DAY 1: NAIROBI/SAMBURU

We drive north out of Nairobi via Mount Kenya past the coffee plantations to the Samburu Game Reserve. This park is noted for its unusual wildlife including the Reticulated Giraffe, Gravy’s Zebra, Gerenuk and Somali Ostrich. A picnic lunch followed by a game drive will be provided en-route. Dinner will be served at the overnight camp or at your selected Samburu lodge.

DAY 2: SAMBURU

We will spend the whole day in the Game Reserve to include an early morning and late afternoon game drive, the best times to view the animals in their natural habitat. All meals will be served at the camp or at the Samburu lodge.

Samburu National Reserve lies 325 kilometers north of Nairobi in the hot and arid fringes of the arid northern region of Kenya. The Reserve is within the lands of the colorful Samburu people, close relatives of the Maasai, and boasts a number of wildlife species rarely found elsewhere. These include the Grevy zebra, the reticulated giraffe and the Beisa oryx all species found only north of the equator. The long-necked gerenuk is a graceful antelope, which spends much of its time in a bi-pedal stance seeking succulence among the withered scrub, which dots this harsh terrain. Other animals commonly seen are elephants, lions, cheetahs, gerenuks, buffalos, grants gazelles, dik diks and waterbucks. There are over 350 varieties of birds. These include the famous Somali Ostriches (distinguished by their unique purple/blue legs during mating season), kingfishers, humming birds, eagles, guinea fowls and vultures.

Scenically and faunally dramatic, for most of the year, Samburu National Reserve is under the unsympathetic equatorial sun. But relief comes from the wide swath of the Ewaso Nyiro River which flows for some hundreds of kilometres to the west on the foothills of the Aberdare ranges and which vanishes beyond Samburu in the recesses of the Lorian swamp. The river is at its best in the Reserve, broad and sluggish with a large population of crocodile seen on sandbanks at almost every bend.

In the lower reaches, where permanent pools have formed as a tributary joins the river, are hippos. The river is fringed with giant acacias, figs and doum palms all of which provide shade and sustenance to the wildlife, which comes to water here. Elephant roam the gaunt hills, which punctuate the scrubland and where occasional clusters of the vividly coloured desert rose challenge the arid surroundings. These elephant seek solace and contentment in the shallow waters of the river and from time to time a visitor finds herds bathing and drinking in a spectacle of unconscious pleasure.

DAY 3: SAMBURU/NAKURU

After breakfast we will take a further game drive before driving on past the northern tip of the Aberdare Mountains to descend into the Great Valley, Lake Nakuru is approached via the Thompson Falls. Meals will be provided from a simple but clean hotel which will also be our overnight stay other clients will dine and sleep at Lake nakuru lodge.

Lake Nakuru National Park was first gazette as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and upgraded to National Park status in 1968. A northern extension was added to the park in 1974 and the lake was designated as a Ramsar site. Lake Nakuru is world famous for its stunning flocks of lesser flamingo, which literally turn its shores pink. Its birdlife is world renowned: a beacon for leading ornithologists, scientists and wildlife film-makers. The park spans an attractive range of wooded and bush grassland around the lake offering wide ecological diversity, from lake water, woodland to the rocky escarpments and ridges.

Lake Nakuru Natio0nal Park rivals Amboseli as Kenya’s second-most-visited park. This is one of the best places in Kenya to see leopards, white rhinos and black rhinos and the endangered Rothschild Giraffe. Lake Nakuru National park’s most famous attraction is the flamingos that ring the lake in thousands.

Notable game within the lake includes hippo and clawless otters. On the shores roam waterbuck, Bohor’s Reedbuck and zebra. The woodlands and forest are now home to both black and white rhino. In 1987, only two black rhinos remained following the ravages of poaching. By creating a rhino sanctuary within the park and reintroducing a breeding herd from Laikipia, the K.W.S. has now successfully re-established rhino in the park. Lake Nakuru National Park is also a sanctuary to the endangered Rothschild Giraffe.

Game viewing is relatively easy: buffalo, leopard, lion, Rothschild’s giraffe, Black and White Colobus monkey are plentiful in the forest. The bushlands offer eland, steinbok, impala, Chandler’s reedbuck and dik dik, whilst rock hyrax and klipspringer occupy the cliffs and escarpment.

DAY 4: NAKURU/NAIROBI

Following breakfast at the simple hotel for campers or lodge we will have time for a game drive. Lunch will be served before we leave for Nairobi to arrive mid or late afternoon.