And so the trip begins...  We spent most of the first day in Nairobi National Park, a tiny park right on the outskirts of huge, bustling Nairobi.  Despite its small size and proximity to the city, it has a large concentration of game (big and small), and prolific birdlife.  The following day we drove to the western side of Mount Kenya, where we stayed at the Castle Forest Lodge for two nights.  Along the way, we stopped at a site west of Mt Kenya where it is easy to see Hinde's Babbler, one of Kenya's relatively few endemic bird species.  On Mt Kenya, we mainly searched for mountain/forest birds, enjoying such nice beauties and specialties as Tacazze Sunbird, Black-fronted Bushshrike, Abbott's Starling, Grey-headed Nigrita, Brown-capped Weaver, Giant Kingfisher, Nanyuki Babbler (leaving to the north of Mt. Kenya), Black-headed Waxbill, and lots of sunbirds, apalises, warblers, and more.  This was a cool/cold opening to the trip.  After Mt. Kenya, we descended in altitude to Samburu Game Reserve and the deserts of Kenya's "Northern Frontier".  To see photos from Nairobi National Park and Mt Kenya, scroll down; to see the next stop (Samburu), click here.