I left Warsaw on the afternoon of the 5th of June on an Emirates flight to Dubai. Emirates was very good as usual and I was quite lucky on my flight to have an empty seat next to me. It was my first time flying completely by myself, but I had no problems at all with anything. I had transferred through Dubai many times before and that day's transfer was uneventful. No one had any problems with a 16 year old travelling unaccompanied, though one person at the gate before boarding my second flight from Dubai to Perth asked in a questioning voice if I was by myself. I said I was and he just checked me onto the plane without wanting any evidence that I had permission from my parents or that I was being ... read more

After going around the Safari Walk, the taxi then picked us up at the time we had already arranged, and took us back to the hotel where we had a late lunch and picked up our bags. We had arranged for a safari minibus to pick us up at 3:30 to take us on a final few hours of safari in Nairobi National Park. It came nice and promptly, so we headed off slightly early. As we were driving down the driveway of the hotel, the guide suddenly pointed out a small snake in the bush by the side of the road which was a baby Green Mamba (probably Eastern based on distribution). It soon disappeared out of sight into the bush, however it was a very cool thing to see, and I’m pleased we saw ... read more

The next day was the final day of the package safari that we had booked (however we had one further day in Nairobi) so we got up at a reasonable time, and after breakfast went to Lake Nakuru National Park. First though we drove through the small city of Nakuru itself which was surprisingly nice with cycle paths and lots of jacaranda trees in bloom that lined the roads. There were also many Pied Crows, Sacred Ibis, and Hadada Ibis about. When we reached Nakuru National Park, the area around the entrance was surprisingly much less green compared to the Maasai Mara. In these dry areas, there were quite a few common mammals including Zebras and Impalas, and one particularly interesting bird sighting early on was a Long-crested Eagle perched in a tree. There were also ... read more

The Maasai Mara was the only place in my trip that I stayed in for two consecutive nights, so I had a full day of safari in between, and I decided to get up a bit earlier that morning to try and see some birds on the camp before heading off. I was up a little before sunrise, and it was very nice to hear the morning chorus of birds with species such as African Paradise Flycatchers, Common Bulbuls and Red-winged Starlings being common. However I did see one very nice new species – several White-winged Widowbirds. There was also a long line of my post on the ‘big year’ thread in which I list the species I saw in the Maasai Mara (as well as Naivasha and Nakuru). Additionally, there are of course more pictures ... read more

I set my alarm for just after sunrise on the morning of the 8th so that I could get out early and do some more birding on the grounds of my hotel before the safari vehicle came that was due to pick us up at 11. I decided to head down the front driveway of the hotel, which was surrounded by thick vegetation, and is where I had seen quite a few birds already. I saw many interesting year birds, and I soon got quite a few lifers, including two species of ‘Warbler’ which turned out to be a whole new family for me – Cisticolidae – of which I saw six species by the end of the trip, and my first African Paradise Flycatcher (which ended up being fairly common). I also spent some time ... read more