Focus on Ecoguides: Joseph Aengwo
February 2026 - Kenya (our third Fam tour visit)
I’ve always wanted to talk more about the eco-guides — about the people who quietly dedicate their lives to it.
We often celebrate destinations. We photograph landscapes. Tick species off our lists. But we rarely pause to acknowledge the individuals whose deep knowledge, lived experience and interpretation abilities make wildlife tourism and nature promotion possible.
This is one of those stories.
On a recent FAM trip to Lake Baringo in Kenya, I had the privilege of meeting someone who embodies what true "eco-guiding-with-a-local" is all about: Joseph Aengwo, one of the famous bird guides who began at Baringo but has developed a company, now guiding nearly everywhere in East Africa.
Joseph is a prominent and highly experienced ornithological guide from Lake Baringo. And when I say experienced, I don’t just mean he knows bird names. I mean he understands birds really deeply and their environment too— how the Rift Valley breathes, how the seasons shift, how bird calls change with the light.
Born and raised on the shores of Lake Baringo — a true birding haven in the heart of the Rift Valley — this landscape is not just his workplace. It’s his boyhood wonderland, memory, culture, heritage.
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| This was one of our top birding targets at Baringo, the Northern Carmine Bee-Eater. Tick at the Baringo Lake causeway to the Tumbili Cliffs! |
Professionally, Joseph is formally trained in tourism and wildlife management from Moi University. He is also a bronze badge member of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association — a credential that reflects both skill and commitment to guiding standards in Kenya. But what truly sets him apart isn’t the certification. It’s the way he guides.
There’s a quiet confidence in how he organizes guiding. A patience in how he adjusts to the clients/guests. A generosity in how he shares stories — not just about species, but about conservation, community, and the life-forces that keeps Lake Baringo thriving.
Joe also has been active in conservation and he knows the situation of the lake ecosystems very well. Also, he has a great sense of humour...our man in Baringo!
He told us there are now about 20 boys (and a one or two girls) involved locally in nature conservation actions, and some of them are active in in ecoguiding as well; most of them beginners. We met two of them who had staked-out owls and other cryptic birds for Joe. Joe is still associated with the Lake Baringo Biodiversity Conservation Group (LBBCG) formed in 2008, a non-profit local environmental group that plays a role striving to protect this place. The group aims to promote community awareness on environmental conservation and protection of key species sites and habitats, also encouraging community participation. Its all very low-key, very informal. We saw very few tourists.
Now all these pics may bring to mind a wonderful beautifully managed and manocured National Park. But this is not to be in Baringo! The situation here is not protected, its not a fortress park or any such park. And there are problems. Things are rapidly changing and there are also issues of serious poverty. The lake waters have risen substantially in the last few years, displacing people, flooding wildlife habitat and ruining agricultural areas, drowning villages. Between before 2009 and late 2020, Lake Baringo’s water level rose by approximately 9.5 meters (from about 972 m to around 981.5 m above sea level) — a dramatic rise over roughly a decade.
This situation is unusual, but it is also seen in Lake's Bogoria and Naivasha, also to a lesser extent at Lake Nakuru.
The main hypothesized causes based on current understanding point to:
🌧️ Chagnes in Rainfall patterns (more intense rain) and catchment changes (vegetation change; increased run-off). These are currently the most strongly supported explanations for the main driver of the recent water level rise.
🌍 Geological forces - unknown. The lake’s tectonic context matters for its hydrology, but there is no definitive evidence that plate movement is the main cause of the contemporary lake level rise.
🧠 Some discussions about underground fault-seepage changes exist, but they remain hypotheses rather than confirmed causes.
Also, despite this serious and unresolved problem of the lake waters, the area has a strong wildlife - human population conflict too. Large mammals are scarce. Poaching is rampant and displaced peoples have settled in difficult conditons. Overgrazing is also a serious problem.
So, in this case, organized ecotourism may support and promote solutions to these big problems, big landscape scale measures are needed for conservation. Of course, since we work in science of this sort, we also would promote science-led initiatives to deal with such serious issues. This place is too important to neglect!
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| Rhinos and Giraffes and other mega-mammals once roamed below these hills onthe shores of the lake, now there is nothing like that. Poaching is a problem. This beautiful and huge landscape is not protected and there are serious problems. |
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| Joe with one of the best Birders in Bulgaria, my good friend Tihomir Stefanov. This is the causeway to the Tumbili Cliffs- amazing place for birding and fish-watching. |
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| The endemic Baringo Tilapia - Oreochromis (niloticus) baringoensis. |
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| This amazing semi-desert, arid land beauty. And full of birds. |
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| Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxii), used be known simply as Black Eagle when I was a kid. Rare bird indeed. |
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| One of the most captivating places for birds are the famous Baringo cliffs. |
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| Looking accros the lake to the islands; a short rain-shower blessing the landscapes. |
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Rising waters of Lake Baringo, looking north, from the causeway near Tumbili Cliff Lodge.
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| The location of Lake Baringo in the East African Rift Valley. A critical problem is the water level rise. Maps from: Herrnegger M et al. Paleohydrology repeating? Regional hydrological change may lead to an overflow and cross-mixing of an alkaline and a freshwater lake in East Africa. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 2024 Oct 1;55:101951. |
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| Joseph Aengwo |
Have a look at Joe's website at: https://kenya-birding.com/
email: joe.aengwo@gmail.com
Also, we thank our good friend DERRICK MURIUKI GICHIMU who rents out the best cars for any Safari. Derrick is one of our best friends in Nairobi and he knows Kenya. Find Derrick at: muriukidgichimu@gmail.com or at: Kompact safaris Kenya car hire | budget friendly Kenya car hire/ self drive 4x4 Nairobi
