Nairobi Park - Eland, Crocodile & Plovers

5th October, Nairobi National Park

We got an early start to the day by getting into the park by 7a.m. We spent over 8 hours there and were rewarded with a rich game viewing experience. One target was to explore the uncommon areas of the park, and we searched the park map for places we hadn't visited before. At 117 square kilometers in area, there are many such places! It turned out that there was a game count going on that day, so there was lots of human activity in the park as well.

We started with the Hyena Dam, a small pond ringed with tall reeds, and always a great place to view birds. Our first sighting was a flock of long tailed cormorant perched in a nearby acacia tree. We saw common moorhen, malachite kingfisher, African jacana, blacksmith plover, crowned plover, 3-banded plover and black crake.

Long tailed Cormorant

Blacksmith Plover

Crowned Plover

After an hour of tranquil bird-watching we moved on to the open plains in the central part of the park. Here we saw wilderbeest, zebra and a flock of vultures at a zebra carcass - probably a lion kill. There were at least three species of vulture there, including a Nubian (lappet faced) vulture. We were also lucky to witness the majestic sight of a solitary secretary bird stalking through the tall grass.

Wilderbeest

Secretary bird

We spent some time at the Hippo Pools, a picnic site-cum nature trail along the banks of the Athi River, and took a short stroll along the river banks escorted by a park ranger. Highlights here included a pair of Egyptian geese, a green-backed heron (a first for us!) and a noisy flock of Fischer's lovebirds. We saw several giraffe browsing at a distance - easy to spot due to their height and size!

Egyptian geese

Green-backed heron

The Rhino Circuit in the S. Eastern part of the park was one area we hadn't visited before. The circuit comprises a track through dense bush and acacia trees. At one point the track reaches the steep banks of the Athi River, which forms the park's southern boundary. This is a very tranquil place - you feel truly at one with nature here.

Rhino Circuit river bank

On an acacia tree by the river bank we saw a troop of vervet monkeys playing and grooming each other - they seemed to be quite at home and are probably resident in the area.

Vervet monkeys

From the Rhino Circuit we drove east to the Athi Basin dam, a largish water body near the eastern spur of the park. We saw many species of birds and animals there, including crocodile, zebra, impala, spoonbill, sacred ibis, black-headed heron and marabou stork, among others. The wildlife is abundant here!

Nile crocodile

Common zebra

As we left the dam we came across a broken-down tour van with two foreign tourists and a local driver, who asked us to ferry his passengers back to the main gate - we dutifully obliged of course. One of the tourists, and American gent named Russ, showed me pictures of black rhino he had taken on his camera only a short while before, along the same route we had followed -we had just missed them!

Later, as we drove along the middle plains area on the return leg of our drive, we spotted a herd of Eland and a black-shouldered kite. It was a good way to end the game drive...

Eland

I'm looking forward to the next visit. Soon...

-Ends-