Kenya post 2 – Day 18
Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three-week school trip to Kenya wedged between them. I had one day of birding at the beginning and end of my school trip to Kenya.
Day 18 – 5 August 2018
Our bird guide, Moses Kandie (kandyrop@yahoo.com) had guided us around Kenya in 2014. Funnily enough, I saw my 4,000th bird in the world with him on my first morning of birding in Kenya. It was good to see him again. He was a great guide, which was why we were birding with him again.
This morning Moses and my parents picked me up from the Nairobi YMCA at 7.30 am. It was sad to say goodbye to all my friends, having had a really great time in Kisii and Masai Mara getting to know the communities there.
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| Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Kisii, Kenya with Chew Valley School Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
We birded in Nairobi National Park, which is just on the outskirts of the city. It was strange looking out on the savannah and seeing skyscrapers in the background, but I really love it. This was the third time I had birded here.
The new bird for the morning was Striped Crake, which was a fantastic bonus. Moses had told us that he did not even have a reliable site for this.
We also saw a Saddlebilled Stork, which was new for this trip. A Black-backed Jackal did try it’s luck, but didn’t get far!
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| Saddlebilled Stork, Nairobi NP, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
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| Saddle-billed Stork, Nairobi NP, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
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| Lesser Swamp Warbler, Nairobi NP, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
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| Grey-crowned Cranes, Nairobi National Park, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
Trip list Kenya – 80
New birds Kenya – 4World List – 4835
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| Topi, Nairobi National Park, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
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| Giraffe, Nairobi National Park, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
We had seen the site where the government has burnt stashes of ivory in 2012. There had been another burning since we last visited, on 30 April 2016, with over 105 tons of ivory destroyed which amounted to the tusks of 6,000 elephants and worth 68 million pounds. I agree with them that any kind trade in ivory creates a market for it and leads to more poaching. We must stop governments around the world going back on this promise.
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| Ivory Burning Memorial, Nairobi National Park, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
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| Burnt ivory, Ivory Burning Memorial, Nairobi National Park, Kenya Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig |
We then went to Nairobi Airport for our evening flight to Madagascar. Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
About The Author
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.