Kenya Wildlife Safaris Samburu & Buffalo Springs National Reserve
Up in the north of the country, in the hot, arid lowlands beneath Mount Kenya, Samburu National Reserve was set up in the late 1960s,a tract of country around the richest stretch of the Ewaso Ngiro(OR Uaso Ngiro) River. In this region, the combination of near-permanent water(the river usually stops flowing for a month or two around January) and forest shade on the banks draws plentiful wildlife in the dry season and maintains many of the less migratory species all the year round. While the wildlife spectacle doesn’t always match that of the southern parks, the peace and scenic beauty of Samburu is unquestionable and, in the kind of mood swing which only an equatorial region can produce, the contrast with the fertile farming country of the Highlands just a few dozen kilometers to the south couldn’t be more striking. In the background, the sharp hill of Koitogor rises in the middle of Samburu Reserve, making a useful reference point. And on the horizon, 30km to the north, looms the gaunt red block of Ol Olokwe Mountain. Buffalo Springs National Reserve, the continuation of Samburu on the south side of the river, and Shaba National Reserve, further upstream, are often treated as if they were just part of “Samburu”.But they remain distinct reserves, with their own entrance fees.
Isolated incidents of banditry still occur around Archers Post and on the roads into the reserves. Security is generally good, but if you’re driving yourself, it’s always worth having a chat with the police at the checkpoint just north of Isiolo.
Access To Samburu National Reserve
If you’re circling Mount Kenya, Samburu Reserve is close at hand, a couple of hours north of Nanyuki.Buses and matatus run down onto the hazy plain as far as Isiolo at the end of the tarmac. If you don’t have a car, waiting at the Isiolo police barrier will usually get you a lift into the reserve itself in a few hours, although there are one or two matatus which venture up to Archers Post.
If you’re driving, you may be required to wait at the police checkpoint for a convoy to form for the short continuation to the Ngare Mara Gate: you won’t wait long, as safari vans cover the stretch every day. Remember to fill up with fuel before leaving Isiolo, though Samburu Game Lodge usually has supplies ,sold at a twenty percent mark-up .There are scheduled air flights daily to Samburu Buffalo Springs airstrip from Nairobi, Wilson airport to Samburu Lodges to Masai Mara and flights from Nanyuki Via Samburu to Masai Mara. Note that the 24-hour fees chargeable in each reserve apply even if you’re only in transit from one to the other: If you enter, you pay.
Accommodation At Samburu National Reserve
There’s an increasing range of lodges and tented camps in Samburu –Buffalo Springs, though in recent years they’ve often seemed too many for the number of visitors. If you’re camping on a budget, the obvious place to base yourself is the campsite next to Samburu Game Lodge. It’s not wonderful, but you can use the lodges pool, bars and restaurant and if you don’t have a vehicle you may even manage to get a lift around the reserve. If not, you always have the option of booking yourself onto a morning or evening game drive on a lodge Land Cruiser. Note that baboons at the campsite here are beyond being an amusement; leave your tent and its contents under guard. The fact that baboons sometimes fall victim to crocodiles at the waters edge seems less distressing after you’ve been in the area a day or two.
Samburu has three other campsites on the north bank of the Ewaso Ngiro River, a few kilometers to the west of the bridge and park HQ. There are no facilities except at the furthest of these-Buffalo Special Campsites, which has toilets and showers.
There are public campsites in the Champagne Ridge area of Buffalo Springs Reserve, not far from the main gate, Ngare Mara.The camping area is a pretty one, among the acacias, and bounds with giraffe and other animals.
There’s also one so-called special campsite in Buffalo Springs-Kubi Panya, on the Maji ya Chumvi stream.
Lodges & Tented Camps Samburu National Reserve
Ashnil Samburu on the south bank, in Buffalo Springs reserve 12km from Ngare Mara Gate .Twenty –four rather small, low tented chalets, with hot, single-layer canvas roofs, mini-safes and floor-standing fans, but no nets. Generator electricity. Pool.
Buffalo Springs Simba Lodge Under construction in 2009 on the site of the old Buffalo Springs Tented Camp, this lodge looks like a Californian residential development and will offer seventy cool, high-ceilinged rooms, ranged along a flood meander of the Ewaso Ngiro, most with good views. Two pools and provides full board meal plan.
Elephant Bedroom Camp on the north bank, in Samburu reserve. Well-designed, beautifully furnished, light, airy tents (two doubles and ten twins.) Very appealing, designer bush living providing full board meal plan.
Elephant Watch Camp on the river, west of the reserves. Elephant specialist Oria Douglas-Hamilton’s camp on the sandy riverbank, with six superb, individually fitted-out and variously shaped tents, with massive nets, and rambling, open-air bathroom-shower –toilets (bucket showers).Three bronze guides. Closed April & November.
