For a while now, I've wanted to do something a little off the well-worn, expat path, and have a more authentic African adventure. I found out some time ago that wild bird hunting is still allowed in Kenya and, being a part-time bird hunter myself, I thought this would be perfect. However, despite the Kenyan government's claims of promoting bird hunting as another tourist venture, it its very difficult to actually find an outfitter that does it (I came to find out later that its the Kenyan government that actually gets in the way of that). After many internet searches and several email inquiries, I booked a trip for myself and a couple of guys from the Embassy for a weekend shoot with Kenya Bird Hunters, an outfitter located in the Laikipia region of Kenya, known as the White Highlands, just north of Mt. Kenya.
After several emails back and forth with Josh, one of Kenya Bird Hunters owners, and several emails back and forth with guys who wanted to go, five of us met at our house early Sunday morning to load up and take the four hour trip north to the Josh's ranch. Unfortunately, as we were loading the truck, two of the guys got called into work for the rest of the day, so our hunting party was cut down to three: me, Mark, and Brian. Despite the unplanned roster change, we set out and had a nice drive up to Laikikpia.
Once we reached the town of Rumiruki, we traveled approximately 26kms on what I can safely say is the worst road I've ever driven on in Kenya. How I didn't blow out a tire is a mystery, but we made the entire 26kms in about 60 mins and reached Josh's ranch, Ol Maisor, and the camp ground.
We were greeted by Josh and Johnny, the two owners, at the camp, where they had our tents set up and lunch waiting for us. The campsite was great--just what I had hoped for--and we had a nice lunch and about one hour to get cleaned up and our stuff put away before heading out for an afternoon hunt. We loaded up the land cruiser and set out.
The ranch is huge--approximately 30,000 acres--and borders several other ranches that are around the same size. Brian was the only one of us that was successful that first day, shooting a nice size guinea fowl, though it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying by the rest of us. Just being outside in the elements and around the animals was good enough for me. We chased birds well after the sun went down, the air cooling considerable, before heading back to camp for a great meal and some drinks around the fire. Unbeknownst to all of us, Mark and Brian were both USNA grads and spent the night reminiscing about the Academy, most of which is not re-publishable on a family blog such as this.
We woke up early on Sunday, grabbed coffee and some muffins, and headed out on a long morning hunt. This proved much more lucrative than the previous evening, with all of us bagging one guinea and me getting one yellow-knecked spur fowl. There was a lot more running and maneuvering in this hunt than I'm use to back in the States and frankly, I rather enjoyed it. We passed several elephants on the way back, as well some Zebra, Hartebeest, Gazelles, and Giraffes.
Returning to camp, we had a nice brunch, our Kenya guides cleaned our birds for us, and we pack up the truck to return to Nairobi.
This was a fantastic trip, easy to do from Nairobi, and fit all the criteria of price, amenities, and fun that I'd had when booking it. I cannot sing Josh and Johnny and the Kenya Bird Hunters praises enough for organizing such a nice and professional hunt. I hope to make it back there at least once before we leave Kenya for good. I certainly left enough birds behind.
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