Colette's Grand Detour

Day 13 (10th August 2025)

I kept track of all the animals we have seen over the last 2 weeks travelling through Kenya and Tanzania and bar a few missing birds that I didn’t get a chance to write down, I estimate we saw around 80 species. We got the big 5 and the ugly 5, and 1 of the small 5. But we also saw a huge number of birds species of all shapes, sizes, colors and behaviours. Below is a selection of photos of my favourite birds of the trip. They are not in any particular order as I found it too hard to pick a favourite and they all had something unique about them.

The Korey Bustard is the heaviest flying bird in Africa. A male can weigh up to 20kg and when you see them up close you really get a sense of their size. We spotted these in the Serengeti and had the chance to watch one looking for invertebrates in the grassland, pecking along the ground. On our way out of the Serengeti we saw a huge number of them in the open grasslands. It is the national bird of Tanzania so I am glad we got to see it.

The Secretary bird is quite large and distinctive looking, so easy to spot from a distance. We saw these in both the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti. They have long legs, an eagle-like head and dramatic black crest feathers. They are endangered and have a declining population due to habitat loss from farming and urban spread. What I liked most about these birds is the origin of their name. They stomp their feet on their prey, apparently like a secretary tapping away on a typewriter!

The Grey-crowned Crane is one of the most elegant birds we saw on safari. They have a striking golden feathery crown of stiff bristles on top of their head. They like wetlands and swampy areas and we saw these in Lake Nakuru in Kenya and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. They always stay in pairs which provides great photo opportunities. And we were lucky enough to see an entire flock of 100’s together in Ngorongoro Crater. It is the national bird of Uganda and can be seen on their national flag.

The Lilac-breaster roller is a showstopper bird because of its vivid rainbow coloured feathering. It is the national bird of Kenya and we saw it quite a few times in both Kenya and Tanzania. It’s quite a small bird, but easy to spot with its bright lilac breast feathers and looks even more magnificent when it flies away and opens up its full wingspan to show a stripe of electric blue feathers along its wings. Unfortunately I never managed to get a good photo of one up close.

We spotted one of Africa’s tallest waterbirds on our full day safari in the Serengeti. It has striking facial features that make it look like it is wearing a golden visor over its eyes. I really liked this bird – it looked like it had been transported from the future.

We saw so many other birds so I will put a few pictures below of other great shots I managed to get.