Kenya Herpetology Safari: 11 Days, 10 Nights

Our Kenya Herpetology Safari will start in Nairobi City. On arrival you will be met by our guide at the airport. You will then proceed to your hotel, crossing the city.

If time allows, this afternoon, we shall visit a local forest for some herping.

Night in Nairobi.

We shall depart early and head North to Mt. Kenya; where our Kenya Herpetology Safari Tour starts. We shall enjoy some roadside stops around local bushes and wetlands. Soon we shall arrive in Mt. Kenya where we shall scout several rivers and forest trails seeking local species.

Species to expect include Kinangop Dainty Frog/ Kinangop Caco, Lonnberg’s Dwarf Toad, Kerinyaga Toad, Mahnert’s Rocket Frog, Nutt’s River Frog, De Witte’s River Frog, Leopard/ Peter’s Reed Frog, Kenya Montane Reed Frog, Silver-bladdered Reed Frog, Bocage’s Tree Frog, Alpine Meadow Skink, Bayon’s Skink, Variable Skink, Kilimanjaro Five-toed Skink, Mt. Kenya/ Allen’s Alpine Meadow Lizard, Blue-headed Tree Agama, Kenya Red-headed Rock Agama, Mt. Kenya Bladeless Chameleon, Von Hohnel’s Chameleon, Mt. Kenya Side-striped Chameleon, Jackson’s Chameleon, Kenya Kenya/ Dickerson’s Forest Gecko, Mt. Kenya Dwarf Gecko, Kibonoto/ Mt. Kilimanjaro Forest Lizard, Battersby’s Green Snake, Mt. Kenya Bush Viper, Forest Wolf Snake, Kenya Striped Skaapsteker, Lineolated/ Lined Blind Snake, Montane Egg-eater, Common Slug-eater, Common Purple-glossed Snake, Kenya Montane Viper and Mt. Kenya/ Meru Tree Snake.

Nights in Mt. Kenya.

Our morning will be spent exploring the high altitude habitat of the iconic Aberdare Ranges. Aberdare National Park is one of the few places where one can drive into the moorland zone. This forms a great experience on all our Kenya Herpetology Safari Tours. We shall also visit some of the iconic waterfalls and their associate rivers. Designated walking areas will also be visited to search for more species.

We shall then make our way to the highland grasslands of the Kinangop Plateau. Here, we shall also scan local dams and rivers for highland species. In the evening, we shall enjoy frogging.

Here we shall be seeking species such as Kinangop Puddle Frog, De Witte’s River Frog, Kinangop Dainty Frog/Kinangop Caco, Mountain Reed Frog /Kenya Montane Reed Frog, Kerinyaga Toad, Kenya Montane Viper, Mt. Kenya/ Meru Tree Snake, Kenya Striped Skaapsteker, Montane Egg-eater, Forest Wolf Snake, East African Highland Grass Lizard, Aberdare Alpine Meadow Lizard, Alpine Meadow Skink, Aberdare Striped Alpine Chameleon/ Aberdare Mountains Dwarf Chameleon, Jackson’s Chameleon, Mt. Kenya Bladeless Chameleon and Von hohnel’s Chameleon.

Night in Kinangop.

Our morning will start with some further exploration of the Kinangop Plateau Grasslands. We shall visit sites that we may have missed the previous day.

Our Kenya Herpetology Safari will then continue to Lake Naivasha, a fresh water lake located in the Central Rift Valley. This is a high lake where low temperatures make it difficult for Nile Crocodiles to live here. However, other reptiles and amphibians enjoy the place.

We shall be looking for Elmenteita Rock Agama, Yellow-throated Plated Lizard, Flap-necked Chameleon, Montane Egg-eater, Egyptian Cobra, Brown House Snake, Jackson’s Centipede-eater, Battersby’s Green Snake, Mole Snake, Common Slug-eater, Northern Stripe-bellied Sand Snake, Puff Adder, Rhombic Night Adder, Kenya Horned Viper, South African Rock Python, Senegal Kassina, Cryptic Sand Frog, Nutt’s River Frog, Anchieta’s Rocket Frog, Snoring Puddle Frog, Natal Puddle Frog, Kenya Puddle Frog/Upland Puddle Frog, Nile Rocket Frog, Common Reed Frog and Garman’s Toad.

Night in Naivasha.