Larsen’s Tented Camp On the north bank, in Samburu reserve. Twenty tents, on a fenced plot, all facing the river .Tents have concrete floors, with fans but no nets, and sockets,minibars ,tea-making and safes. Electricity, supplied by a generator, is turned off at midnight.Theres a nice, open-air massage suite, looking across to Kitogor rather than the river, and theres a pool .Its all very comfortable and well –appointed but its slightly stuffy, and lacks soul.
Samburu Intrepid on the north bank, in Samburu reserve. Built on stilt. Platforms (for when the river floods), in a dense, riverside thicket, the pleasant, modestly sized tents here have good bathrooms and wooden floors. Double-sized family tents are also available. All tents are river-facing, and one is disabled-friendly .The fine, expansive, public deck areas reach over the river bank and are shot through with indigenous trees. Bronze guide, and children’s and teen’s activities clubs. Good pool and providing full board meal plan.
Samburu Game Lodge On the north bank, on a heavily wooded braod bends of the river near the reserve HQ. The oldest lodge in Samburu,this is very well sited, with great tree cover, rooms in blocks and thatched chalets, with nets and fans, close to the river, excellent views and no fence (the bank provides an adequate boundary along most of the river frontage). Still popular, but very tired, and in need of an overhaul. Nice pool with shades surrounds. Leopards are still baited and crocodiles fed daily and providing full board meal plan.
Samburu Serena Safari Lodge On the south bank, just outside Buffalo Springs reserve. This 62-room lodge is big, and feels it. Thee twins and doubles in sloping –roofed chalets are pretty, but quite small, with nets and fans, and bright, fresh shower rooms. There are eight larger rooms in a block. The river regularly floods, hence the dyke at the front, and there’s a pool above the river, near the crocodiles feeding point. Wi-Fi available and provides full board meal plan.
Saruni Samburu in the Kalama Conservancy, 8km north of Archers Post, then through a gate of the Kalama Conservancy on the highway, and 11km west. Unlike anywhere else in Samburu district, this sensuous rock and steel vision of an architect and designer,(another Cheli & Peacock property), clinging to a bare ,rocky north of Samburu,is completely beguiling: sit and gaze at Mount Kenya far to the south, swim in the pool, and recharge your spiritual batteries, tour packages for road and air are available.
Exploring Samburu-Buffalo Springs
Except during and immediately after the rains, scrubby bush country takes up most of the reserve district, but there are some large acacia thickets, especially in the eastern part of Buffalo Springs. The Springs themselves are a welcome target; two pools of clear if weedy water, the smaller of which has been sanitized with concrete for the benefit of swimmers and, most of the time, the exclusion of crocodiles (be sure to check before jumping in).The larger one is the water supply for Archers Post. While looking out for crocodiles, you should also beware of lions, which sometimes rest under the bushes by the neighbouring natural waterhole.
The dry country ecosystems are prone to large variations in animal populations as they move in search of water and grazing,which means that Samburus Wildlife can occasionally be disappointing .Some visitors,however,have tremendous luck and Samburu-Buffalo Springs can provide consistently excellent animal-watching. The best areas are often along the south side of the river Buffalo Springs Reserve, close to Samburu Lodge. Poaching wiped out the rhinos from here years ago, but lions are often seen.
Meanwhile, the locally burgeoning elephant herds have ruined some sections of the riverine forest. Various rare or more localized races and species compensate, though, and are often seen here in large numbers. Among these, the reticulated giraffe with its beautiful jigsaw marking, Grevys Zebra, the large, finely striped species that has a bushy mane and outsized ears, the Somali ostrich, which has blue rather than pink legs, and the gerenuk, the antelope that stands on its hind legs to reach foliage, are all common and conspicuous .Samburus birdlife is diverse and prolific and includes the marshal eagle, pygmy falcon, Egyptian goose and several species of hornbill.
Leopards At Samburu
Samburus leopards used to be a regular sight-at least from the terraces at the Serena and Samburu Game Lodges, both of which baited the trees on the opposite bank with haunches of meat every evening. Between drinks and dinner, guests got a floodlit view of the stealthy predator reduced to giant pussycat. The stampede for cameras never encouraged the leopards to stay long, so efforts were made to attach the meat firmly to the trees. It was all pathetically contrived (and forget worthwhile pictures or videos at that distance) ,and eventually opinion, and the reserve authorities, turned against the practice, especially when leopards took to patrolling the lodge paths in search of scraps, posing a serious danger to the hotels natural inhabitants. These days, Serena still baits regularly, with Samburu Game Lodge a less certain leopard-benefactor. The jury is still out on how bad the practice is (a habituated leopard may lose the skills and motivation to hunt) but if you don’t see leopards like this, it’s only with luck or dogged persistence that you will see one in the wild.
About the Author
Anthony Mmeri is the Editor and Tours Director at Wings Over Africa Safaris.
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