Samburu Kenya

This arid northern area offers a wealth of animals, good game viewing, and a highly contrasting landscape with intimidating hills, mountains and majestic elephants. Samburu is remote, off the main tourist route and offers great cultural interaction and experiences.

Samburu National Reserve lies 200 miles north of Nairobi on the hot and arid fringes of the vast northern region of Kenya. The Reserve is within the lands of the colorful Samburu people, close relatives of the Maasai, and home to a number of wildlife species rarely found elsewhere in Kenya. These include the Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, gerenuk, and Beisa oryx, which are found only north of the equator.

The dramatic landscape is blanketed by the hot equatorial sun for most of the year. Relief comes from the cool waters of the Uaso Nyiro River, which rises to the west on the foothills of the Aberdares and vanishes beyond Samburu in the soggy expanse known as the Lorian swamp. The scenery in Samburu is magnificent and the birdlife awesome.