Capturing the Moment

  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 specie...

 Searching for the Samburu 5 Beisa Oryx Grevy Zebra     Here in Samburu National Reserve we find ourselves searching out not the Big 5, but the Samburu 5. These are five animals that you must come to Samburu to see. The change into desert arid ecosystem brings a shifts in species that a well trained eye can pick up on. The stripes of the zebra and a little different, the pattern of the giraffe as well, the legs of the ostrich look a little unusual, there is a unicorn in disguise, and finally an antelope standing on its hind legs with a long delicate neck that gives it the nickname, 'giraffe antelope.' These are the Samburu 5 and in order of description they are the Grevy Zebra, the Reticulated Giraffe, the Somali Ostrich, the Besia Oryx, and the Geranuk. Geranuk Hungry Reticulated Giraffe   As this is our most northern point of the trip we won't be seeing any of these species after heading South of the equator. The park is filled with all ki...