After a few years of exploring different parks and touristic destinations across Kenya, I can confidently say that despite parks having closely the same type of wildlife, each national park/reserve is unique and magical on its own way and they all offer a completely distinct feeling of presence.

However, Samburu seems to amaze me totally. To start with, the drive there from Nairobi is just smooth and scenic with jaw dropping landscapes as you cross from one ecosystem to another. Enjoy a stopover at the equator point in Nanyuki before crossing north and enjoy a short demo from some locals on how to tell the difference between the north and south hemisphere. This is something you will not want to miss while exploring the north circuit. We were also lucky to view some part of Mt Kenya on our way- which is visible on a clear day. The drive there is quite long but you will enjoy every bit of it.

After about 6hrs of a scenic drive of driving, we arrived at Buffalo Springs reserve in Samburu, the atmosphere was already harsh and it felt like we were slowly baking. We entered to the park through a beautifully “zebra” painted gate after processing our park tickets. We enjoyed a short en-route game drive on our way to our camp-Ashnil Samburu Camp (https://ashnilhotels.com/samburu/)- located at the banks of Ewaso Nyiro river where we stayed for two nights exploring the scenic reserve. Ewaso Nyiro River runs through the reserve and provides year round water and greenery for the wildlife.

Buffalo Springs takes its name from the pools and springs of fresh clear water, which bubble in its midst, and act as a attraction to large congregations of wild life, especially during the dry season .The reserve is a rugged and semi-desert with vast scenic landscape include rolling grasslands, lava terraces, douma palms, forests, scrub brush, Ewaso Nyiro River and the unique springs. It also boasts with incredible flora and fauna including numerous wildlife, a bird haven, and an abundance in rare northern specialist species such as the Grevy Zebra, Somali Ostrich, Reticulated Giraffe, Gerenuk and the Beisa Oryx. It is also popular with a lot of elephants, large predators such as the Lion, Leopard and Cheetah which are an important attraction. Wild dog sightings are also a common attraction to this unique protected area, birdlife is abundant with over 450 species recorded. Other browsers of the thorny shrub include elands, both lesser and greater kudus, impalas, Bright’s gazelles (the pale northern species of Grant’s gazelle), warthogs and Kirk’s and Guenther’s dik-diks. Buffalo, leopard, cheetah and lion are also present.

On our last day, we visited the springs. These cool waters bring some green into the area, with lush vegetation providing food for the wildlife in the area. Interestingly, you can take a refreshing dip into the oasis of clear water – “natural swimming pool”- if you have the time. Later in the afternoon, we visited a close by Samburu village for cultural encounter with the Samburu tribe of Kenya, a tribe known for their remote culture, pastoral and nomadic way of life. This is another awesome experience you definitely don’t want to miss. First, the village elder who rules over the tribe welcomes you with a brief history of the Samburu and their way of life after which the Samburu women dressed in full traditional Samburu attire welcome you into the “boma” with one of their traditional folk songs and dances. After the welcome dance we took a tour of the boma- they live in groups of families in make shift villages. The Samburu’s hut resembles the Maasai’s hut called “Manyatta”. The huts are made of mud and dung supported using branches from trees. Their huts are surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes from the acacia tree and other types of thorny bushes. After the tour, we had a demo on how to put up fire by one of the Moran warriors- I have visited Maasai villages before but was done in the shortest time ever which was very impressive. The village doctor took us through some interesting natural herbs used as medication in the village. The experience culminated with combined songs and dances by the Samburu warriors and women. All I can say is “it was fascinating”