Westgate Conservancy, Samburu, Kenya
This morning we flew from Nairobi, Wilson Airport to Sasaab in the heart of Samburu County, Kenya. Below is the single engine airplane that we took off on our adventure in. It was a quick hour hop from Nairobi to Sasaab Airstrip past Mount Kenya and over the multitudes of tea and flower agricultural areas. SafariLink did an excellent job of getting us there.
Click on the images for a larger view!
After getting to the amazing Sasaab Camp we settled in and had a terrific lunch of salads and fried fish(yes, I ate some for the first time in close to 50 years!), the lunch as amazing and we were treated to different varieties of Hornbills outside of the open air dining area. After lunch it was off to our tent for some rest before our first game drive. During the afternoon we observed Samburu tribesmen watering their livestock in the Eywaso Nyiro river.
First Game Drive – 0.6312° N, 37.3505° E
It was only the first game drive and we were amazed by the diversity and beauty that surrounded us. Our fist encounter was a bashful Leopard Tortoise, we waited for him to move but he was very interested in something underneath the fallen log. Watched a troop of Baboons on the river bank, Baboons will alert if there are predatory animals nearby; however, these were just hanging out. Learned that they have those calluses on their bums so that they aren’t sitting on their tails all the time. Saw lots of birds, the one pictured below is a Lilac-breasted Roller. Drove around some more and went around a bush and there were ELEPHANTS! The last picture in the slide show is the moon rising over the herd.
Second Game Drive –0.58714 N, 37.59161° E
Woke up early to get a jump on the wildlife. Piled into our safari outfitted Land Cruiser with our driver Daniel, spotter Socoro and our guide and host Andrew Conway. Right off the bat we got a stupendous view of the sunrise on Mount Kenya! Most days are not this clear that you can see so clearly. The sunrise was spectacular as well. Ran into a flock of Vulturine guineafowl having breakfast. Saw a few Waterbuck grazing in the tall grass. Then came more elephants. a Kori bustard and an Oryx. The Oryx was quite far away, so I was glad to get a bit of a picture. The king then showed up, good morning Simba, all before breakfast!
After an exciting pre-breakfast drive, we stopped on the bank of the river. While our driver cooked us an excellent breakfst on the gas cook top that was built into the safari vehicle. We had passion fruit juice and hot tea provided. Sandra and I had a good laugh but you will have to ask her about that. The morning was chilly and the hot bush breakfast was most welcome. Once we had cleaned and packed up we were off for the rest of our morning drive. Spotted a big bull elephant crossing the river and getting a drink. Spotted Impala and Warthogs and a much closer Oryx. The next strange critter is a Gerenuk. I had never heard of them before, sort of looks like a cross between a Giraffe and an antelope. The terrain sort of opened up and we saw our first Reticulated giraffe. Reticulated giraffe, Gerenuk, Somali ostrich, Grevy’s Zebra and Oryx are considered to be the Samburu Special Five and we got to see them all before lunch on the first day! Our amazement wasn’t over yet, before we left for lunch we stumbled upon this fat Cheetah. We feel like he has just eaten a baby gazelle or impala as there was a frantic female nearby.
Third Game Drive – 0.6312° N, 37.3505° E
Our third drive started out with a rare sighting of an Eagle owl in daylight. We then saw a Greater Kudu, note his amazing spiral horns. We then ran into another troop of baboons. This female has a infant clinging to her chest. We were tracking Leopard. Sadly we didn’t see the Leopard that evening but something ran the baboons up a tree. Last sight of the Samburu elephants, I love elephant eyes, so serene and calm. On the way back we were treated to a bush dinner with a bonfire and lanterns under the stars. We had sausage, lamb and chicken along with side dishes. The perfect end to a perfect day.
Back to our tent for the evening, nice big veranda, view of river and unlike any tent we have ever slept in.
The next morning after another great breakfast we packed up and headed out for our short flight to Lewa Conservancy. On the way to the airstrip we stopped at a small Samburu tribal village to see the way that they live. The bomas were small and dark but the people were very friendly. The last picture in Samburu is of Bret, our awesome driver Daniel and the game spotter Socoro. Good bye Samburu, you will be in our hearts forever!
James Family Trip to Kenya 