BARINGO

BEHOLD! 

The great Baringo, with the mighty Goliath Heron stalking its shallows. 

The fish of Baringo are not safe from the Goliath

Let me tell you a tale, until now undocumented, but a most memorable one with the most admirable company. It is a tale of three birders - and a very special adventure indeed.

Baringo is located in the northern Rift Valley, and it hosts an interesting mix between a southern and a northern suite of Rift Valley specialties - but the greatest aspect of Baringo is not a bird - but a human. His name is Wilson Tiren.

Some say he was abandoned as a child, and raised in the bush by Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse. Some say he is a desert shaman that can summon Heuglin's Coursers at his whim. Goat meat and Stoney are his fuel, birds his quest.

Wilson and Martha

The leader of our ornithological pilgrimage to this remote outpost was Martha Mutiso, a birder and adventurer of the highest caliber.

Our quest began in Nairobi, where finding each other was a quest in of itself. We then found a bus bound for Nakuru, where we needed to board a matatu bound for Bogoria, and from where we squished into a car that was heading for Baringo. When we arrived it was quite dark, and we were tired. But Wilson had already ordered for us nyama choma (roasted goat meat) and we had a great feast, while we discussed the important matter of tomorrow's bird list.

During the night, the birding had already begun. Awoken in our tent by a Verreaux's Eagle-owl, one of the most badass owls in the world. We spot-lit one right above us while it attempted to evict a nearby intruder.  Shining the light across the camp, I was rather shocked to see a couple of hippos trying to "discreetly" slip back into the lake, but of course they are hippos and one of nature's least discreet beasts. Then we spot-lit a crocodile guarding her nest in a nearby ditch, a ditch I needed to cross to get to my tent!

The badass Verreaux Eagle-owl

In the morning, the birding turned UP! Little did I know that Wilson already had the roosts of 5 owl species in his back pocket. A man of few words, he kept these a secret, letting his birding skills do the talking. We quickly rounded up Pearl-spotted Owlet, followed by a cryptic African Scops Owl. Then on to the Heuglin's Courser, and then the White-faced Scops Owl. This last species was the trickiest. He said they roost in one of three groves, and the first two were empty. But in the the third spot, there they were. Not only them, but also a savannah monitor. As I followed the monitor, I also came across a snake, a puff adder. This was getting INTENSE!!!

Pearl-spotted Owlet

African Scops-owl

White-faced Scops-owl

Heuglin's Coursers

We then moved on to quest for yet another owl. By the way, when Wilson takes you birding, he rarely says what you're looking for. "Do you see anything?" he would ask, and you would look up into the trees, and there would be a Spotted Eagle-owl*! Wilson!
*Now called Greyish Eagle Owl.

Now all this desert questing had worked up a powerful thirst and none of us had brought any water (me cause I'm me, them cause Kenyans seem to be much hardier than wazungus). Anyway, I was really feeling the heat as one of those sudden desert rainstorms descended upon us. Hallelujah! Except my water bottle had only a tiny spout, so I couldn't collect the raindrops very easily. We sheltered under nearby shack and drank raindrops from the corrugated metal roof as the heavens disgorged their bounty on this parched land.

With renewed spirits we strode back onto the plain, and found something very special lying cryptically on the ground - a Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse: pure magic! Sandgrouse are specially adapted for surviving in deserts. They make a daily migration to a water hole, and can soak water in their breast feathers to bring back to their young. Instead of capturing water droplets in my bottle Les Stroud style, I would have been better off picking up that Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse and dunking it in a puddle, then sucking the bird dry.

Spotted (greyish) Eagle-owl

Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse: an expert in desert survival, unlike me. 

To celebrate this epic day, we had a feast of deep-fried street fish before squeezing into another packed car bound for a ranch of some friends of Martha's in Mogotio, on the way back to Nairobi. This time the station wagon was so loaded with people, babies, sacks of maize and goats I swear there was 1 inch between the road and the bottom of the car because the shocks were shot. I was pretty impressed with how the driver negotiated the potholes.

Martha's friends all over the map include a great family in Mogotio which whom we lodged, and birded the crap out of their ranch. The adventures raged on, during a mid-night bike ride out to Sawaiti swamp. While blazing across a field, we terrorized a Senegal Thick-knee from the field while Slender-tailed Nightjars frolicked on the road. We made camp on a farm of friends of Martha. The next day, a breakfast of all-you-can-drink mursik (fermented milk in a gourd).

Mursik happy hour begins at dawn

 In the swamp, an African Water-rail had no chance when Wilson hucked a rock at its general direction, causing it to abandon its hideout in a frenzy.

Then we did the whole slug back to Nairobi. I got 50 lifers that weekend, which is about the same as I got on my first trip to Baringo! When I join Martha and Wilson again, our next trip will be even more epic I am sure.