Destination Overview
The bigger Kikuyu Escarpment Forest, which spans an area of 37,620 hectares, includes the Gatamaiyu Forest ( 376.2 square kilometers). Kikuyu Escarpment Forest is made up of several other forest blocks, including Kereita, Uplands, Kinale, Kamae, Kieni, Raggia, and Kijabe. Gatamaiyu Forest spans 4,720 hectares (or 47.2 square kilometers), of which 75% is native forest, 8% is exotic forest, and the remaining 12% is bamboo, scrubland, and some lush.
While the weather in the forest is quite comfortable and the tour will involve walking along the well-maintained nature trails inside the forest, birding is primarily done while relying on bird sounds, and as a result, patience is highly recommended. A day birding in Gatamaiyu forest requires an early rise in order to beat the traffic in Nairobi. The drive takes 45 to an hour. It's best to wear comfortable hiking shoes. Also, bring insect repellent because deer flies in the forest have painful bites during the months of February and April. Moreover, a rain jacket is advised because the weather in the forest might change suddenly. Gatamaiyu woodland birding tours are offered daily throughout the year at a leisurely pace that is ideal for any age group. Birdwatching begins as you exit the Nakuru-Naivasha highway; look for African Stonechats perched in bushes alongside the road, Cape Crows feeding on the roadside, Augur Buzzards soaring high in the clear blue sky, and feisty duets of Hunter's Cisticola on the picturesque tea plantations along the newly tarmacked road to the forest. Golden-winged Sunbirds can be seen on Lion's flowers, Black Sawwing/Roughwings can be seen flying low and catching insects, and White-eyed Slaty Flycatchers can be seen perched on fencing poles.
The Tacazze, Malachite, Eastern and Northern Double-collared, Variable, Golden-winged, Olive, Collared, Bronze, Scarlet-chested, Amethyst, and Green-headed Sunbirds are just a few of the twelve species of sunbirds that may be found in the Gatamaiyu Forest. With roughly 138 species of birds documented in and around the forest, of which 31 are forest specialists and 20 are regarded as rare, Gatamaiyu Forest is one of Kenya's Important Biodiversity Areas (KBA). The Gatamaiyu woodland is home to about 39 of Kenya's 67 Afrotropical Highlands Biome bird species. The Abbott's Starling, the smallest starling with a declining habitat in a few evergreen forests in Kenya and Tanzania, calls the forest home. It is a species that is considered to be internationally vulnerable.
