD11,595 (GBP8,757 * EUR10,111 * AUD16,456)

Single Supplement: USD1,950 (GBP1,473 * EUR1,701 * AUD2,767)

Flight costs: USD140 (GBP106 * EUR122 * AUD199)

Kenya - Mega Birding Tour 2027

17 Oct 2027 - 08 Nov 2027 (23 days)

USD11,695 NO SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Glen Valentine

Wait List

Tour Price (Per person): USD11,695 (GBP8,832 * EUR10,199 * AUD16,598)

Single Supplement: USD1,950 (GBP1,473 * EUR1,701 * AUD2,767)

Flight costs: USD140 (GBP106 * EUR122 * AUD199)

This tour is the ultimate African birding and wildlife adventure. Over three weeks of non-stop birding, we hope to see more than 700 bird species, plus an incredible diversity of wildlife, superb scenery, wonderful lodges and tented camps, and super-friendly Kenyans.

Our tour begins with an exploration of the lush Shimba Hills and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Here we will endeavour to find some of the rarest birds in Africa, including the diminutive Sokoke Scops Owl, Sokoke Pipit, Green-headed Oriole, Amani Sunbird and Clarke’s Weaver. We then travel through both Tsavo West and East Parks, offering excellent game viewing and a huge bird list. The isolated Taita Hills, with its critically endangered species, will no doubt be memorable, and we’ll search all elevations of the Aberdare’s and Mount Kenya’s slopes for avian gems such as Jackson’s Francolin, Bar-tailed Trogon, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon, localized Hinde’s Babbler and Abyssinian Ground Thrush. We then enter the true arid zone at Samburu-Shaba, where highlights should include Golden-breasted Starling, Vulturine Guineafowl, Williams’s Lark, Somali Bee-eater and Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse. The dry woodlands of Lake Baringo are home to Jackson’s Hornbill, Northern Masked Weaver, and Somali Sparrow, while the famous Kakamega forest adds a plethora of forest specials with Blue-headed Bee-eater. Turner’s Eremomela, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye being notable targets. Our tour concludes after exploring the papyrus swamps and moist woodlands along Lake Victoria!

After exploring the papyrus swamps and moist woodlands along Lake Victoria, we finally enter the plains to visit arguably the most famous game reserve in the world, the fabulous Maasai Mara!

Top Birds

Sharpe's Longclaw; Sokoke Scops & Cape Eagle Owls; Sokoke & Malindi Pipits; Clarke's, Compact & Taveta Weavers; Hinde's & Scaly Babblers; East Coast Akalat; Green Barbet; Green Tinkerbird; Fischer's, White-crested and Ross's Turacos; Amani, Plain-backed, Tsavo, Violet-breasted & Golden-winged Sunbirds; Green-headed Oriole; Taita & Abyssinian Ground Thrushes; Taita Apalis; Taita & Kikuyu White-eyes; Jackson's & Elgon Francolins; Aberdare Cisticola; Abbott's, Golden-breasted, Magpie & Fischer's Starlings; Abyssinian Crimsonwing; Somali & Three-banded Coursers; Rock Pratincole; William's & Friedmann's Lark; Jackson's Hornbill; Red-naped Bushshrike; Somali Sparrow; Donaldson-Smith's Sparrow-Weaver; Somali & Blue-headed Bee-eaters; White-headed Mousebird; Turner's & Yellow-vented Eremomelas; Yellow-bellied & Jameson's Wattle-eyes; Vulturine Guineafowl; White-spotted Flufftail; Bar-tailed Trogon; Hartlaub's Bustard; Sooty Gull; Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse; Eastern Black-headed & Forest Batis; Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar; Forbe's-Watson's Swift; White-headed Wood Hoopoe; Pallid Honeyguide; Mombasa & Speckle-breasted Woodpeckers; African Broadbill; Grey-crested Helmetshrike; Papyrus Gonolek; Red-throated Tit; Uganda Woodland, Black-faced Rufous & Basra Reed Warblers; Somali Crombec; Southern & Yellow-bellied Hyliotas; Brown-chested Alethe; Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat; Easy Coast Akalat; White-throated Robin; Chapin's & Gambaga Flycatchers; Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher; Fire-fronted & Zanzibar Red Bishops; Jackson's Widowbird; Red-throated & Brown Twinspots; Grey-headed Silverbill; Steel-blue Whydah; Papyrus Canary; Southern Grosbeak-Canary; Oriole Finch.

