Entering Samburu/Buffalo Springs Reserve, Kenya

  Over the past six days we have seen lions in Tsavo East, drank tuskers while watching big tuskers jostle at the watering hole in Tsavo West, laughed at the antics of sleepy cheetah in Amboseli, walked with zebra and dung beetles in the Swara Plains, and fed colobus monkeys in the Aberdare Mountains. And those are just a sample of the highlights. It also brings us to the midpoint of our safari. Which means we still have a lot left to see and experience! Next on the list is our northernmost park, Samburu National Reserve. This park is split into two by the Ewaso Nyiro river.

Samburu vista

Gerenuk antelope

Vulturine Guinea Fowl

  The ecosystem here in Samburu is very different than what we just experienced in Aberdare. We've traded lush waterfalls and dense foliage for arid plains, golden grass, and acacia trees of the African savanna. This ecosystem is the southern extent of some animals range, which gives us the opportunity to encounter some different species. Collectively known as the Samburu 5 these animals include the reticulated giraffe, the grevy zebra, the geranuk (or giraffelope), the beisa oryx, and the somali ostrich. The park also boats big cats, elephants, and a host of other fun creatures to try and look for.

Pattern of a reticulated giraffe

  This trip to Samburu seemed to be the during the year of the giraffe. We had so many wonderful encounters with these tall, lumbering animals here. Everyone agreed that the beautiful patterns on this subspecies of giraffe was the most beautiful of them all.

  It seemed like bigger groups of giraffes were hanging out here than what we saw at other parks. A group of moving giraffes is called a journey, while a group of stationary giraffes is called a tower. The group really got into this nomenclature and used it often for the rest of the trip. Samburu is now the new location of the biggest journey of giraffes I have ever seen...19!

  The warthogs continued to be a very popular sighting with this group. I thought Erica couldn't be any more excited about them, until we saw an entire family with tiny babies. I thought this was going to bring her to tears, especially when one of the little baby warthogs ran underneath its mom and started nursing. When something startled the warthogs they all would run off in a line with their wiry tails sticking straight up.

Rare and Endangered Grevy Zebra

  We ended up getting four of the Samburu five. The Somali ostrich eluded us. But I always say its good to leave something for next time. I was very excited that we encountered the grevy zebra, as it is by far the rarest of them all. This is the species that I grew up with on an island the Bronx Zoo used as place to breed endangered animals. They are quite striking with their all white underbellies and narrow dark black stripes. At this point in the trip everyone in the group could immediately recognize something different about the way these zebras looked compared to the many plains zebras we had been encountering up till now.

Everyone was excited to have 2 nights scheduled for this park. Find out what else we saw in the next installment...