Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba

Getting away from the noise, chaos, and crowded traffic of Nairobi and hitting the open road toward Isiolo Town is an exciting adventure that will show you what the Northern Kenya Game Reserves have to offer. Along the Thika Highway, you’ll pass run-down towns and markets, making the long drive more interesting. As you leave the towns behind and head into the farmlands, you can finally see the rough peaks of Mount Kenya. The road goes up past the Aberdares and into rural Kenya.

In Nanyuki, we stopped to get more coffee before going over the equator, which was marked by a sign on the side of the road. From Nanyuki on, the area gets much drier and less green. The only thing that makes it look more desert-like are the farming hothouses that stretch along the road and grow roses for Europe. Finally, we get to Isiolo, a very dusty town in the middle of nowhere with a big market, general stores, and banks.

When you drive through this small hub of activity, different cultures, clothes, and languages hit you like a ton of bricks. Before you know it, you’ve passed the town and are now headed to an area with few people.

As we hit the first game reserve, Buffalo Springs, we leave the paved road and find a well-kept murram road. There is a lot of heat, and the white murram road sparkles as we follow the Ewaso Nyiro River. Along the banks of the river, doum trees provide the elephants with a cool place to rest in the shade.

As we stop next to a group of Beisa Oryx, the wide fields spread out in front of us. Their fancy horns that look like scimitars and dune-colored hides blend in with the scenery. We go further into this mostly dry park until we reach the springs that give the area its name. Because of the cool water, the area is green, and the wildebeest and impalas can eat the rich plants.

It’s not very polite for reticulated giraffe to spread their front legs out in front of them so they can lean their long heads forward and drink the water, which is good for them. A lion walks slowly along the dusty road toward the water. The giraffes run away, and as he goes by, the bush gets still and nervous. He walks to the water with his head held high like a king, ignoring everyone else and quenching his thirst at the same time.

As we leave Buffalo Springs and head into the Kalama Community Conservancy, our game drive takes us past large areas of open grassland, which is a great place for cheetahs to live. The bridge over the Ewaso Nyiro River that connects Buffalo Springs and Samburu National Reserves has been washed away, so we go back to the paved road and drive past Archer’s Post, a very small northern frontier town. We then go into the Kalama Conservancy and spend the night at the luxurious Saruni Samburu Safari Camp.

The herder groups in northern Kenya are well known. There are Turkana, Borana, and Samburu people who live in and around game parks and conservancies. Even though each group is very different, they are all herders who love their cattle more than anything else. As we looked around the area, we saw people wearing a lot of different clothes and beautiful beading.

The next morning, we get up early and head straight from camp into Samburu National Reserve, following the river again because it is the heart of all the species in the area. Today we saw a gerenuk that looked very strange. It was standing on its hind legs and eating from the low branches of the acacias.

The gerenuk is called swala twiga in Swahili, which means “impala giraffe.” This name fits it perfectly. It looks like a cross between a small giraffe and an impala because it has a long neck, a small mouth, and short horns. On the wide fields, we see a family of Somali ostriches. The proud father is leading the young chicks as they graze on the bare ground.

The wildlife in these game areas in northern Kenya is huge, and there are lots of birds. When you look at the vulturine guineafowl, its bright blue feathers stand out even more against the soft white and brown background. These stark lands are filled with color thanks to birds like the superb starling and the Kenya violet-backed sunbird.

The next day, we go to Shaba National Reserve. Joy Adamson lived in this small reserve and sadly died while she was taking pictures of Penny’s release. She let the cat back into the wild after raising it by hand.

The roads in Shaba are made of volcanic ash. As you ride along these tracks, the scenery changes again. You can see the tectonic chaos from many years ago more clearly here. There are mostly hills, and the flat parts are bright white with fine sand and few plants. This reserve is incredibly stark and empty. As you drive along the rough road, you can feel the peace and quiet; you can almost feel like you’re the only one there.

When a Grevy’s zebra stands alone, he protects his area from other males and waits for females to pass by. This species is very fragile, as shown by the funny big ears that twitch on either side of his long, sad face. In a fragile forest glade with no leaves, the birds’ songs are like sweet music to my ears.

When we get to one of the many swamps, there are lots of buffalo munching happily on the green, juicy grass. I’m excited to see what I think is the flick of a tail in the long grass. When I look through my glasses, I see a leopard lying in the thorns and watching the baby buffalo.

Soon after the sun went down, we climbed Turkana Hill, which has a 360-degree view of the area. At the top, we had a unique experience because we could see Mount Kenya in the distance and look around us without seeing any signs of people living. What a beautiful sight.

It’s easy to see why the Shaba, Buffalo Springs, and Samburu game parks, along with the Kalama Conservancy, are so popular with tourists: their landscapes, views, and animal sightings are so different from the rest of Kenya and even from each other.

How to Get There

From Nairobi, it takes about six hours to drive there. It’s an interesting and educational way to see the country. Wilson Airport in Nairobi has planes to three airstrips every day, and sometimes twice a day. The regular flights also make it easy to get to other Kenyan game parks, such as Lewa Downs, Meru National Park, and the Masai Mara. This makes for a great trip where you can see a lot of different areas.