My First Photos Out of Africa: Kenya Arrival
OK, so maybe you were expecting an elephant, zebra herd or a pack of hyenas ripping apart my luggage. We only just arrived and the only wildlife we’ve really seen so far was the traffic jam from the airport to our friend Charlie’s house here in Nairobi. That was pretty wicked, however. Charlie has a place in a gated community of Nairobi sitting on three acres of beautiful landscaping with tons of flowers. Practicing with the long lens which I haven’t used in some time, I captured these beauties in the backyard.
We booked our first safari with Kairi Tours and today depart for Amboseli National Park for three days, passing through the Rift Valley along the way. Then we continue on to Lake Nakuru for a rhino sanctuary and then to the magnificent Masai Mara before returning to Nairobi for an overnight break. Then on to the next. But leave that for next week. Then the coast, we hope. I’ll try to blog what I can, when I can. But even right now intermittent power outages are making me crazy. Crazier. Whatever.
See some of my other photos and blogs from safari.
Go to the main site of The Mad Traveler for an Amboseli photo gallery and more!
(Read/see more about our Kenya safari accommodations.)
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You got to love how you can see such beautiful birds in the backyard. Nice shots.
helloo! I hope you keep writing your blog. Like we say here, Karibu Kenya.
Thanks! I’m loving the park system!
wooow that’s amazing. What a pretty colour! Yes I’ve expected elephants.. but it’s okay.
🙂
They are gorgeous! I wasn’t expecting such beautifully colored birds either! 🙂
Thanks, folks! The backyard was just a hint of what was to come. Juno, you’ll get your elephants for sure. 🙂 The colors even of the African starlings make me want to take photos over and over. North American starlings are sort of throw away birds, no? These are so blue and flash different vivid colors as the sun hits them. So cool! A bird gallery is coming…
The birds look beautiful. Nice work!
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Kevin, where did you take that yellow bird? Were you in Gabon, Africa? There’s a youtube which has the same bird and he said he didn’t know what that bird is either!
https://youtu.be/8tvSoGIzbEE?t=18
Hi Leana,
Thanks for asking — otherwise I may never have gone back and looked this one up! This was in Nairobi, Kenya, in a friend’s backyard. I googled a bit just now and it looks similar to the southern yellow weaver, but the mask is wrong and the black cap too. Finally I think I found it: Baglafecht (also called Stullmann’s) weaver. Looking at your video I went down the rabbit hole to find out that there are MANY different weavers that look quite similar. I think yours is a pair of black-necked weavers, of the western African variety (the olive green back and light-colored eyes). Very similar to the spectacled weaver. Here are two links. The photos are not much help, but read the descriptions and the difference is the extra reddish/chestnut color on yours and a thicker bill. How very cool!
https://ebird.org/species/blnwea1
https://ebird.org/species/spewea1