Butterfly Day

Wednesday 12th November 2025. Although the main focus of this African adventure is birds, there are many other forms of wildlife worthy of attention. Birding in the forest today was a little slow, some of the targets simply wouldn’t show, others afforded brief glimpses before merging back into the thick tangle of luxuriant growth. That’s ok, there is always something to take delight in and so we thought we would focus on the many colourful butterflies that flutter around in the dappled sunlight and have a Butterfly Day.

In a particular patch of open gravel by a small bridge many butterflies congregated, sipping water from puddles and taking up minerals from the track. There were scores of Chief Butterflies decorating the scene, flying up an-masse whenever a vehicle or pedestrian interrupted their feed.

Just over the bridge from where an African Pygmy Kingfisher peeped out at us, we saw another brightly coloured butterfly feeding on juices secreted from a dead turtle. Butterflies really do take sustenance from the most bizarre sources, with animal poo being a star attraction on their menu. Nothing gets wasted in nature it seems.

Enamoured with the diversity of these rather lovely insects, we proceeded to go about finding as many as we could along the edges of the forest. I haven’t been able to put names to them all, but their beauty speaks for itself I think.

As the sun lowered later this afternoon, we walked through the forest looking for a Red Glider, a butterfly species of spectacular colour. Sadly we didn’t manage to find one, but did find some Foresters soaking up the heat from the golden light of the final hour of day.

As I write, it is now full dark at the Rondo Retreat in Kakamega Forest; the final evening of a 4 night stay that has been nothing short of wonderful. Yes, it has been tiring, there have certainly been some early starts, the heat has been draining and despite smothering myself in insect repellent I’ve still managed to attract several bites from those pesky mosquitoes although never felt or saw one of them. I can’t say the same about the Safari Ant that crawled up my leg and delivered a painful bite around my left kneecap. ‘Watch out for the ants’ said our guide, ‘Ouch!’ Was my reply. ‘They have no poison’ I was assured as I flapped around making sure the swine wasn’t about to take another chunk out of my leg. We treated the lines of scurrying insects with great respect after that.

It is so quiet here with the distant sound of the cascading stream running through the steeply wooded slope that borders the immaculately kept gardens and the chirping of crickets the only sound. The heavens are dotted with millions of stars whose visibility is unhindered by any kind of light pollution, the nearest town being miles away. I’m sitting on the veranda of our comfy little bungalow reflecting on a packed episode of birding, butterfly watching, soaking up the friendliness of the Kenyan people and wallowing in the sumptuous and best tasting meals we’ve ever been served. I could easily live here ….as long as the chef stays!

Our driver and guide for this element of the trip have been superb. The driver will stay with us for the next week as we travel north, but we have parted company with the local guide, Job, who has delivered an impressive list of birds. Stay tuned.

For more posts in this series and for other wildlife blogs click here.