Category: Samburu & Ol Pejeta

Next, we stayed 2 nights in budget camp called Stables in the middle of private Ol Pejeta Conservancy (2.5 hour drive from Samburu, gate to gate), where we had lovely large cottage with bathroom plus simple freshly cooked food. We loved it. There was no discount accommodation for our guide and driver, so they stayed one night in Nanyuki and another at different camp. We had great views of Mt Kenya (The Mountain) from our camp, and morning and evening game drives. Ol Pejeta is famous for high number of rhinos and we saw many of them, including white southern rhino mother with big baby that wanted to drink milk, black rhino mother with baby and several other white and black rhinos. We visited, fed and patted Baraka, rescued blind black rhino, and chimpanzee sanctuary for animals rescued in other countries (there are no wild chimpanzees in Kenya) from illegal trade and abandoned pets. We saw many buffalos, elephants, reticulated giraffes, common zebras, defassa waterbuck, different antelopes, hartebeest, suni, black-backed jackals, baboons and vervet monkeys, Masai ostrich, crowned crane and many other birds. We went on night drive in conservancy jeep (night drives are possible only in private conservancies and not in national parks). In addition to some animals we saw earlier, we saw hundreds of rabbits and aardvark (ant/termite eater).

Giraffes at salt lick in Ol Pejeta

The first park we visited was Samburu where we spent 2 days/2 nights. We were picked-up on time, stopped at bank and grocery store to buy supplies where we found perfect snack: Wedel chocolate (the best Polish chocolate!), and were on the road quickly for 5.5 hour drive from Nairobi to the entrance of Samburu NP.  Samburu was our favorite park! We loved it. Varied and beautiful landscape with dry hills, termite and ant mounds, red soil, lush Evaso Nyiro (Ewaso Ng’iro) river, volcanic mountains in the distance, rare animals absent in other parks and not so many tourists. A lot of dust (true for all places we visited). We saw so many animals just on the way to our camp (Samburu Sentrim lodge) located at the end of the park far from the entrance. The lodge is on the river with plenty of birds and monkeys. We had lovely cottage (no hot water in the shower the first day) and open dining room was visited by vervet monkeys stealing sugar packets. Very few tourist. The staff was the nicest of all the lodges. Some other places had better amenities – this was our favorite. We had 2 afternoon and 2 morning game drives (it was hot midday). We saw beautiful Gravy’s zebras, common zebras, reticulated giraffes, oryxes, kudu, Somali ostrich and many other birds, many elephants, mating pair of lions, baboons and vervet monkeys, warthogs, impalas, Grant’s gazelles, dik-diks, gerenuks, common waterbucks, mongooses…

Ostrich, Samburu

Zebras, Samburu

Lion couple, Samburu

We were searching for leopard for hours, as Samburu is the best place to see them, but no luck. We were waiting under a tree that some people saw leopard climbing and Piotr saw it for a moment from distance among dense branches, but it didn’t come down before we had to leave. There were many goat and cattle herds grazing illegally inside the park, people fishing or even hunting crocodiles in the river (apparently for food). These activities scare most wildlife away. Unfortunately, unlike in Masai Mara, Samburu people are not engaged in tourist business and don’t benefit from it, so there is conflict of interest. Park management works to implement solutions that are successful in other places.