“Just like during all of the trip, the logistics went off flawlessly. Thank you very much for your good organization and guiding, and for involving additional excellent guides like Willy Tiren and Albert Baya. We got basically all of the targets species from our “cleanup” list that could be gotten at this time of the year. And the Golden-rumped Sengi was another, non-avian, highlight of the trip. Seeing more than 500 species of birds in a 16-day trip that did not even involve the Mara or Kakamega ecosystems, nor the duck-and-heron palette of wetlands, was quite an experience.” A birding couple from Germany, December-January,2024.
“What happens when you contact Joseph Aengwo …… ?
From our initial correspondence with Joseph to arriving in Nairobi through to saying goodbye at Watamu it was a real pleasure.
Joseph was an excellent organiser and communicator making for an excellent 8-day birding itinerary taking in Nairobi/Mount Kenya/Aberdares/ Tsavo East & West, Taiti Hill and Ngunduni Lodge.
From the outset Joseph guided us as to what would be feasible to do and achieve having been sent a list of bird species we particularly wanted to encounter.
He has an exceptional ornithological knowledge and the ability to ‘home in’ on one’s ‘target species’. His ‘in the field’ skills were second to none! His ears were some of the sharpest we have experienced and his persistence to put us on to a bird never waned.
The logistics also worked exceptionally well with the safe driving skills of Geoffrey and all the planning Joseph undertakes.
Although our main focus was on birds a huge bonus for us was when Joseph found a Painted Dog pack in full hunting mode, an iconic African predator which had always eluded us on our previous trips to the Continent.
Thank you again Joseph and Geoffrey.” Lyn and Barry (UK),October,2023.
“We visited Kenya the first two weeks of October 2022. Joseph Aengwo guided us during that period. He provided us with a hassle-free journey, had selected the lodges to our specific requirements, and arranged a very good and safe driver. Joseph proved to be the perfect host for a field trip through Kenya.
Joseph has an awesome ability to spot and identify birds. He found endemics Williams’s Lark, Sharpe’s Longclaw and Hinde’s Babbler for us. Although it was strictly a birding trip, as a welcome aside Joseph also found the Big Five plus cheetah, honey-badger and many more for us. We whole-heartedly recommend Joseph.”
Mr.Frans Buiter and Mrs.Marianne Roskott,Netherlands.October 2022.
“Coming from afar, full of expectations, spending much less time birding than I would have liked to. A thin edge between success and disappointment ! Thankfully, I had Joseph on my side. With his deep knowledge of Kenyan birds and his astonishing sharp eye, Joseph made sure to keep me on the desired side of that thin edge – the successful one ! His very good knowledge on mammals was a bonus for me, as well as his ability to make himself a very pleasant companion along the way. Asante, Joseph !.”
Florin Chirila, Bucharest, Romania.August 2022.
“A big “thank you” for the best bird guide we can imagine!it was great fun observing birds with you,learning all the funny names,creeping through bushes and shrubs to find even the tiniest of birds………
We were so happy to have you at our side.All the very best”.
Belinda, Jochen and Birgit, Germany.September 2021
“My wife and I, along with two friends, spent three weeks with Joseph traveling to many of Kenya’s best birding spots. The tour was expertly organized and went well throughout due to Joe’s efforts. It was a wonderful introduction to the varied scenery, birds, and habitats of Kenya. Our focus was on endemics and this tour didn’t disappoint. Overall we tallied over 600 species of birds.
Joe is an expert guide and knows the birds and sites well. He was professional, attended to our needs, friendly and fun to be with. We would recommend a tour with Joe to our friends, and wouldn’t hesitate in joining him again for another adventure in Kenya.”
Bob Steele, October 2019, California, USA
“What an amazing trip we had – I loved every single moment of it. Thanks for showing me some of the best birds of Kenya – and of course they are Psittaciformes ! 🙂”.
Agnes Coenen, July 2019, Belgium.
“During my worldwide Big Year of birding in 2015, Joseph Aengwo was an invaluable guide and friend in Kenya. He knows his birds and he knows his people. Joe’s professionalism, easy-going nature, and expert knowledge of birds and other animals made my Kenyan adventure run smoothly. He took care of a host of details and always made sure that we saw plenty of birds!!!.”
