Day 1
Pick up at the Kilimanjaro airport and transported to the place of lodging. If times allow, we will do a little birding in the area around our house (350 species recorded on the estate). There is an option to be picked up at Dar es Salaam as well. Then the trip will end at Kilimanjaro airport near Arusha. Fast Jet has cheap flights back to Dar es Salaam for connecting flights.
Day 2
Go to the Lark Plains (60 km from our house) and look for the very endemic Beesley´s Lark. Other good larks to be found include Short-tailed Lark and Athi Short-toed Lark. After we finish at the plains, we will bird a nearby woodland for species like Southern Grosbeak Canary, Red-throated Tit, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Kenya Rufous Sparrow, White-bellied Canary, Banded Parisoma, Red-fronted Warbler, White-headed Mousebird, Foxy Lark and many more. We return to our house for the night.
Day 3
We have a very early start and head for Tarangire (2 hours in car). We do a safari in the park and look for some of the following birds: Yellow-collared Lovebird, Blue-capped Cordonbleu, Ashy Starling, Hildebrandt´s Starling, Eastern Chanting Goshawk, Purple Grenadier, Crimson-rumped Waxbill, African Grey Woodpecker, White-bellied Bustard, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Red-bellied Parrot and many more. We have lunch in the park and return to Arusha at night.
Day 4
This will be the longest day in the car (about 400 km). We will travel all the way to Amani forest in the East Usambara Mountains known for their endemic species. We stay in a camp at night and if we are real lucky, we will hear/see the Elusive Usambara Eagle-Owl.
Day 5
Full day birding in Amani Forest. Some of our target species will be: Red-tailed Ant-Thrush, Little Greenbul, Banded Green Sunbird, Moustached Tinkerbird, Short-tailed Batis, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird and many more.
Day 6
Full day birding in Amani Forest. We have 2 target birds for the day: Kretschmer´s Longbill and Long-billed Forest Warbler. We will be leaving camp early in the morning, drive for about half an hour to the site for these two endemic species. Afternoon birding around camp.
Day 7
We pack the car and do the morning birding downhill from camp. We are looking for species like Mombasa Woodpecker, Usambara Hyolitha, Little Yellow Flycatcher, Yellow-streaked and Placid Greenbul plus many more. After morning birding we start our drive towards West Usambara. We will reach our camp in Magamba Forest in the afternoon. We will camp for 2 nights here.
Day 8
We wake up early in the morning and start to hunt for the endless numbers of good birds in this forest. Usambara Thrush, Weaver, Double-collared Sunbird, Akalat and Greenbul are only 5 of the many mega birds to be had here.
Day 9
Full day in Magamba Forest West Usambara. For those who are very very patient, you might be able to lure out some bird we hear all the time, but are very hard to see such as Fülleborn´s Boubou, Evergreen Forest Warbler and Spot-throat
Day 10
We will pack up camp early in the morning and drive down to the bottom of the forest and bird our way up. This forest have many surprises yet to yield, so stay tuned. After morning birding we drive to the Same area. We will bird the area in the afternoon
Day 11
Today we will explore some dry area north west of Same. Rufous Chatterer, Abyssinian White-eye, White-headed Mousebird, Northern Brownbul, Pringle´s Puffback, Bare-eyed Thrush, Somali Bunting and Pygmy Batis are some of the birds we will be searching for
Day 12
We will travel up to the South Pare Mountains in the morning and look for the endemic South Pare White-eye. We will see plenty of other birds as well. On the way down we will bird a little at the base of the mountain. Afternoon will be spent a little east of Same, where we can find birds like Tsavo, Hunter and Black-bellied Sunbirds, Fisher´s Starling, Spotted Morning Thrush, Eastern Black-headed Batis, Straw-tailed Whydah etc.
Day 13
We will pack the car in the morning and bird the area around Same in the morning. Where we bird will depend on what we have missed from the area. After morning birding, we will drive back to Arusha (200 km) where we will arrive in the late afternoon.
Day 14
This day we will dedicate to Arusha National Park. There are a number of interesting species to be found here including Bar-tailed Trogon, Taveta Weaver, Hartlaub´s Turaco, Scaly Spurfowl, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Spot-flanked Barbet, Montane White-eye, Rüppel´s Robin-Chat to name a few.
Day 15
Time for departure. Morning birding if time will allow and then off to Kilimanjaro airport for departure.
Extension Pemba Island
This trip can be extended with a 3 day trip to Pemba Island for the 4 Pemba endemics. Please contact us for pricing and details
Included in the price: All transport, lodging, food, water, park fees and guide fees.
Not included: Flights and alcoholic beverages.
