Shailesh Patel was born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya, where he has lived most of his life. He has Bronze certification from the Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association (KPSGA).
To add to his interest in wildlife and wide knowledge of local travel, he seriously began bird watching about 11 years ago when he first joined Nature Kenya birdwalks in 1996. He is a member of the Nature Kenya's Bird Committee.
Testimonial.
"I found myself in Nairobi in June 2007 on a business trip, with half a day at the end of the trip free for birding, before heading back to the airport. I had been to Nairobi and surrounds several times before, so had already seen many of the specials on offer in the area. With this in mind, I sent a specific list of target birds to Shailesh Kumar Patel to see what he could recommend. Shailesh suggested that many of my target birds could be seen along the Magadi Road area, so I arranged to have him guide me for the morning in that area.
Shailesh was punctual in picking me up from my hotel, and I soon discovered he was very knowledgeable of the local birds and wildlife. During the course of the morning I got to see many of my target birds, and managed 26 new birds in the morning, mainly due to the local knowledge and sharp eyes of Shailesh. I would recommend Shailesh to anyone wanting to go birding in the Nairobi area, he is very professional, while at the same time he has a very friendly and personable manner. As he is a very active birder in the area, he is also up to date on all the best spots for target birds."