Noah Strycker ,
2015 Big Year Record Breaker.
Oregon, USA.
“I got in touch with Silent Fliers and Joseph Aengwo via the Internet as I started planning my birding trip to Kenya. From the beginning I was impressed by Joseph’ quick responses to my emails and accurate answers to my questions. As we moved forward Joseph provided a very good itinerary to which I agreed. So on 22nd of May 2017 I arrived in Nairobi and was met at the airport by Joseph and Enock. They proved to be an excellent team and indeed very pleasant company throughout the entire trip. It is worth mentioning that Enock is a highly skilled driver and I always felt perfectly secure no matter if we were on the highway or off road. Over 10 days we visited a number of Kenya’s birding hotspots and compiled a list of 400+ speices. Joseph is exceptional, when it comes to identifying birds no matter if it is high soaring raptors or one of the many similar looking cisticolas. In addition he has significant knowledge about birds, habitat and conservation, which enables him to give supplementary interesting information and to put things into a broader context. When guiding Joseph manage to combine professionalism with a nice relaxed atmosphere and I truly enjoyed every moment of the trip. I give Silent Fliers my warmest recommendations and I will recommend it to anyone who plan to go birding in Kenya. This was in May, 2017”.
Jens Toettrup,
Denmark.
Living in Bangkok, Thailand.
“My wife and I are serious birders and have traveled together throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia for almost twenty-five years. We had the pleasure of birding in southern Kenya with Joseph Aengwo in February 2017, during our first visit to the country. We have worked with many different guides over the years, and we can say without hesitation that Joe is one of the best we have ever gone afield with.
Joe knows his species; we visited a variety of habitats, seeing and hearing an incredible variety of birds; I make a point of recording calls and songs of new birds and then later checking against recordings from xeno-canto.org in order to verify the identifications myself – and Joe was always correct in his IDs. He showed a lot of patience in helping to spot difficult birds, and devised an itinerary for us that got us a significant number of lifers.
We were especially grateful to have Joe as our guide because he adapted very quickly to our unique situation – we arrived in Nairobi from Mumbai, and the airline had misplaced out luggage, which included our binoculars. Joe kindly lent us his as well as a backup pair for the two days that we had to wait for our bags. He also went out of his way to work with the airlines and the hotel in order to help expedite the process of getting our gear back as fast as possible.
Joe gets our highest recommendation. We plan to see more of Kenya with him at a later date, as well as have him guide our soon-to-be adult children when they have an opportunity to get to Africa”.
Dr. Michel Hurben and Claire Strohmeyer.
Bloomington, Mennesota.
USA.
“Our group of six joined a fully guided 10 days nature tour of Kenya in early June 2016, with focus on bird photography. Joseph was our guide and the itinery was proposed by him. He is a soft spoken polite guy and speaks very good English so there was no problem in communication. We had a wonderful time and Joseph was very knowledgeable with regards to the avian life of Kenya.
The pace of the tour suited us very well as we were interested in photography. We love Samburu National Reserve and Lake Baringo very much. We were very satisfied with the guide as well as the accomodation which were excellent. The only shortcoming was probably we spent too little time at Mount Kenya so we did not experience a lot of montane forest birding”.
Dr. Chan Kai Soon,
Consultant Pathologist,
Ipoh, Perak.
Malaysia.
“Otto and I had a great time at Baringo. We enjoyed Tumbili lodge – comfortable, good food and service and a great view of the lake. Thank you for recommending Joseph as a guide – he was SO good – very knowledgeable, professional and enjoyable to be with. His knowledge of the birds in the area was amazing, even Otto was impressed! We did not go to Bogoria in the end, after hearing reports that the water was so high that one could not drive near the flamingoes and the new make shift road was very rough. It did not make sense to spend $120 for that. Joseph arranged for a landcruiser in good condition and a safe driver, Samuel. Thanks for your good recommendation. We like to support Kenyans who are really knowledgeable and committed to conservation.
Best wishes and good luck with your future.“
Slyvia Anderson-Moller, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kenya Birding 