3-Day Samburu Special Five
Three days built around Samburu's dry-country specialities, the animals rarely seen on the southern circuit, along the Ewaso Ng'iro river.
Samburu National Reserve
A dry, northern reserve along the Ewaso Ng'iro river, home to species you won't find on the southern safari circuit, from Grevy's zebra to gerenuk.
Overview
Samburu National Reserve sits north of the equator, on the southern bank of the Ewaso Ng'iro river. The country here is semi-arid, doum palm and acacia scrub rather than open grassland, and the river is the reason anything lives here at all: nearly every animal in the reserve is within a short walk of its banks at some point in the day.
This dry country produces its own set of wildlife, sometimes called the Special Five: Grevy's zebra, with narrower stripes and bigger ears than the plains zebra further south; reticulated giraffe, patterned in sharp, tile-like blocks; Beisa oryx; gerenuk, a long-necked antelope that browses standing on its hind legs; and Somali ostrich, with distinctive blue-grey legs.
Samburu is quieter than the southern reserves, with far fewer vehicles at a sighting, and is usually paired with the neighbouring Buffalo Springs and Shaba reserves as part of a wider northern circuit.
Wildlife highlights
- Grevy's zebra
- Reticulated giraffe
- Beisa oryx
- Gerenuk
- Somali ostrich
- Elephant
Best time to visit
June through October and January through March are driest and best for game along the river; the short rains from November green the country up again.
Getting there
Scheduled flights from Nairobi reach Samburu's airstrips in about an hour. By road, the drive north via Nanyuki and Isiolo takes five to six hours.
My northern frontier circuit went through Saruni Kalama and Sarara Camp, out in the Mathews Range, community-conservancy country rather than a fenced reserve. It runs on its own rhythm, with its own specialities: gerenuk, Grevy's zebra, animals you don't find further south.
Safaris that visit Samburu
4-Day Samburu & Ol Pejeta
Pairs two days in Samburu's dry-country specialities with two days at Ol Pejeta, the region's rhino sanctuary, on one northern loop.
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