Top Mammals

Lion; Leopard; Black & White Rhinoceros; Cheetah; Striped & Spotted Hyenas; Reticulated & Maasai Giraffes; Grevy’s Zebra; Gerenuk; Serval; Golden-rumped Elephant-Shrew; Crested Porcupine; Small-spotted & Blotched Genets; African Civet; African Buffalo; African Elephant; Southern Tree Hyrax; Giant Forest Hog; Lesser & Greater Kudu; Harvey's Duiker; Suni; Sable Antelope.

Habitats Covered

lowland & montane forests, Acacia savanna, papyrus swamps, rivers and wetlands, rocky gorges, grassland, semi-desert, coastal estuaries

Expected Climate

warm to hot, dry conditions, but cool at higher elevations and occasional rain can be expected

Max Group Size

6 with 1 Rockjumer leader

Tour Pace & Walking

Our Mega tours are very fast-paced birding adventures designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. The focus of the tour is to see as many of the endemics and area specials as possible in our given time. In order to cover the necessary route to maximise the species list we tend to spend a single night at most sites and travel large distances. There is very little down time aside from that spent driving from one site to the next. These tours are not suitable for dedicated or avid photographers; inexperienced or new birders; as well as anyone with serious mobility or health challenges.

Accommodation

Moderate to comfortable, some safari tented camps, a few basic lodges

Ease of Birding

Demanding. Some species density is low, forest birding present typical challenges. Several difficult target species.

Number of Species Expected

780 - 800+

Other Attractions

Mt Kenya, Aberdare Mountains, Shimba Hills, Lakes Elementeita & Baringo, Masaai people, African curios

Photographic Opportunities

Worthwhile to good but limited by time constraints.

What our clients say about us

James Wade Lee
KB, Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game (Small Group) III 2026

Wade was fantastic. He has a great personality and so much knowledge. His guiding was even better than we hoped to experience.

Stephan Lorenz
HS, Kenya - Mega Birding Tour 2025

The Kenya Mega was a very pleasant experience. We had an especially congenial group with some very good observers. Stephan did a very good job of running the trip, and it ended up exceeding my expectations (I am picky. I have seen over 8M birds, and have done a lot of traveling). Most of the lodges were wonderful, and the Kenyan people we met were very friendly.

Quinton Paul Josop
MS, Kenya - Highlights 2026

This was our first Rockjumper tour and we had such a good time, we have already booked a second tour. Rockjumper is an incredibly well-organized group and we didn't have any travel or housing-related issues during the entire trip. I'm sure Rockjumper is not the least expensive tour group you can travel with, but in this case I believe you get what you pay for. Our guide Quinton "Paul" Josop was amazing. His knowledge of birds was incredible and his enthusiasm was contagious. He was a lot of fun to travel with. In fact he was such a good guide we chose our second trip specifically because he was also a guide for that trip. We can't wait to travel again!

Ryan Tyrer
AS, Kenya & Tanzania - Birds & Big Game (Small Group) I 2026

Our guide Ryan was very familiar with the birds and their songs, he is very meticulous and does an excellent job on Ebird.

Quinton Paul Josop
CS, Kenya & Tanzania 2024

Paul Josop is a top notch and amazing tour leader - at all times he was knowledgeable, patient, attentive and engaging. We loved the trip and feel that much of its success was because of Paul's excellent guiding skills. We feel very fortunate to have experienced all that we did.

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Route Map

Tour Route Map