Samburu National Park

Samburu is the north: drier air, red earth, and animals you will not see on a typical Mara or Amboseli circuit. It is a longer day from Aberdare Corridor, best started at dawn, and worth every kilometre of the road.

The reserve is famous for the Samburu Special Five — species adapted to arid country and rarely found together elsewhere in Kenya. Reticulated giraffe wear a clean geometric coat. Grevy’s zebra, the largest and most endangered of the zebras, show narrow stripes and round ears. Beisa oryx stand in the heat as if carved from the plains. Gerenuk browse on hind legs among the thorn. Somali ostrich pick their way across the open ground.

Through it all runs the Ewaso Nyiro, the river that keeps the reserve alive in the dry months. Elephant herds come down to drink and bathe. Crocodiles and hippo hold the pools. Along the banks you may find leopard, and in the wider ecosystem, wild dog. More than 450 bird species have been recorded.

Samburu is managed with neighbouring Buffalo Springs and a ring of community conservancies. A day here is a different Kenya from the forested Aberdares outside our door — which is exactly why guests ask us to go. We recommend it as a full-day outing with an early departure, a long game drive, and a late return. Stay two nights at Aberdare Corridor and give this day the space it deserves.