We shall then continue to the Kakamega Forest; a key site on our Kenya Herpetology Safari Tour. Adequate time will be spent exploring Kakamega forest, a remnant of the Guineo-Congolian Equatorial forest. Species diversity here is plenty and we shall hope to have a huge addition to our Kenya Herpetology Safari Tour list. We shall spend time walking in the forest in search of local specialties, with short breaks in between. In the evenings, we shall enjoy frogging.

Expected species include Kisolo Toad, Kakamega Puddle Frog, Osorio’s Leaf-folding Frog/Congo Spiny Reed Frog, Cinnamon-bellied Reed Frog, Lake Victoria Clawed Frog, Small Rocket Frog, Grassland/Striped Rocket Frog, Mackay’s Forest Tree Frog, Forest White-lipped Frog, Galam White-lipped Frog, Variable Burrowing Asp, Kakamega Agama, Gaboon Viper, Rough-scaled Bush Viper/Prickly Bush Viper, Gold’s Tree Cobra, Blanding’s Tree Snake, Powdered Tree Snake, Forest Cobra, Multi-scaled Forest Lizard, Jameson’s Mamba, Bell’s Hinged Tortoise, Rhinoceros Viper, Lichtenstein’s Forest Night Adder and Boulenger’s Pygmy Chameleon.

Nights in Kakamega.

This is a very interesting dryland habitat located at the edge of a fresh water lake. Many locally significant species occupy this area and we shall spend the time enjoying these and more. In the evenings, we shall enjoy frogging.

We shall be seeking species such as Red Spitting Cobra, South African Rock Python, Flowered Racer, North-East African Carpet Viper/ Saw-scaled Viper, Puff Adder, Rufous Beaked Snake, Ruppell’s Agama, Speckled Sand Snake, Kenya Dwarf Gecko, Great Plated Lizard, Nile Monitor Lizard, African Five-lined Skink, Tropical House Gecko, Flat-backed Toad, Common or Square-marked Toad or Egyptian Toad, Schilluk Rocket Frog, Gallmann’s Sand Frog, Red-banded Rubber Frog, Steindachner’s Toad and Eastern Groove-crowned Bullfrog.

Nights in Baringo.

We shall have the morning to explore more of Lake Baringo. We shall try some new sites seeking species we may have missed earlier on our Kenya Herpetology Safari Tour.

We shall then depart for Nairobi.

In the evening, we shall take an airport transfer for our flights home; marking the end to our lovely Kenya Herpetology Safari Tour.

Black-necked Spitting Cobra, Battersby’s Green Snake, North-East African Carpet Viper/ Saw-scaled Viper, Mt. Kenya/ Meru Tree Snake, Jackson’s Black Tree Snake, Puff Adder, Rhombic Night Adder, Gaboon Viper, Rough-scaled Bush Viper/Prickly Bush Viper, Kenya Horned Viper, African Rock Python, Mt. Kenya Bush Viper, Kenya Forest Gecko, Kenya Dwarf Gecko, Kibonoto Forest Lizard, Jackson’s Chameleon, Boulenger’s Pygmy Chameleon, Von Hohnel’s Chameleon, Nile Monitor Lizard, African Five-lined Skink, Alpine Meadow Skink, Kenya Red-headed Rock Agama, Elmenteita Rock Agama, Kakamega Agama, Yellow-throated Plated Lizard, Nile Crocodile, Helmeted/ Marsh Terrapin, Bell’s Hinged Tortoise

Northern Clawed Frog, Common Ornate Frog, Athi Reed Frog, Kerinyaga Toad, Kisolo Toad, Osorio’s Leaf-folding Frog/Congo Spiny Reed Frog, Silver-bladdered Reed Frog, Mountain Reed Frog /Kenya Montane Reed Frog, Kinangop Puddle Frog, Scheffler’s Puddle Frog, Kakamega Puddle Frog, De Witte’s River Frog, Kinangop Dainty Frog/Kinangop Caco, Senegal Kassina, Cryptic Sand Frog, Nutt’s River Frog, Anchieta’s Rocket Frog, Bocage’s Tree Frog, Eastern Groove-crowned Bullfrog

Savannah, Wetlands, Highland Forest, Dry Upland Forest, Alpine Moorland, Montane Grasslands, Equatorial Forest

Excellent

Mt. Kenya, the Great Rift Valley, Equatorial Forest walk, African Big Game mammals, Kenya’s Endemic species