7th November 2014

Our trip started with a Kenya Airways flight from Heathrow on 6th November, arriving in Nairobi early in the morning followed by a brief stopover and an onward flight to Kilimanjaro airport. Birding started in Nairobi with Superb Starling seen as we left the plane and Little Swift and African Pied Wagtails from the coffee bar.

                                Superb Starling

We arrived in Kilimanjaro, where lots of Superb Starlings were around the airport buildings, and after a brief Ebola and Yellow Fever check we were on our way to our first stop, the Arumeru River Lodge. On the approach we saw our first Hamerkop and as we entered the hotel grounds several Kirk's Dik-diks, a tiny species

                                      Kirk's Dik-dik
                                      

of antelope, watched us drive past. We were allocated rooms, had some lunch and the birders in the group went for a walk in the hotel grounds with Zul, our Naturetrek guide. This being my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa pretty much everything was going to be a highlight but the sight of 2 Marabou Storks circling low over the hotel would take a lot of beating – what an iconic African bird. The only Hadada Ibis of the trip was hunting in the same patch of  grassland as 3 Hamerkops and as we watched them 2 Crowned Hornbill

                                      Hadada Ibis

flew into a nearby tree. Unfamiliar birds were everywhere and without Zul’s help I’d have identified only a fraction of them (that was to continue throughout the trip!). Black-headed Oriole, Brown-breasted Barbet and Red-billed Firefinch were all added to a growing list and our first Augur Buzzard flew over as we returned to the hotel. As we enjoyed a drink at the bar Collared and Amethyst Sunbirds fed from flowers just a few yards away. Dinner and bed were the perfect end to a near-perfect first day in Africa.