Samburu, Buffalo Springs,Shaba National Reserves and Marsabit National Park

Samburu, Buffalo Springs & Shaba National Reserves

All these three Reserves offer unique vistas of rounded and rugged hills and undulating plains. The mix of wood and grassland with riverine forest and swamp is home to a wide variety of animal and birdlife. Game viewing and visibility is excellent. Game includes the following animals unique to this area  and only found north of the equator includes: Reticulated giraffe, Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, gerenuk. Other animals include elephant, oryx, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena. One stunning event took place here in January 2002, in a radical departure from its instincts, a lioness protected a baby oryx, which it would ordinarily have killed for a meal, escorting it around the Samburu wildlife reserve. Unfortunately the oryx fell prey to another lion and was killed. The same lioness adopted another baby oryx a few days later, however the Kenya Wildlife Society had to intervene as the oryx was too weak to survive and they separated the couple…. is this the end or will the tale continue?

The forests along the river banks in these three reserves are home to many birds, including local species such as the Palm Nut Vulture and the Vinaceous Dove. These forests are also home to many Leopards, often seen at dusk. Lions are also frequently seen on the riverbanks, and Cheetah can be found on the open plains. On rare occasion, packs of African Hunting Dogs are sighted passing through the reserve. Shaba National Reserve, known as the “Born Free” country is a semi desert reserve, and was made famous by Joy Adamson and her lioness Elsa. The park is also notable for its hotsprings. Shaba was where Joy Adamson, author of Born Free spent her final years, returning a leopard to the wild. This was the subject of her final book ‘The Queen of Shaba’’. The Samburu culture is outstanding and a truly fascinating one, sharing a great deal of ancient ancestral and linguistic ties to the Maasai.

Area-(Samburu): 104 square kilometres
Area-(Buffalo Springs): 131 square kilometres
Area-(Shaba): 145 square kilometers
By Road : 5 hours from Nairobi
By Air: Daily Nairobi/Samburu/Nairobi . Safari link and Air Kenya.(Charter Flights on request)

Marsabit National Park

The Marsabit National park lies in northern Kenya, about 560km north of Nairobi in Marsabit district. The park comprises of densely forested mountain and three crater lakes that are the only permanent surface of water in the region and that provide habitat for a variety of birdlife. Major wildlife attractions include the African elephant, the endangered Grevy’s zebra, lion, leopard, buffalo, bushbuck, large herds of greater and lesser kudus, common zebra, Grant’s gazelle and many other small antelopes. The park is famous for its elephant named Ahmed that was provided with 24hr security surveillance by presidential decree in the 70’s, to demonstrate Kenya’s commitment to wildlife conservation.

Major attractions includes: Elephants, buffalo, greater Kudu, hyena, Grevy’s zebra, Kirk’s dik-dik, reticulated giraffe, lion, leopard and baboon.