SAMBURU, AFRICA

Safari

On the way to the Samburu Game Reserve we stopped for lunch at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club where we had ample time before lunch to wander the lovely landscaped grounds. There was a small zoo on the grounds but we chose to bird watch the many birds flying around. Some of them were very big.

Lunch at the club was suburb. We ate in the main dining room where a buffet was being served. Again very English and elegant with tux-clad waiters with white arm napkins.

            After lunch we stopped at the equator to watch a demonstration of water going down a drain, clockwise on one side and counter clockwise on the other side. Fascinating!

            Samburu is noted not only for elephant, leopard, and lion, but also for species of  wildlife seldom seen elsewhere---Grevy zebra, reticulated giraffe, Beisa oryx, and gerenuk, (giraffe- necked antelope).

            The Samburu tribe, related to the Masai, speaks the same language, and  have the same customs. Their area is located in the arid desert of the Rift Valley. The general area is called Somali-land by the locals because of the Somali bandits that roam there. Going through a security check point was a little unsettling. At this point we noticed a subtle change in our driver. After all, what could be more attractive than a van full of tourists with cameras and money. However, we trusted our driver’s instincts and abilities and had been assured that safety was the top priority.

Late afternoon one day my son and I walked to the edge of the grounds to check out the river and saw a huge crocodile sunning himself at the river's edge. We actually spotted several other crocodiles in the water. The Lodge fed them each day. My son got a little too close to the wire fence and suddenly jumped back. “Damn, that fence is electric.”

            “I guess that is about as close as you’re going to get to the water. A telephoto lens should do well though,” I replied.

This is Born Free country and we were hoping to see Elsa, but instead on our first safari run we spotted a beautiful male lion.

One afternoon returning from our game viewing  our driver suddenly became extra alert and suddenly swung off the road onto a dirt road. He had spotted a stalled truck ahead of us. This is a typical Somali Bandit ploy.  Fortunately he knew the back roads back to the lodge and all went well without incident. That was really our only apprehensive moment on the entire trip.

            We saw many animals---many I had never seen---on game runs in Samburu.

Lake Nakuru is home to over a million flamingos. They were everywhere and there were always some flying overhead. The large lake is  quite shallow. Wild life along the shore was abundant. Here we saw the Rothschild giraffe in its natural habitat.

At Lake Naivasha we took a boat ride to see hippos. The papyrus-lined lake is one of Kenya’s most beautiful fresh water lakes. There were also many species of birds around and on the lake, including the beautiful and rare fish eagle. 

Each area offered us different animals and experiences. A camera safari is perhaps the ultimate vacation especially for a nature and animal lover.