Samburu National Reserve is situated at the southeastern corner of Samburu District in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya bordering the Ewaso Nyiro River to the south of which the River separates it from the Buffalo Springs National Reserve which is situated to the opposite side.
Samburu national reserve is situated on an area covering 165 Km² and is located approximately 345Km from Nairobi (Kenya’s capital city).
Besides the numerous wildlife found in this game reserve, the park is also a bird haven and also consists of a spectacular landscape made up of savannah grasslands thus making your safari so great.
The Samburu people of Kenya are the most dominant people who have lived in the area for many years and during your cultural encounters you will get a great experience in meeting these people because they will perform for you many interesting things such as their local songs accompanied with dances all which look so colorful and making your safari of a lifetime.
During the performances you are also free to give a try to the dances of which it is more interesting than just viewing them and from that you will then get a very memorable safari because many photos and brief videos will be captured when you are experiencing a very special life.
The existence of Ewaso Nyiro River which cuts through this reserve attracts various wildlife species to the reserve. The river bustles with activity from its huge population of Nile crocodiles.
The reserve’s topography is mainly open savannah (grassland) with clusters of acacia trees, forest, thorn trees and grassland vegetation and most special with the reserve is that it was one of the two areas in which conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa (the Lioness). Their story was made famous by the best-selling book and award-winning movie “Born Free”.
The game reserve is renowned for its rare species of animals unique to the park, namely: the long necked gerenuks, Grevy’s zebras, reticulated giraffes and Oryx.
The elusive Kenya leopard is often known to visit the park especially in the evening hours. Other notable wildlife species in the Park include; cheetahs, lions, elephants, cape buffaloes, Impalas, water bucks, dik-dik, warthogs, Grant’s gazelles, Olive baboons and hippos.
More attractive in the Park is that it consists of two dormant Mountains (Mountain Ololokwe and Mountain Koitogor) and also offers views of Buffalo springs reserve which is situated to its opposite side and both reserves are just bisected by the Ewaso Nyiro River.
Over 350 bird species are resided in the reserve including vultures, kingfishers, Marabou storks, guinea fowl, ostriches and others.
Thus visitors to the reserve will get involved in many interesting activities such as game viewing, bird watching, game drives, and the Samburu cultural tours where you will visit the local Samburu villages and get a chance to interact with the colorful Samburu people in their traditional setting and experience their culture. This is also a good opportunity to purchase traditional Samburu souvenirs, art and collectibles.
Accommodations in the reserve include; Samburu Sopa Lodge, Elephant watch camp & safaris, Ashnil Samburu camp, Samburu Serena lodge, Samburu Game Lodge, Sarova Shaba, Samburu simba lodge, Samburu Intrepids Camp, and Larsens Tented Camp among others.