Kenyan Safari Holiday including Mara, Tsavo & Arabuko Sokoke Trip Report – Royle Safaris
A Kenya safari holiday and mammal watching trip report including safaris in the Masai Mara Nature Reserve, Tsavo East & Tsavo West National Park and Arabuko Sokoke Forest National Park with a whooping 68 species of mammals seen; highlights including the Big Five, White-fronted Hedgehog, Hirola, Desert Warthog, Somali Dwarf Mongoose, Southern Tree Hyrax, Harvey’s Duiker, Kenyan Coastal Dwarf Galago, Giant Golden Rumped Elephant Shrew, Zanj Sun Squirrel, Sundevall’s Roundleaf Bat, Tana Gazelle and many many more.
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roylesafaris
I did think about the Ishaqbini Conservancy however it was too much of a risk with the clients whom I took on this particular trip. I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of finding desert warthog and relative ease of finding Somali dwarf mongoose in Etosha East but the Hirola did require some work and 2 days dedicated to looking for them as they had moved away from their main area.
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Venkat Sankar
Yeah, driving to the reserve by road from Malindi can be risky from time to time; you have to monitor the situation on the ground carefully. The reserve is almost always safe to visit, but the area surrounding it less so.
When I went 2 years ago, I shared a plane with a couple of guys from Northern Rangelands Trust-Coast who were traveling out there; that’s the only foolproof way to travel there. As an FYI, the trip is very expensive. That said, the place has amazing wildlife–I’d love to camp there someday.
That’s interesting about the dwarf mongoose in Tsavo… I still need to see it. Any info on how hard the Sokoke Dog Mongoose is to find in Arabuko-Sokoke NP?
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Venkat Sankar
What a great species list! I still need to say many of those…
If you go back to the area in the future, be sure to visit Ishaqbini Conservancy. The security situation in the area is sometimes a little sketchy, but it’s one of the best places in Kenya for mammals. It’s the only conservation area for Hirola in its natural range and they are very easy to see. Also Desert Warthog, Lesser Kudu, Reticulated Giraffe, Coastal Topi, and Tana River Red Colobus are common and easily observed. Tana River Mangabey, Haggard’s Oribi, Harvey’s Duiker, Kenya Coast Galago, Caracal, Lion, Cheetah, and African Wild Dog are also present, but harder to find (I only saw the Mangabeys in the day I spent there).