Samburu National Reserve

My second visitor from the States arrived the other week!  Gordy flew into Nairobi on April 22nd, and we wasted little time starting our Kenyan adventure.  Early Friday morning we were picked up by our safari guide, Sam, who drove us 5+ hours to Samburu Nation Park.  Several hours north of Mount Kenya, Samburu is located in a very hot and arid part of the country. 
 

We've now entered camel country!

Preparing to enter Samburu National Preserve!



Gordy with Sam, our safari guide.

The Uaso Nyiro River runs through the Samburu National Reserve, and it attracts much wildlife especially during the dry season. Our home for the next few days was Elephant Bedroom Camp, located on the banks of the Uaso Nyiro River and  perfect for viewing the local elephants!

Great elephant viewing seats.

View from the elephant viewing seats!

View of the river from inside our tent.

Our accommodations - pretty nice!



The dining and lounging area.

A monkey wandering through the camp.

 

True to the camps name, elephants passed through day and night!

"Obama" the elephant.



Elephant footprint right by our tent!



Maria, an Oryx raised by the camp.  She's definitely not shy and makes sure not to miss a meal at Elephant Bedroom!

 Samburu National Reserve is home to a number of rare species such as the Grevy’s zebra, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and the beisa oryx - referred to collectively as the Samburu Five.  We spotted all but the Somali ostrich, who are known to hide in the hills during the wet season.  Lions, leopards and cheetahs are also found in the reserve, including a lioness named Kamunyak who adopted a baby oryx (the baby oryx has since been killed by other lions). 

Giraffe bones

Vulture guinea fowl

Orxy and antelopes

A beautiful afternoon in the reserve.

A Samburu lion.

Reticulated giraffe - notice how the distincitve pattern stops at its knees.

A cheetah!

An eagle

Grevy's zebra - its stripes are very narrow and close together
but do not go all the way around (see the white belly).

The tree ornaments are actually bird nests!

Although Samburu is a lesser-known game park, and animals can be more difficult to spot than in the Masai Mara, this also means that there are fewer people (and cars) driving around trying to spot the animals.  We felt like we had the place to ourselves much of the time. 

At one point we were following a sprinting giraffe - I wish I had a photo or video to post, but you'll just have to trust me when I say it was an amazing experience! 

Mom and baby giraffe (note the head poking out on the right side of the picture) - our guide said the baby was probably only a week old!

Because Elephant Bedroom is a small camp (with only 12 tents), they were able to provide a few unique experiences such as a bush breakfast and a sundowner in the reserve. 

 
Approaching the bush breakfast after our morning game drive.  Morning game drives usually start around 6:30 and end by 9, before it gets too hot and the wildlife hide from view (and the midday heat). 

Bush breakfast buffet.

Of course Maria made sure not to miss out on the bush breakfast. 
She took a slice of toast right off of my plate!

  While on safari, the middle of the day is spent relaxing, napping, and enjoying lunch, as most of the wildlife is hiding from the midday sun. Around 4pm it's time to go on the second game drive of the day.  Following one of the afternoon game drives, we were treated to a sundowner in the bush, which meant cocktails and hors doeuvres among  the animals!

The sundowner in the bush.

Enjoying a sundowner cocktail .

 After three days in the bush, it was time to head back to Nairobi and explore another part of the country.

View of Mount Kenya on the drive back to Nairobi.